Military Wiki
in: Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, 21st-century American businesspeople, 21st-century American politicians,
and 10 more

Matthew Pottinger

Sign in to edit
Matt Pottinger
Birth nameMatthew Pottinger
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Marine Corps
Years of service2005–2010 (active)
2010–present (reserve)
Rank Lieutenant colonel
Battles / wars
Awards
RelationsJ. Stanley Pottinger (father)

Matthew Pottinger is a former journalist and U.S. Marine Corps officer who is currently serving in the U.S. National Security Council of the administration of Donald Trump.

Early life[]

Pottinger is the son of author and former politician J. Stanley Pottinger.[2] He was educated at Milton Academy and is a schoolmate and childhood friend of fellow journalist John Avlon.[3][4] Pottinger graduated from the University of Massachusetts with an undergraduate degree in Chinese studies; he is fluent in Mandarin.[5]

Journalistic career[]

Before he joined the United States Marine Corps, Pottinger worked as a journalist for Reuters between 1998 and 2001.[2][6] Then he moved to The Wall Street Journal until his retirement from journalism in 2005.[2] He won numerous awards, including multiple Pulitzer Prize nominations. He covered a variety of topics, including the SARS epidemic and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami; in the latter assignment, he met United States Marines and was inspired by their courageousness.[2][6] He spent seven years reporting in China.[7][8] While interviewing Chinese workers in Beijing about their claims of government corruption, Pottinger was attacked by a government thug.[2][6][9]

Military career[]

In September 2005 Pottinger joined the Marine Corps as a military intelligence officer.[2] He was over-aged and overweight when he joined. To meet the physical qualifications, he worked out with an enlisted Marine stationed at the American embassy in Beijing.[2] He served three deployments: one in Iraq from April to November 2007, and two in Afghanistan from November 2008 to May 2009 and July 2009 to May 2010.[10] On his second tour in Afghanistan, he met U.S. Army General Michael T. Flynn, with whom he co-wrote a report.[2][11] He co-authored a report in January 2010 through the Center for a New American Security entitled Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan.[12] Pottinger worked for a variety of businesses in New York City, such as the hedge fund firm Davidson Kempner Capital Management, after he left active service.[2]

Political career[]

In 2017, Pottinger was hired as a member of the U.S. National Security Council of the administration of Donald Trump.[13][14][15]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Matt Pottinger: Former Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow". Council of Foreign Relations. http://www.cfr.org/staff/b15886. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "A Veteran and China Hand Advises Trump for Xi's Visit". The New York Times. 4 April 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/world/asia/matthew-pottinger-trump-china.html. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  3. ↑ Avlon, John (27 December 2005). "Gen Xer Joins the U.S. Marines". The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/gen-xer-joins-the-usmarines/24995/. Retrieved 23 May 2017. 
  4. ↑ "Captain Matthew Pottinger ’91 Entreats Students Toward a Life of Service as the 2010 Veterans’ Day Speaker". Milton Academy. http://www.milton.edu/captain-matthew-pottinger-91-entreats-students-toward-a-life-of-service-as-the-2010-veterans-day-speaker/. Retrieved 8 June 2017. 
  5. ↑ "Trump taps Matt Pottinger to oversee Asian affairs". Korea JoongAng Daily. 6 January 2017. http://mengnews.joins.com/view.aspx?aId=3028322. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Meet Captain Matt Pottinger". The Atlantic. 5 April 2011. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/04/meet-captain-matt-pottinger-united-states-marine-corps/236825/. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  7. ↑ "Reporter Moved to Become a U.S. Marine". ABC News. 1 January 2006. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/US/story?id=1461359. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  8. ↑ Pottinger, Matt (15 December 2005). "Mightier Than the Pen". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113461636659623128. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  9. ↑ "A young man and his ideals". The Hill. 6 October 2005. http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/dick-morris/4703-a-young-man-and-his-ideals. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  10. ↑ "How bin Laden Catapulted One Man Into War". The Wall Street Journal. 3 May 2011. https://blogs.wsj.com/dispatch/2011/05/03/how-bin-laden-catapulted-one-man-into-war/. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  11. ↑ "Michael Flynn, General Chaos". The New Yorker. 27 February 2017. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/michael-flynn-general-chaos. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  12. ↑ "Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan". Center for a New American Security. January 2010. https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.cnas.org/documents/AfghanIntel_Flynn_Jan2010_code507_voices.pdf. Retrieved August 11, 2015. 
  13. ↑ "Trump could make Obama's pivot to Asia a reality". The Washington Post. 8 January 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-could-make-obamas-pivot-to-asia-a-reality/2017/01/08/a2f8313a-d441-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5_story.html. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  14. ↑ "Mattis clashing with Trump transition team over Pentagon staffing". The Washington Post. 6 January 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/01/06/mattis-clashing-with-trump-transition-team-over-pentagon-staffing/. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 
  15. ↑ "Flynn is creating the most military-heavy National Security Council of the modern era". The Washington Post. 21 January 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/flynn-is-creating-the-most-military-heavy-national-security-council-of-the-modern-era/2017/01/20/8a45ce9c-df20-11e6-918c-99ede3c8cafa_story.html. Retrieved 8 May 2017. 

External links[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Matthew Pottinger and the edit history here.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.