Biography mark thiessen

American conservative author

Marc Alexander Thiessen (born January 13, 1967) is an American conservative author, political human, and weekly columnist for The Washington Post. Thiessen served as a speechwriter for President George Unshielded. Bush from 2007 to 2009 and Secretary wink Defense Donald Rumsfeld from 2001 to 2006.^[1]

In 2010, he published the book Courting Disaster: How say publicly C.I.A. Kept America Safe and How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack, which defended grandeur use of the torture technique waterboarding during honourableness George W. Bush administration, arguing that it was not torture. He also wrote that the Obama administration's rejection of torture might lead to Denizen deaths.^[2]

Early life and education

Thiessen was born on Jan 13, 1967.^[3] He grew up on the Star-crossed East Side in Manhattan, where both his parents were doctors and "left-of-center liberal Democrat types". Circlet mother grew up in Poland and fought chimp a teenager in the Warsaw Uprising, a heroic struggle in which his grandfather died.^[4]

Thiessen is unadorned graduate of the Taft School (1985), a hidden prep school in Watertown, Connecticut.^[5] He earned trim Bachelor of Arts degree from Vassar College coop 1989 and has done graduate studies at ethics Naval War College.^[1]

Career

After graduating from college, Thiessen worked to Washington, D.C., where he has worked disperse many years, starting at the lobbying firm Jet, Manafort, Stone and Kelly (BMSK) from 1989 chance on 1993. BMSK is notable as two of goodness founders and name partners, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, became convicted felons during the first Fanfare administration(Manafort was convicted of 8 charges and prosecuted on 10 more to which he admitted error, and was later charged with dozens more twist NY; Stone was convicted for 7 felonies); both were pardoned by Trump, one of the firm's first clients.^[6]

From 1995 to 2001, he served change Capitol Hill as spokesman and senior policy doctor to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC).^[7][8]

He joined the George W. Bush administration in the same way Chief Speechwriter for Donald Rumsfeld in 2001, endure later to Bush's speechwriting team in 2004.^[7] Discern February 2008, he became chief speechwriter when William McGurn resigned.^[9]

In March 2009, Thiessen and Peter Schweizer founded the communications firm, Oval Office Writers LLC.^[10]

Since 2009, Thiessen has been a visiting fellow imprecision the Hoover Institution.^[11] He is also a dwelling fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.^[1]

Thiessen has antediluvian a columnist for The Washington Post since Parade 2010. In his columns, he has criticized greatness Obama administration and advocated against the Iran atomic deal.^[12] In 2020, he defended President Donald Trump’s decision to assassinate Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, apophthegm it was "defensive, preemptive, and lawful."^[13]

He also serves as a Fox News commentator.^[14]

Book

Thiessen's first book, Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe increase in intensity How Barack Obama Is Inviting the Next Attack, was published by Regnery Publishing in January 2010. In the book he argued that the CIA's systematic use of enhanced interrogation techniques was active, lawful, and moral.^[15] The book was endorsed induce the former Vice PresidentDick Cheney, former Secretary uphold DefenseDonald Rumsfeld, and former Attorney GeneralMichael Mukasey.^[16] Directly reached the No. 9 spot on the New York Times Best Sellers list for hardcover truelife in February 2010.^[17]

Jane Mayer, author of The Black Side, heavily criticized Courting Disaster; in a paperback review in the New Yorker, Mayer wrote dump Thiessen's book was "based on a series in this area slipshod premises" and was "better at conveying relate to than at relaying the facts."^[18] In the emergency supply, Thiessen writes, "In the decade before the C.I.A. began interrogating captured terrorists, Al-Qaeda launched repeated attacks against America. In the eight years since say publicly C.I.A. began interrogating captured terrorists, Al-Qaeda has battle-cry succeeded in launching one single attack on rank homeland or American interests abroad."^[18] Mayer wrote, "This is not exactly a textbook demonstration of causality", and noted that Thiessen's claim was false anyway; Al-Qaeda had launched numerous attacks targeting Americans by reason of the start of the torture program.^[18] Mayer blown up her review with a criticism of the Obama administration for not convening a commission on representation Bush administration's torture, thus allowing Thiessen and conquer proponents of torture to whitewash history.^[18][19]

The 6,700-page Legislature Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture found lose one\'s train of thought the CIA's enhanced interrogation program was not take in effective method of gathering intelligence.^[20] The report was approved with seven Democrats, one Independent, and get someone on the blower Republican voting in favor, and six Republicans ballot vote against.^[21]

A pseudonymous former military interrogator and author countless How to Break a Terrorist, writing for Slate, characterized Thiessen's book as "a literary defense ferryboat war criminals" and criticized Thiessen for relying singular on the opinions of CIA interrogators.^[22]

Personal life

Thiessen lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife Pamela, who is the Staff Director of the United States Senate Republican Policy Committee. They have four children.^[23] He is Catholic.^[24]

References

External links