This biography is no longer current; at present, no other official Department of State biographical information is available.
John B. Bellinger III was sworn in as the Legal Adviser to the Secretary of State on April 8, 2005. He is the principal adviser on all domestic and international law matters to the Department of State, the Foreign Service, and the diplomatic and consular posts abroad. He is also the principal adviser on legal matters relating to the conduct of foreign relations to other agencies and, through the Secretary of State, to the President and the National Security Council.
Mr. Bellinger joined the Department of State in January 2005 as Senior Advisor to Secretary Rice, having previously co-directed her transition team.
From February 2001 to January 2005, Mr. Bellinger served as Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council at the White House. As Legal Adviser, he provided legal advice to the President, the National Security Adviser, NSC Principals, and NSC and White House staff on a broad range of national security and international legal matters. He was one of the principal drafters of the 2004 law that created the Director of National Intelligence.
Mr. Bellinger served as Counsel for National Security Matters in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice from 1997 to 2001. He served previously as Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1996), as General Counsel to the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the U.S. Intelligence Community (1995-1996), and as Special Assistant to Director of Central Intelligence William Webster (1988-1991). From 1991 to 1995, he practiced law with Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in Washington, DC.
Mr. Bellinger received his A.B. cum laude in 1982 from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and his J.D. cum laude in 1986 from Harvard Law School. He also received an M.A. in Foreign Affairs in 1991 from the University of Virginia, where he was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Foreign Affairs Fellowship.
Mr. Bellinger is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Council on Germany and a Fellow of the British-American Project. He is a former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. Albans School in Washington, DC.
