Nikki Haley

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2017-2019)

---

Nikki R. Haley is the former United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She served as a member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet and the National Security Council.

At the United Nations, Ambassador Haley ensured the American people saw value for their investment, introducing reforms that made the organization more efficient, transparent, and accountable. In a two year period, she negotiated over $1.3 billion in savings, including rightsizing UN peacekeeping missions to make them more effective and targeted while improving their ability to protect civilians.

In the UN Security Council, Ambassador Haley worked to defend Americans' interests and keep our country safe. She spearheaded negotiations for the passage of the strongest set of sanctions ever placed on North Korea for its nuclear weapons program, cutting off the regime's exports by 90 percent and its access to oil by 30 percent.

As UN Ambassador Haley championed human rights. She challenged human rights violators across the globe, standing up to oppressive regimes in Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and Russia. During the U.S presidency of the UN Security Council, she hosted the first-ever session devoted solely to promoting human rights. She traveled the world visiting people oppressed by their own governments to see firsthand the challenges they face and to work with them directly on life-improving solutions—from Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey, to internally displaced people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, to Venezuelan migrants walking miles every day to cross the Colombian border for food and medicine.

During her time as ambassador, the United States stood proudly with its allies, repeatedly taking a strong and principled stand against the chronic anti-Israel bias at the United Nations. In the UN Security Council, she proudly issued the first American veto in six years defending the United States’ sovereign right to move our Embassy to Jerusalem—Israel’s true capital.

Prior to becoming the twenty-ninth U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Haley was elected in 2010 as the first female and first minority Governor of South Carolina. Reelected in 2014, she served as Governor until confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in January of 2017.

Under Governor Haley’s leadership, South Carolina was a national leader in economic development. Known as the “Beast of the Southeast,” South Carolina’s unemployment rate hit a 15 year low, it saw over $20 billion in new capital investment, and her administration announced new jobs in every county in the state, over 85,000 total.

Governor Haley also ushered in the state's largest education reform in decades—making education funding more equitable for schools in the state's poorest communities, prioritizing reading in early grades, and equipping classrooms with the latest technology.

Born in Bamberg, South Carolina, she is the daughter of Indian immigrants and a proud graduate of Clemson University. In her first job, Ambassador Haley kept the books for her family's clothing store—at the age of 13.

Ambassador Haley and her husband, Michael, a Captain in the South Carolina Army National Guard and combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan's Helmand Province, have two children, Rena, 20, and Nalin, 17.

Close

General James Mattis

Secretary of Defense (2017-2018)

---

A dedicated patriot, intellectual, and strategist, former Secretary of Defense and retired Marine General James N. Mattis exemplifies principled leadership in times of turbulence.

One of the preeminent leaders of his generation, Gen James Mattis has spent nearly 50 years in the service of his country. Renowned for his diligent study of war, and his dogged efforts on the battlefield, Gen Mattis is described as a principled commander who isn't afraid to tell it like it is.

A rare combination of thinker and doer, and scholar and strategist, Gen Mattis knows the monumental powers and responsibility of our military forces, and the challenges of our dangerous and complex world. His matchless dedication to his job and country earned him universal respect and reverence – from allies and adversaries alike.

Gen Mattis served as the 26th Secretary of Defense of the United States for nearly two years before resigning with distinction. With his reputation as a sharp analyst and venerable wartime leader, Gen Mattis received nearly unanimous, bipartisan support for his nomination. A living Marine Corps legend, he made history by securing special permission from Congress to lead the Pentagon, sooner than he was eligible.

As Secretary of Defense, Mattis preferred not to play politics – a quality that boosted admiration for the retired general. Instead, he focused on making combat readiness one of his main priorities, and served as the primary author of a new American defense strategy whose central goal was to take on "revisionist" powers that "seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models."

Viewed as the steady hand in tumultuous times, he championed building a network of alliances and strategic partnerships around the world.

"Our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships," then Secretary Mattis wrote in a letter to President Trump. Without maintaining those alliances, he says, we cannot protect our interests or serve the role of an indispensable nation in the free world.

His resolve to amass and maintain positive relations with key countries served as a premier example of professionalism and stability in a political landscape wrought with unpredictability.

During his 44 years in the Marines, Gen Mattis rose from an 18-year-old reservist to the highest rank of four-star general. He capped off his military career as head of the U.S. Central Command, where he was in charge of all American forces serving in the Middle East and oversaw operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Syria, Iran, and Yemen. He retired from the post in 2013. It would be just four years later, in 2017, that he would answer the call to serve again, as the first member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet cleared to take office.

A veteran of three wars, Gen Mattis spent much of his career involved in overseas conflict. Described by colleagues and his staff as brave, honest, and humble, Gen Mattis proved to be an exceptional motivator of Marines and developed a leading style that endeared him to his troops.

"Believe so completely in subordinates they have no choice but to believe in themselves; act from integrity and authenticity, let your very goodness put ambition out of context," he counsels.

As part of his "hearts and minds" approach to counterinsurgency operations, Gen Mattis established the Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning, which remains active today. The academy for Marine officers and senior enlisted personnel provides cultural awareness and language skills training to ensure units can operate effectively in complex expeditionary environments.

A patriot who always put country above self, Gen Mattis steeped himself in the history and tradition of the military and dedicated himself to the Marine Corps.

Gen Mattis speaks with candor and thoughtful analysis about the threats that face our nation and military. Humorous, compassionate, and strategic, he also offers insightful lessons in leadership, with a deep focus on the art of empowering individuals.

Close