John B. Bellinger III

John B. Bellinger III

John B. Bellinger, III was the Legal Adviser to the United States Secretary of State. He was sworn in on April 8, 2005. He was the principal adviser on all domestic and international law matters to the Department of State, the Foreign Service, and the diplomatic and consular posts abroad. He was also the principal adviser on legal matters relating to the conduct of foreign relations to other agencies and, through the Secretary of State, to the President and the National Security Council.

Bellinger joined the Department of State in January 2005 as Senior Advisor to Secretary Condoleezza Rice, having previously co-directed her State Department transition team. From February 2001 to January 2005, Bellinger served as Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council at the White House. As Legal Adviser, he provided legal advice to President George W. Bush, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, NSC Principals, and NSC and White House staff on a broad range of national security and international legal matters. He was one of the principal drafters of the 2004 law that created the Director of National Intelligence.

Bellinger is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Council on Germany and a Fellow of the British-American Project. In Spring 2010, he stayed at the American Academy in Berlin.

Bellinger is a former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of his alma mater, St. Albans School. He and his wife, Dawn, live in Arlington, Virginia, with their two daughters.