Rodman began his career in government as a staff member on the
National Security Council, working from 1969 to 1977 and serving as an assistant to
Henry Kissinger. From 1977 to 1983, he was a Fellow at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies. From 1984 to 1986, Rodman served as
Director of Policy Planning under
Ronald Reagan. He served as Reagan's
Deputy National Security Advisor from 1986 to 1987. From 1987 to 1990, he served as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and National Security Council Counselor. He was one of the signers of the January 26, 1998
Project for the New American Century sent to the
U.S. President Bill Clinton. He worked extensively with
Henry Kissinger, helping him write his
memoirs. He was a member of the board of trustees of
Freedom House, Vice President and member of the board of directors of the
World Affairs Council and a Fellow of the
Foreign Policy Institute of
SAIS. From 1991 to 1999, Rodman was a senior editor at
National Review, a conservative magazine. He also served as the Director of National Security Programs at the
Center for the National Interest, a conservative think-tank founded by
Richard Nixon. Rodman returned to government service as
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the
George W. Bush administration. In March 2007, he left his position as
United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs to become a Senior Fellow at
Brookings Institution. He was the author of
More Precious Than Peace, a book on the
Cold War in the
Third World in which he praises the Reagan administration for warding off communism in Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia. == Personal life ==