The Inter-American Dialogue mourns the loss of Brent Scowcroft, who died on August 7 at his home in Falls Church, Virginia, at the age of 95. Scowcroft served as the National Security Advisor to presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, and he was a member of the Dialogue since 1993.

Scowcroft’s twenty-nine-year military career began with graduation from West Point and concluded at the rank of Lieutenant General following service as the Deputy National Security Advisor. He went on to be the special assistant to the director of the joint chiefs of staff and military assistant to President Nixon. 

Out of uniform, Scowcroft continued in a public policy capacity by serving on the President’s General Advisory Committee on Arms Control, the President’s Commission on Strategic Forces, the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management and the President’s Special Review Board. He also formerly served as the chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and was a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. He was vice chair of Kissinger Associates from 1982 to 1989.

He is survived by their daughter, Karen Scowcroft, and his granddaughter.

Read our full tribute to General Scowcroft written by Michael Shifter, president of the Dialogue, linked here.