KT McFarland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Troia_McFarland

Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland (born July 22, 1951) is an American former government official and national security analyst. She is currently a Fox News' National Security Analyst and Contributor, host of FOXNews.com's DEFCON and FOXNews.com Opinions page columnist.

She unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in New York in 2006. In 1985, she received the Defense Department's highest civilian award, The Distinguished Civilian Service Award. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Life and career

McFarland was born Kathleen Troia in Madison, Wisconsin, the daughter of Edith (Fuller) and August Joseph Troia. McFarland is a graduate of George Washington University. Her government career began while she was a freshman at George Washington University, working part-time in the White House Situation Room typing the President's Daily Brief. She spent seven years in the West Wing of the White House, working her way up to become a member of Henry Kissinger's National Security Council Staff. After the Ford Administration, McFarland studied at Oxford University (B.A, M.A.) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (attempted Ph.D. but did not complete dissertation) with concentrations on nuclear weapons, China and the Soviet Union. She served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1985 as spokeswoman and senior speechwriter to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. On November 25, 2016, it was reported McFarland was selected as Donald Trump's Deputy National Security Adviser, a position that does not require Senate confirmation. McFarland has been highly critical of President Obama's approach to combating terrorism

2006 Senate campaign

McFarland ran as a Republican in the New York United States Senate election, 2006, for the seat then held by Democrat Hillary Clinton. She was defeated by former Yonkers mayor John Spencer.

McFarland had never held elected office. On May 31, 2006, McFarland's Republican opponent, John Spencer won the endorsement of the state Republican Party organization, with 63 percent of the vote. He did not achieve the threshold of 75 percent needed to prevent McFarland from gaining an automatic position on the primary ballot. McFarland faced Spencer in the September 12, 2006, Republican primary, which he won by a vote of approximately 60–40%. Senator Clinton, ultimately, succeeded in her bid for re-election.

Fox News and David Petraeus

It was reported in late 2012 that, as a Fox News analyst headed to Afghanistan in spring 2011, McFarland carried a message from Roger Ailes to commanding General David Petraeus encouraging Petraeus to run for president if President Barack Obama did not offer Petraeus the position of head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Obama later offered Petraeus the top CIA job, Petraeus accepted it and no Petraeus presidential campaign developed. McFarland responded to the 2012 report by writing that Ailes was "joking" in sending his message and that "Petraeus and I were having fun" engaging in "the kind of idle speculation that happens in every campaign season". She also raised the questions of how the off-the-record conversation was taped and how the tape was then released 18 months later, writing they were "more interesting" than the ones considered in the initial report.

Other affiliation

McFarland is a board member of The Jamestown Foundation.