Jake Sullivan Bio
Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan (born November 28, 1976) is an American attorney, government official, and academic who served as the U.S. National Security Advisor from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. A member of the Democratic Party, Sullivan is widely recognized for shaping American foreign policy on issues including China, Russia, Iran, and the Middle East. He later joined the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School in April 2025.
Early Life and Background
Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan was born in Burlington, Vermont, and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father worked for the Star Tribune and taught at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, while his mother was a high school guidance counselor. He is of Irish descent and attended Southwest High School in Minneapolis, graduating in 1994, where he was a Coca-Cola Scholar, debate champion, and student council president.
Sullivan went on to attend Yale University, where he majored in international studies and political science, earning the Alpheus Henry Snow Prize, induction into Phi Beta Kappa, and a summa cum laude Bachelor of Arts in 1998. He won a Rhodes Scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, earning a Master of Philosophy in international relations, and later completed a Juris Doctor at Yale Law School in 2003.
Path to US Politics
After law school, Sullivan clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and then for Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. He returned to Minneapolis to practice at Faegre & Benson, served as an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, and later became chief counsel to Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who connected him to Hillary Clinton.
In 2008, Sullivan served as an advisor to Hillary Clinton’s primary campaign and then to Barack Obama during the general election, preparing both candidates for debates. He later joined the Obama administration as deputy chief of staff and Director of Policy Planning under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a role in which he traveled to 112 countries.
Jake Sullivan Career
Early Career (2008–2012)
Sullivan began his federal government career in 2008 as a debate advisor to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. He later served as Director of Policy Planning and deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, becoming a key architect of U.S. foreign policy during her tenure at the State Department. From 2013, he became National Security Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden.
National Security Advisor to the Vice President (2013–2014)
Sullivan joined Vice President Biden’s national security team in February 2013, playing a central role in shaping U.S. policy toward Libya, Syria, and Myanmar. He also participated in secret back-channel negotiations with Iranian officials in Oman, which helped pave the way for the 2013 Joint Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program. He left the administration in August 2014 to teach at Yale Law School.
2016 Clinton Campaign and Think Tank Years (2015–2020)
Between 2015 and 2020, Sullivan served as Hillary Clinton’s chief foreign policy adviser during her 2016 presidential campaign, where he was the only senior staffer to repeatedly urge more time in Midwestern swing states. After the election, he joined Macro Advisory Partners, advised companies including Uber and Mastercard, served on a Microsoft advisory council, and became a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
National Security Advisor (2021–2025)
On November 23, 2020, President-elect Biden announced Sullivan’s appointment as National Security Advisor, and he took office on January 20, 2021. His early priorities included the COVID-19 pandemic, restructuring the National Security Council to elevate public health, and managing U.S.-China relations. He championed a foreign policy aimed at the middle class and worked to repair alliances strained during the Trump era.
From 2021 to 2025, Sullivan managed responses to major global crises, including Russia’s buildup toward Ukraine, the 2021 Zürich talks with Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi, the collapse of the Afghan government, and the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. In August 2024, he became the first U.S. National Security Advisor to visit Beijing in eight years, meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He also played a key role in U.S. support for Ukraine, including a controversial decision to provide cluster munitions in July 2023.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Sullivan’s signature achievements were helping negotiate the 2013 Iran interim nuclear deal, leading the U.S. response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and conducting the highest-level U.S.-China talks in nearly a decade. In January 2025, he warned that the coming years would be decisive in the global race over artificial intelligence.
Jake Sullivan Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Sullivan comes from a close-knit family of Irish descent. His father was a journalist and journalism professor, and his mother worked as a high school guidance counselor, shaping his early interest in public service and policy.
Spouse and Residence
Sullivan married Maggie Goodlander in 2015. Goodlander is a Yale graduate, former U.S. Navy Reserve intelligence officer, and foreign policy adviser who has represented New Hampshire’s 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2025. The couple lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, with additional homes in Washington, D.C., and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.