President-elect Trump revealed the 'secret' that he
appointed retired Gen. James Mattis as Defense secretary during his 'Thank You
Tour' in Cincinnati
James Mattis is a retired four-star Marine general who played several leading roles in the military for over 40 years.
Before making the announcement Trump asked the audience to raise their hand if they would agree not to tell anyone.
"We are going to appoint 'Mad Dog' Mattis as our Secretary of Defense," Trump said. "But we're not announcing it 'til Monday, so don't tell anybody."
James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950)
is a retired United States Marine Corps general who
last served as the 11th commander of United States Central Command from August 11, 2010 to March 22,
2013.
Mattis
is known for implementing the COIN strategy.
Before President Obamaappointed
him to replace General Petraeus on August 11, 2010, he previously
commanded United States Joint Forces Command from November 9, 2007 to August 2010
and served concurrently as NATO's Supreme
Allied Commander Transformationfrom November 9, 2007 to September 8,
2009. Prior to that, he commanded I Marine Expeditionary Force, United States Marine Forces Central
Command, and 1st Marine Division during the Iraq War.[3]
On
December 1, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Mattis would be
nominated to serve as United States Secretary of Defense in the coming administration. Read Full Bio
