Christopher Ashley Ford | |
---|---|
Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs | |
Acting | |
In office October 21, 2019 – January 8, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Andrea L. Thompson |
Succeeded by | C.S. Eliot Kang (acting) |
In office January 9, 2018 – April 30, 2018 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | C.S. Eliot Kang (acting) |
Succeeded by | Andrea L. Thompson |
3rd Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation | |
In office January 9, 2018 – January 8, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Thomas M. Countryman |
Succeeded by | C.S. Eliot Kang |
Personal details | |
Born | 1967 (age 56–57) |
Political party | Republican |
Education | Harvard University (BA) Christ Church, Oxford (MA, DPhil) Yale University (JD) |
Christopher Ashley Ford (born 1967) is an American lawyer and government official who served from January 2018 until January 2021 as Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation. He was nominated to that position by President Donald Trump,[1] and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on December 21, 2017.[2] After October 21, 2019, Ford also, by delegation from Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, performed the duties of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security until his resignation from the Department of State on January 8, 2021.
Before his appointment as Assistant Secretary of State, Ford served in the Trump administration as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Counterproliferation on the United States National Security Council staff, and a senior U.S. State Department official in the George W. Bush administration working on issues of nuclear proliferation and arms control verification and compliance policy.[3] He has also worked as a Senate staffer, as well as for the Hudson Institute.