James N. Miller

James Northey Miller Jr. (born August 15, 1959) is a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He was the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 18, 2012 until January 8, 2014. As such, he provided advice to then Defense Secretaries Panetta and Hagel.[1] He was born in Waterloo, Iowa.[2] In 2000, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.[3]

James Miller
10th Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
In office
February 18, 2012 – January 8, 2014
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byMichèle Flournoy
Succeeded byMichael Lumpkin
Personal details
Born
James Northey Miller Jr.

(1959-08-15) August 15, 1959
EducationStanford University (BA)
Harvard University (MA, PhD)

Early life and education

Miller earned his B.A. with honors in economics from Stanford; he earned his master's degree and his Ph.D., both in public policy, from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[4] His 1989 Ph.D. thesis was Approaching Zero: An Evaluation of Radical Reductions in Superpower Nuclear Arsenals.[5]

Career

He was senior professional staff member for the House Armed Services Committee (1988-1992), assistant professor at Duke University (1992-1997); Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Requirements, Plans, and Counterproliferation Policy (1997-2000); and Senior Vice President (2003-2007) and Vice President (2000-2003) at Hicks and Associates, Inc..

He then served as Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security (2007-2009), Miller served as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy before he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on May 25, 2012.

Miller is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is a four-time recipient of the Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the highest civilian award of the U.S. Department of Defense.[4]

Resignation from Defense Science Board

On June 2, 2020, Miller resigned from the Defense Science Board in protest after police used pepper balls and smoke canisters to disperse protesters in the area surrounding Lafayette Park so that President Donald Trump, accompanied by U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, could attend a photo op at the St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House. [6][7][8] In an open resignation letter to Esper, Miller cited the oath of office that he had taken to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States," and wrote that Esper and Trump had violated the same oath, writing:

President Trump’s actions Monday night violated his oath to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” as well as the First Amendment "right of the people peaceably to assemble." You may not have been able to stop President Trump from directing this appalling use of force, but you could have chosen to oppose it. Instead, you visibly supported it.
Anyone who takes the oath of office must decide where he or she will draw the line: What are the things that they will refuse to do? Secretary Esper, you have served honorably for many years, in active and reserve military duty, as Secretary of the Army, and now as Secretary of Defense. You must have thought long and hard about where that line should be drawn. I must now ask: If last night's blatant violations do not cross the line for you, what will?[7]

Miller also criticized Esper's statement urging state governors to "dominate the battlespace," writing: "I cannot believe that you see the United States as a 'battlespace,' or that you believe our citizens must be 'dominated.' Such language sends an extremely dangerous signal."[7]

References
  1. "James N. Miller". Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  2. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg80073/pdf/CHRG-112shrg80073.pdf
  3. Rozen, Laura (19 January 2012). "Dr. James N. Miller to be tapped for top Pentagon policy job". Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  4. James Miller: Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs John F. Kennedy School of Government (last updated January 27, 2020).
  5. Approaching zero: An evaluation of radical reductions in superpower nuclear arsenals, Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
  6. Baker, Peter; Haberman, Maggie; Rogers, Katie; Kanno-Youngs, Zolan; Benner, Katie; Willis, Haley; Triebert, Christiaan; Botti, David (June 2, 2020). "How Trump's Idea for a Photo Op Led to Havoc in a Park" – via NYTimes.com.
  7. James Miller (June 2, 2020). "A letter of resignation to Defense Secretary Mark Esper" – via Washington Post.
  8. Ryan Browne (June 2, 2020). "Official resigns from Pentagon advisory board over Esper's perceived support for clearing protest outside White House". CNN.
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