Role
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs is appointed by the President without confirmation by the United States Senate. However, the APNSA is a staff position in the Executive Office of the President and does not have line authority over either the Department of State or the Department of Defense, but is able, as a consequence thereof, to offer advice to the President - unlike the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense who are senate-confirmed officials with line authority over their departments - independently of the vested interests of the large bureaucracies and clientele of those departments. The influence and role of the National Security Advisor varies from administration to administration and depends heavily on the qualities of the person appointed to the position.
In times of crisis, the National Security Advisor operates from the White House Situation Room, updating the President on the latest events of a crisis.
Read more about this topic: National Security Advisor (United States)
Famous quotes containing the word role:
“Whether or not you have children yourself, you are a parent to the next generation. If we can only stop thinking of children as individual property and think of them as the next generation, then we can realize we all have a role to play.”
—Charlotte Davis Kasl (20th century)
“What is charm then? The free giving of a grace, the spending of something given by nature in her role of spendthrift ... something extra, superfluous, unnecessary, essentially a power thrown away.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“The addition of a helpless, needy infant to a couple’s life limits freedom of movement, changes role expectancies, places physical demands on parents, and restricts spontaneity.”
—Jerrold Lee Shapiro (20th century)