John Ratcliffe previously served as the Director of National Intelligence from May 2020 until January 2021, making him the first person to ever serve as both Director of the CIA and Director of National Intelligence.1
As DNI, Director Ratcliffe led a shift in the U.S. Intelligence Community’s priorities to gain a decisive strategic advantage over the People’s Republic of China and provided oversight of numerous operations to remove designated terrorist leaders from the battlefield. Director Ratcliffe also made the historic decision to elevate space to a priority intelligence domain by adding U.S. Space Force as the 18th member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and received the National Security Medal, the nation’s highest honor for distinguished achievement in the field of intelligence and national security.
Prior to serving as DNI, Ratcliffe served for over five years as the U.S. Representative for the 4th Congressional District of Texas. As a Congressman, Ratcliffe was a leading policy maker on national security issues as a member of the House Intelligence, Homeland Security and Judiciary committees. His congressional career followed one of public service in the George W. Bush administration as both Chief of Anti-Terrorism and National Security and as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. Director Ratcliffe earned a bachelor’s degree in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame and his doctoral degree in law from Southern Methodist University School of Law.