![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() and was instrumental in Obama’s historic visits to closed-off Myanmar. Over the past decade, the onetime aspiring fiction writer has evolved, to the dismay of critics who cite his lack of prior experience, into a bona fide policy adviser and even a diplomat: Rhodes participated in secret talks with Cuba that led to restored diplomatic relations with the U.S. Rhodes’ colleagues have said he achieves a “mind meld” with Obama when writing speeches. We believed in these things,” Rhodes told Politico Magazine in a lengthy interview in his White House office in December.įew members of Obama’s administration have been as long-serving, loyal-and criticized-as Rhodes, who first joined Obama’s 2008 campaign and has since become one of his most trusted aides. “What I take issue with is that we were spinning. But it was also the 39-year-old deputy national security adviser’s job to defend Obama’s response to unwelcome events like the Syrian quagmire and Russian aggression. Even in the good times, like after Obama clinched his hard-fought July 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, Ben Rhodes was castigated by the deal’s critics for allegedly turning a grave matter of national security into another spinnable public relations issue. Being the man who explains Barack Obama’s foreign policy wasn’t easy. ![]()
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