Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn resigned Monday, making him the shortest-lived national security adviser in U.S. history.
The post of national security adviser was created under former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 to serve as the principal apolitical adviser on national security policy to the president. Flynn served in the post for a period of just 24 days, after reports indicated he misled Vice President Mike Pence on the nature of his conversations during the presidential transition with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.
Prior to Flynn, the shortest serving national security adviser was William Harding Jackson under Eisenhower. Jackson served in the post for a period of 129 days.
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates also reportedly informed the White House in January that Flynn had not been truthful in his public claims regarding his phone call with the Russian ambassador, and was also subject to blackmail by the Russian government.
In his resignation letter provided to reporters, Flynn said, “I have sincerely apologized to the president and the vice president, and they have accepted my apology.”
President Donald Trump immediately appointed retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as interim national security adviser and is reportedly considering two other former military officers for the post. Trump is also considering retired Gen. David Petraeus, and Retired Adm. Robert Harward to replace Flynn.
Harward is reportedly the favorite to succeed Flynn. He served as a deputy to Secretary of Defense James Mattis while both were in U.S. Central Command and does not carry the controversy or age of the other picks.
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