Jon Lerner

Jon Lerner is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, where he focuses on American foreign policy.

Mr. Lerner was born and raised in Minneapolis. He attended George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where his thesis examined Soviet dissent policy; the London School of Economics, where he studied international relations; and the University of Chicago Law School, where he was an editor of the University of Chicago Law Review.

He served as a legislative assistant to members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he worked on national security policies.

After managing two US Senate campaigns, Mr. Lerner founded a polling and advertising company that grew to become one of the leading political consulting, survey research, and advertising firms in America. He helped elect more than two dozen US senators, members of Congress, and governors, and held senior positions on two presidential campaigns.

In January 2017, Mr. Lerner returned to government service, entering the Trump administration as deputy to United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. In that capacity, he served on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council, responsible for advising the National Security Council and the president on a full range of foreign policy issues with emphasis on actions at the United Nations. He ended his government service on December 31, 2018.

Mr. Lerner and his wife live in Maryland and have three children and two dogs.