General mattis biography

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Impact Link. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. Mattis has become a US military legend throughout his 44 years of service, earning nicknames like "Mad Dog" and "Warrior Monk. He was general mattis biography a second lieutenant after graduating from Central Washington University with a history degree in Mattis saw his first action as a lieutenant colonel in Operation Desert Shield in Then-lieutenant colonel Mattis lead the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines the same unit as legendary Marine Lewis "Chesty" Puller during combat operations for the liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein.

Inhe made controversial statements about his time in Afghanistan:. James Mattis. Central Command U. Early life [ change change source ]. Military career [ change change source ]. United States Secretary of Defense — [ change change source ]. Personal life [ change change source ]. References [ change change source ]. January 19, San Diego Union Tribune.

Retrieved November 20, Armed Forces Journal. Retrieved July 29, The New York Times. Retrieved December 20, Retrieved December 23, — via NYTimes. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 3, November 22, Mattis, Trump's possible defense chief, fulfills Benton County jury duty". Tri-City Herald. December 2, James Mattis to lead Pentagon".

Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 December Retrieved 23 December American Forces Press Service. Headquarters Marine Corps. Archived from the original on August 19, Retrieved August 18, James Mattis for secretary of defense". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 2, As his division prepared to ship out, Mattis called in "experts on the Middle East" for "cultural sensitivity training.

He was also noted for a willingness to remove senior leaders under his command when the US military seemed unable or unwilling to relieve underperforming or incompetent officers. Dowdy, commander of Regimental Combat Team It was such a rare occurrence in the modern military that it made the front page of newspapers. Despite this, Mattis declined to comment on the matter publicly other than to say that the practice of officer relief remains alive, or at least "we are doing it in the Marines.

In Februaryspeaking at a forum in San Diegohe said, "Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up there with you. I like brawling. You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway.

So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. As a four-star generalMattis included a member of the intelligence community on his staff to be in every meeting and "challenge any assumptions we made. In earlyMattis was reported to be on the list of generals being considered to replace James T. Conway as the commandant of the US Marine Corps. In DecemberMattis joined the advisory board [ 83 ] of Spirit of Americaa c 3 nonprofit organization that provides assistance to support the safety and success of American service personnel and the local people they seek to help.

From to JanuaryMattis was a board member of Theranosa health technology company that claimed to have devised revolutionary blood tests using very small amounts of blood, which was later determined to be a fraudulent claim by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Within hours, Mattis forwarded his email exchange with Holmes to military officials, asking "how do we overcome this new obstacle".

In Julythe Department of Defense gave Mattis permission to join Theranos's board provided he did not represent Theranos with regard to the blood-testing device and its general mattis biography acquisition by the Departments of the Navy or Defense. A true General's General! The National Security Act of requires a seven-year waiting period before retired military personnel can assume the role of secretary of defense; Mattis's nomination meant that it was the first time since in that instance for George Marshall that a waiver of the law was needed.

Mattis was subsequently confirmed as secretary of defense by a vote of 98—1 in the United States Senate on January 20, For his first official trip abroad, Mattis began a two-day visit with longtime US ally South Korea on February 2, On April 5,Mattis called the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack "a heinous act," and said it would be treated accordingly.

Mattis voiced support for a Saudi Arabian-led military campaign against Yemen 's Shiite rebels. On April 20,one week after the Nangarhar airstrikeMattis told reporters that the US would not conduct a damage assessment "in terms of the number of people killed" in Afghanistan. It's the only NATO country with an active insurgency inside its borders.

And Turkey has legitimate security concerns. On April 13,Mattis briefed reporters in a press conference at the Pentagon on the missile strikes against Syria being carried out against the Assad regime's chemical weapon compounds, saying, "Tonight, France, the United Kingdom and the United States took decisive action to strike the Syrian chemical weapons infrastructure.

General mattis biography: General James Mattis was the commander

Clearly the Assad regime did not get the message last year. This time our allies and we have struck harder. Together we have sent a clear message to Assad and his murderous lieutenants that they should not perpetrate another chemical weapons attack for which they will be held accountable". Wherever Mattis traveled overseas, he brought the Defense Security Cooperation Agency director the official in charge of weapon sales to foreign governmentsaccording to Lt.

Charles Hooper, general mattis biography at the Brookings Institution in June Mattis had recommended General David L. On December 19,Trump announced immediate US withdrawal from Syriaover his national security advisers' objections. The next day, he submitted his resignation after failing to persuade Trump to reconsider. Mattis also affirmed the need for "treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors" and remaining "resolute and unambiguous" against authoritarian states such as China and Russia.

He wrote that Trump has "the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with [his] on these and other subjects. John F. KellyTrump's chief of staff when Mattis left his position, denied that Trump fired Mattis or asked for his resignation. He said Trump must be confused or mistaken, and that "Jim Mattis is an honorable man.

After leaving the White House, Mattis initially declined to offer his opinion of the Trump administration, saying, "If you leave an administration, you owe some silence," [ ] and was guarded when asked to reflect on Trump or military matters, saying he didn't want to detract from the troops. InMattis joined The Cohen Group as senior counsel.

Mattis, along with all other living former secretaries of defense, ten in total, published a Washington Post op-ed piece in January telling President Trump not to involve the military in determining the outcome of the elections. At the October 17,Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation DinnerMattis, the keynote speaker, responded to comments Trump had made about him, saying.

I'm not just an overrated general, I am the greatest, the world's most overrated I'm honored to be considered that by Donald Trump, because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress.

General mattis biography: James Mattis (born September 8,

So I guess I'm the Meryl Streep of generals, and frankly, that sounds pretty good to me. And you do have to admit that between me and Meryl, at least we've had some victories. He continued, "I've earned my spurs on the battlefield Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor. Mattis claimed he has "never registered for any political party".

He also claimed when he was 18 that he was "proudly apolitical". Mattis said in that Donald Trump is "the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. Mattis supports a two-state solution model for Israeli—Palestinian peace. He has said the situation in Israel is "unsustainable" and that Israeli settlements harm prospects for peace and could lead to an apartheid-like situation in the West Bank.

Mattis strongly supported Secretary of State John Kerry on the Middle East peace process, praising Kerry for being "wisely focused like a laser beam" on a two-state solution. Iran is not an enemy of ISIS. They have a lot to gain from the turmoil in the region that ISIS creates. Second, that what we achieved is a nuclear pause, not a nuclear halt".

General mattis biography: James N. Mattis served as the

Mattis argues that inspections may fail to prevent Iran from seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but that "[i]f nothing else at least we will have better-targeting data if it comes to a fight in the future. He criticized Obama's defense strategy as giving "the perception we're pulling back" from US allies. Mattis visited Japan one week after being sworn in as secretary of defense.

On July 1,he described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as "immoral, the general mattis biography incompetent, operationally stupid and strategically foolish effort". He added that Vladimir Putin "probably thought that the Ukrainian people were going to welcome him. Mattis called for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and criticized China's island-building activities, saying: "The bottom line is InMattis said that budget cuts would hamper the ability to monitor the effects of global warming[ 13 ] and noted, "climate change is a challenge that requires a broader, whole-of-government response.

He berated Trump for deliberately trying to cause division among the American people and advocating military action to "dominate" the country's protests. Mattis called for reunification among the people, regardless of the president, to preserve the welfare of society, and its future. Mattis wrote that Trump was "the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try.

Instead, he tries to divide us". He added that America is "witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership". He called for accountability for "those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. A bachelor for his entire professional career, a now-retired Mattis married physicist and business executive Christina Lomasney [ ] in June Mattis was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution on July 13, Mattis is a Catholicand has been described as "devout" [ ] and "committed".

Kelly on Sundays. On the suggestion of my Catholic chaplain the Marines would take chilled drinking water in bottles and walk out amongst the protesters and hand it out. It is just hard to throw a rock at somebody who has given you a cold drink of water and it's degrees outside. Providing unprecedented access and championing Canadian participation in critical policy and training events, he helped shape Canadian counter-insurgency doctrine.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. American retired general born George W. Bush Barack Obama. Christina Lomasney. Jim Mattis's voice. Early life [ edit ]. Marine career [ edit ]. War in Afghanistan [ edit ].

Further information: War in Afghanistan — Iraq War [ edit ]. Wedding bombing [ edit ]. Department of Defense survey [ edit ]. Cultural sensitivity training [ edit ]. Removal of senior leaders [ edit ]. Combat Development Command [ edit ]. US Joint Forces Command [ edit ]. US Central Command [ edit ]. Civilian career [ edit ]. Secretary of Defense — [ edit ].

Nomination and confirmation [ edit ]. Tenure [ edit ]. Conflicts with Trump and resignation [ edit ].

General mattis biography: James Norman Mattis (born

Post-tenure [ edit ]. Al Smith Dinner comments [ edit ]. Political positions [ edit ]. Israeli—Palestinian peace process [ edit ]. Iran and Middle Eastern allies [ edit ]. Japan [ edit ]. Russia [ edit ]. China [ edit ]. Climate change [ edit ]. See also: Climate security. See also: George Floyd protests. Personal life [ edit ]. Military awards [ edit ].

Meritorious Service Cross citation [ edit ]. Civilian awards [ edit ]. In popular culture [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Secretary, Are You a Democrat? Military Times. Marine Forces Central Command. As a joint force commander, Secretary Mattis commanded U. Central Command. Central Command, he directed military operations of more thansoldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Marines and allied forces across the Middle East.