James Steinberg

Outgoing Deputy Secretary of State (January 2009-); Incoming Dean, Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

(Elizabeth Dalziel/
AFP/Getty Images)

Why He Matters

Over the course of his 35-year career, Steinberg has earned a reputation as a foreign policy heavyweight.

His international relations experience is expansive: he worked on Capitol Hill as a staffer on the Senate Armed Services Committee; as an analyst at the RAND Corporation in California; and as the director of the State Department's Policy Planning Department. Former President Bill Clinton named him deputy National Security Adviser in 1996.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of International Affairs at University of Texas (since 2005); Foreign Policy Director, Brookings Institution, (2001 to 2005); Senior adviser, Markle Foundation, (2000 to 2001); Deputy National Security Adviser, (1996 to 2000)
Other government positions: Director, State Department Policy Planning Office, (1992 to 1996); Aide, Senate Armed Services Committee (1983 to 1985)
Birthday: May 7, 1953
Hometown: Boston, Mass.
Alma Mater: Harvard College, B.A., 1973; Yale University, J.D., 1978

Spouse: Sherburne B. Abbott
Office: LBJ School of Public Affairs2315 Red River St.Sid Richardson Hall Unit 3, Rm. 3.100Austin, TX 78712-1536512-471-3200
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Path to Power

Steinberg was born in Boston, Mass., in 1953. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University at the age of 20. While a student, he volunteered on the presidential campaigns of Jimmy Carter and Michael Dukakis.

Steinberg graduated from Yale Law School in 1978 and then accepted a clerkship with Washington Court of Appeals Judge David Bazelon.

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From 1983 to 1985, Steinberg worked on Capitol Hill as the principal aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He then accepted a position as senior fellow for U.S. strategic policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. In 1987, he moved to California to analyze data for the RAND Corporation.

Clinton Administration

When President Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, Steinberg was named director of the State Department's Policy Planning Office, which is known as the department's think tank.

Clinton appointed Steinberg as the deputy National Security Adviser in 1996. In that position, he helped the Clinton Administration respond to a range of issues, such as the humanitarian crises in Kosovo and East Timor. He also acted as the President's personal representative to the 1998 and 1999 G-8 summits.

Steinberg left the White House to work as a senior adviser to the Markle Foundation, which has a specific program dedicated to national security, in 2000. In 2001, he accepted a position as the foreign policy director at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution.

He was named dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin in 2005. He worked to elevate the school's reputation by recruiting talented faculty and encouraging a relationship between the school's students and Austin's municipal government.

The New York Times writes that Steinberg has remained "at the center of the Democratic Party's shadow foreign policy establishment" even after his move.

Though he was not officially affiliated with Obama's 2008 campaign, Steinberg informally advised the candidate on a range of issues, including the Israeli peace process and Iran. He was one of many aides who accompanied the President on his trip overseas in the summer of 2008.

Steinberg is Clinton's pick for deputy secretary of state. He will split the job with Jacob J. Lew, who will focus on the day-to-day operations of the organization. Steinberg will be responsible for crafting foreign policy.

Steinberg and his wife, White House science adviser Sherburne Abbott, adopted two daughters from China.

The Issues

Steinberg is an expert on a range of foreign policy issues, including national security, international relations and intelligence gathering. He is particularly interested in explaining how the U.S. must change its military and humanitarian strategies because of increased globalization.

He is a staunch critic of George W. Bush's foreign policy, which he said has weakened the U.S. reputation abroad. He has said that the "Bush Doctrine" of preventative war delegitimizes diplomatic efforts and may encourage other countries such as India and China to attack enemies before they exhaust negotiation efforts.

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The Network

Steinberg has written a series of articles criticizing the "Bush Doctrine" of preemption with foreign policy adviser Ivo Daalder.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Steinberg travelled abroad with Obama with two other advisers Susan Rice, a former assistant secretary of state, and Richard Danzig, a former secretary of the Navy.He is also close with Thomas Donilon, who lobbied for his hire at the State Department.

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Additional Resources