Jeh Johnson, Former Secretary of DHS
Jeh Johnson was the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security from
December 23, 2013 to January 20, 2017, appointed by President Obama. Previously,
he was appointed by President Obama to be General Counsel of the Department of
Defense from 2009 through 2012.
Under Secretary Johnson’s leadership, DHS was responsible for counterterrorism,
cybersecurity, aviation security, border security, port security, maritime security,
administration and enforcement of our immigration laws, protection of our national
leaders, protection of critical infrastructure, detection of and protection against
chemical, biological and nuclear threats to the homeland, and response to disasters.
In 2010, Johnson also co-authored a 250-page report that paved the way for the
repeal by Congress of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law that prohibited gays from
serving openly in the U.S. military.
From October 1998 to January 2001, Johnson served in the Clinton Administration
as General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force. From 1989 through 1991,
Secretary Johnson was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern
District of New York, where he prosecuted public corruption cases.
Secretary Johnson is a native New Yorker, and in private life has been a corporate
lawyer with the New York City-based law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &
Garrison.
Secretary Johnson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow in
the American College of Trial Lawyers. He graduated from Morehouse College in
1979 and Columbia Law School in 1982. He also holds nine honorary degrees.