50 Facts About Tony Blinken

Antony John Blinken was born on April 16,1962 and is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26,2021.

From 2009 to 2013, Tony Blinken served as deputy assistant to the president and national security advisor to the vice president.

Tony Blinken'spaternal grandfather, Maurice Henry Blinken, was an early backer of Israel who studied its economic viability, and his great-grandfather was Meir Blinken, a Yiddish writer.

Tony Blinken attended the Dalton School in New York City until 1971.

Tony Blinken attended Harvard University from 1980 to 1984, where he majored in social studies.

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Tony Blinken worked with his father to raise funds for Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee in the 1988 United States presidential election.

Tony Blinken has held senior foreign policy positions in two administrations over two decades.

From 1994 to 1998, Tony Blinken was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Strategic Planning and NSC Senior Director for Speechwriting.

Blinken assisted then-Senator Joe Biden, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in formulating Biden's support for the U S invasion of Iraq, with Blinken characterizing the vote to invade Iraq as "a vote for tough diplomacy".

In 2008, Tony Blinken worked for Joe Biden's presidential campaign, and was a member of the Obama–Biden presidential transition team.

From 2009 to 2013, Tony Blinken was Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President.

Tony Blinken was sworn in as Deputy National Security Advisor, succeeding Denis McDonough, on January 20,2013.

On December 16,2014, Tony Blinken was confirmed as Deputy Secretary of State by the Senate by a vote of 55 to 38.

Tony Blinken was influential in formulating the Obama administration's response to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.

Tony Blinken supported the 2011 military intervention in Libya and the supply of weapons to Syrian rebels.

Tony Blinken worked with Biden on requests for American money to replenish Israel's arsenal of Iron Dome interceptor missiles during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.

In June 2015, Blinken claimed that more than ten thousand ISIL fighters had been killed by American-led airstrikes against the Islamic State since a U S -led coalition launched a campaign against it nine months ago.

In 2017, Tony Blinken co-founded WestExec Advisors, a political strategy advising firm, with Michele Flournoy, Sergio Aguirre, and Nitin Chadda.

Tony Blinken went on leave from Pine Island in August 2020 to join the Biden campaign as a senior foreign policy advisor.

Tony Blinken is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was previously a global affairs analyst for CNN.

Tony Blinken was a foreign policy advisor for Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.

Tony Blinken's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee began on January 19,2021.

Tony Blinken took the oath of office of the secretary of state later that day.

On January 31,2021, Tony Blinken condemned the 2021 Myanmar coup d'etat and expressed grave concerns on the detention of government officials and civil society leaders, calling for their immediate release.

In February 2021, Tony Blinken condemned ethnic cleansing in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia and called for the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces and other fighters.

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Tony Blinken spoke with the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, whom the Biden administration will continue to recognize as the country's head of state and not Nicolas Maduro.

In July 2021, the Biden administration accused China of a global cyberespionage campaign, which Tony Blinken said posed "a major threat to our economic and national security".

In late April 2021, Tony Blinken denounced the sentencing of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Jimmy Lai, Albert Ho, and Lee Cheuk-yan among others, for their roles in the 2019 Hong Kong protests, calling it a "politically-motivated" decision.

In May 2021, Tony Blinken traveled to London and Reykjavik for the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' meeting and the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting respectively.

In June 2021, Tony Blinken traveled with Biden to attend the 47th G7 summit in Cornwall, the 31st NATO summit in Brussels, and the summit meeting with president Vladimir Putin in Geneva.

Later that month, Tony Blinken traveled to Brussels for a NATO Ministerial with European Union counterparts to underscore the Biden administration's determination to strengthen transatlantic alliances.

Tony Blinken has been a co-chair of the Trade and Technology Council since its creation in 2021 to encourage trade relation with the European Union.

In January 2022, Tony Blinken authorized the supply of weapons to Ukraine to support the Eastern European country in amid border tensions with Russia.

On February 11, Tony Blinken publicly warned about the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine prior to the end the 2022 Winter Olympics.

In July 2022, Tony Blinken had a meeting with Sergey Lavrov to discuss a prisoner swap to secure the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner.

Tony Blinken has asserted that "[Biden] would not tie military assistance to Israel to things like annexation or other decisions by the Israeli government with which we might disagree".

Tony Blinken praised the Trump administration-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

On October 28,2020, Blinken reaffirmed that a Biden administration will undertake strategic review of the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, ensuring that it advances U S interests and values.

In January 2021, Tony Blinken has stated the Biden administration would keep the American embassy to Israel in Jerusalem and would seek a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Tony Blinken is in favor of continuing non-nuclear sanctions against Iran and described it as "a strong hedge against Iranian misbehavior in other areas".

Tony Blinken did not rule out a military intervention to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Tony Blinken has been critical of the Trump administration in aiding China to advance its own key strategic goals.

Tony Blinken has viewed China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in its northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Tony Blinken has characterized former president Trump's Phase One trade deal with China as "a debacle".

Tony Blinken has indicated American interest in robust ties between itself, Greece, Israel, and Cyprus regarding the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act and acknowledged the threats posed by an expansionist Turkey, which is "not acting like an ally".

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Tony Blinken has suggested that he would consider sanctioning the Erdogan administration.

Tony Blinken reaffirmed his support of keeping NATO's door open for Georgia, a country in the Caucasus, and raised the argument that NATO member countries have been more effectively shielded from "Russian aggression".

Tony Blinken expressed his support of extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia to limit the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads.

Tony Blinken said the Biden administration will "review" security assistance to Azerbaijan due to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and voiced his support for "the provision to Armenia of security assistance".

Tony Blinken expressed concern over perceived human rights violations in Egypt under the presidency of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.