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Retired four-star Marine Corps General John Kelly has been appointed White House chief of staff, replacing Reince Priebus in a major shake-up of President Donald Trump's team.
Key points:
- General John Kelly is a retired four-star Marine Corps general
- General Kelly did not openly endorse Donald Trump at any point throughout his campaign
- In his confirmation hearing he said he believed "with high confidence" the findings of intelligence on Russian meddling
The 67-year-old was most recently secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
He was hired with the goal of bringing more discipline to the White House, a senior White House official told the Washington Post.
General Kelly is a 45-year military veteran and was in charge of Southern Command, responsible for military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, from 2012 until his retirement in January 2016.
He was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970, serving as an infantryman until his discharge as a sergeant in 1972.
"In my neighbourhood you joined the Marines," he said in an official Marine Corps interview last year.
"In the America I grew up in, every male was a veteran; my dad, my uncles and all the people on the block."
In 2010 his son and fellow Marine, Robert Michael Kelly, was killed in southern Afghanistan when he stepped on a concealed bomb while leading a patrol.
"He went quickly, and thank God he did not suffer," General Kelly wrote to friends.
"In combat that is as good as it gets."
General Kelly's older son, John, is also a Marine. While his daughter Kathleen has also been heavily involved with the Marines through her work with the American Red Cross.
Trump praised Kelly for reducing border crossings
When appointed as Homeland Security secretary, Mr Trump said General Kelly would "spearhead the urgent mission of stopping illegal immigration and securing our borders".
While in the role, General Kelly pursued a more aggressive stance on immigration policy and he won Mr Trump's praise for a drop in the number of illegal migrants crossing the US border with Mexico, even though construction is yet to begin on the President's controversial border wall.
Mr Kelly did not openly endorse Mr Trump at any point during his election campaign.
During his confirmation hearing, General Kelly said he accepted the conclusions of the intelligence community regarding Russian meddling in the 2016 election "with high confidence" — something which Mr Trump has vehemently denied.
General Kelly will take up his new role in the Trump administration on Monday.
Following his appointment, Mr Trump said: "John Kelly will do a fantastic job. General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He's a great, great American.
General Kelly said he was "honoured to be asked to serve as the chief of staff".
Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, government-and-politics, united-states
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