The World's 50 Greatest Leaders

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H.R. McMaster

US-POLITICS-TRUMP-NSC
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with US Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster (L) as his national security adviser at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 20, 2017. / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images
  • Title
    U.S. National Security Adviser
  • Affiliation

Leaders of both parties cheered President Trump’s selection of McMaster. A three-star general, ­McMaster has been famous since 1991, when he led a tank troop to a stunning victory over Iraqi forces in Operation Desert Storm. Iconoclastic thinking has distinguished his career: His 1997 book, Dereliction of Duty, which lambasted U.S. leadership in Vietnam, is regarded in military circles as a classic. At issue now is what will happen if and when his adamantly independent thinking conflicts with his duty of loyalty to the President.

 

“H.R. McMaster fought his way through the tactical myopia of the Army hierarchy to become one of our country’s most trusted defense futurists and strategists. He is an independent thinker who will challenge the politicos and work on behalf of the United States.” —Brig. Gen. Thomas Kolditz (Ret.), Doerr Institute for New Leaders