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Person

Antony Blinken

Born:

1962
Political Party:

Democratic Party
Occupation:

Former Secretary of State, Biden Administration

Board member, Center for American Progress (CAP)

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Antony Blinken was the former U.S. Secretary of State under the Biden administration. 1 He started his career in 1993 in the U.S. Department of State during the Clinton administration and would later hold positions in the State Department as well as the U.S. Senate. 2

After the election of President Donald Trump and the start of the First Trump Administration, Blinken founded political consulting firm WestExec Advisors in 2017 and became a partner in the private equity firm Pine Island Capital Partners. In 2021, Blinken was nominated and confirmed as U.S. Secretary of State under then-President Joe Biden. 1

Blinken previously worked with Biden since 2002, with one former State Department official claiming that for both Biden and Blinken, “it’s difficult to know where one person’s policy vision ends and the other’s begins.” 2

Family

Antony Blinken was born in Yonkers, New York to Jewish parents. His father, Donald M. Blinken, was a banker who later served serve as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary during the Clinton administration. Blinken’s grandfather, Samuel Pisar, was a Holocaust survivor, well-known lawyer, and former Kennedy administration staff member. Blinken’s half-sister, Leah Pisar, worked as a communications director in the State Department under former President Bill Clinton. Blinken’s uncle, Alan Blinken, was the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium during the Clinton administration. 3

Blinken is married to Evan Ryan, who previously worked for former President Joe Biden as White House Cabinet Secretary during the Biden Administration. After graduating from Boston College and Johns Hopkins University, Ryan worked as Deputy Director of Scheduling for then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. At the time, Blinken was on President Clinton’s National Security Council. The two met while working in the White House in 1995 and married in 2001. 4 Hillary Clinton attended their wedding. 3

In 2000, Ryan left the White House to work as Director of Scheduling on Hillary Clinton campaign for U.S. Senate in New York. In 2003, Ryan joined then-U.S. Senator John Kerry’s (D-MA) presidential campaign. In 2005, she became deputy chair for the governance track of the Clinton Global Initiative. From 2008 to 2013, Ryan was a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 5

In 2009, Ryan returned to the White House to become an assistant to then-Vice President Biden and Special Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement during the Obama administration. In 2013, she became Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. In 2017, she left the White House again to become executive vice president of news website Axios. 4 5

After Biden’s election in 2020, Ryan became a senior advisor for the Biden-Harris transition team before becoming White House Cabinet Secretary. 6 7

Education

Antony Blinken attended the private Dalton School in New York City until he moved to Paris, France with his mother at age nine. He attended the bilingual Ecole Jeannine Manuel where he learned French. 83

In 1980, Blinken attended Harvard University to major in social studies. He wrote for the Harvard Crimson and got an internship at the left-of-center New Republic. In 1985, Blinken began attending Columbia Law School, where he earned his law degree. 83

Career

In 1988, while still in law school, Blinken and his father worked on fundraising for former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis’s presidential campaign. 9

In 1993, Blinken began his career as a special assistant to the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs at the U.S. State Department under President Bill Clinton. Within the Clinton administration, Blinken also worked as a member of the National Security Council staff, where he led the Council’s strategic planning team. Blinken also worked as Senior Director of European Affairs and as Chief Foreign Policy Speechwriter. 10

In 2002, Blinken first began working with Biden as staff director of the Senate Foreign Policy Committee. 9 In 2008, Blinken left the U.S. Senate to work on then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. 11 The following year, Blinken was on the Obama-Biden Presidential transition team. 12

From 2009 until 2013, Blinken served as Deputy Assistant to then-President Barack Obama and as National Security Advisor to then-Vice President Biden. In 2014, Blinken was nominated and confirmed as Deputy Secretary of State under former Secretary of State John Kerry. 13143

In 2017, Blinken and Michele Flournoy, who worked in the U.S. Department of Defense under Presidents Clinton and Obama; Sergio Aguirre; and Nitin Chadda, founded political consulting firm WestExec Advisors. The company specialized in getting U.S. Department of Defense contracts for Silicon Valley firms. 15

Also in 2017, Blinken had a position at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy, a think tank based out of the University of Pennsylvania and named after President Biden. 16

In 2018, Blinken and Flournoy became partners at the newly founded private equity firm Pine Island Capital Partners. The co-founders and other partners of the firm were executives from CIT Group, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Coca-Cola. As of 2020, Pine Island had purchased two companies which were heavily dependent on government contracts. 17

In 2020, Blinken briefly worked as a senior foreign policy advisor on President Biden’s presidential campaign. 18

U.S. Secretary of State

Shortly after being elected president in 2020, then-President-elect Joe Biden nominated Secretary Blinken to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. 1

In November 2020, the New York Times and Politico questioned the connections between WestExec, Pine Island Capital Partners, and the incoming Biden administration. The firms were considered examples of “revolving doors,” in which political insiders use their relationships to enrich private interests. The New York Times asked WestExec for a list of its clients, but the company refused. 1920 In January 2021, Politico published a list of Blinken’s clients at WestExec including SoftBank, Uber, Microsoft, and Lazard. For his work, WestExec paid Blinken $1.2 million over two years. 1

In response to public pressure, Blinken sold his shares of the company for $500,000. Avril Haines, President Biden’s choice for the Director of National Intelligence, had also worked as a consultant for WestExec, earning $55,000. David Cohen, President Biden’s Deputy Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was also a WestExec employee. 1

Post-Administration Career

As of August 2025, Antony Blinken was listed as a board member of the Center for American Progress (CAP). 21 22

Foreign Policy Views

Antony Blinken’s foreign policy views tend towards interventionism, internationalism, and diplomatic cooperation between Western nations. Ben Rhodes, a former foreign policy advisor to President Barack Obama, has called Blinken a “pragmatist” and “consensus-builder,” rather than an ideologue. 14 Blinken is a strong supporter of alliances with Europe and has a particularly close relationship with the French government. The New York Times claimed Blinken’s diplomatic priorities in the Biden administration were rebuilding alliances allegedly eroded by then-former President Donald Trump. 233

In 2003, Blinken supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein and advised then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) to vote in support of the operation. 24 Blinken later helped then-Sen. Biden to craft a plan to divide Iraq into three autonomous regions, based on majority Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish populations, under the national government. Both Congress and the Iraqi government rejected the plan. 23

In 2011, Blinken supported the Obama Administration’s intervention in Libya in which armed rebels overthrew Muammar Ghaddafi. 14 Blinken supported the similar but unsuccessful initiative to arm rebels in Syria to oppose Bashar al-Assad. 25 Later, Blinken defended the usage of American airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which was partially armed and funded by the U.S. government. 26 In 2015, Blinken spoke out in support of efforts by Saudi Arabia to intervene in the Yemeni Civil War. 27

In 2014, he claimed in an interview with Newsweek that the United States should cooperate with Europe to isolate Russia. 28 Blinken previously advocated for the denuclearization of North Korea. 28 Secretary Blinken has also advocated for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Syria. 28

Political Donations

Between 1993 and 2021, Antony Blinken made roughly 42 donations to political candidates and PACs. All donations have gone to the campaigns of Democratic Party candidates and organizations. The largest recipient was former President Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential election, to whom Secretary Blinken gave $5,400 through the Democratic primary and general presidential election in November 2020. 16

References

  1. Meyer, Theodoric; Thompson, Alex. “Inside Secretary Blinken’s corporate work.” Politico. January 4, 2021. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/transition-playbook/2021/01/04/inside-Secretary Blinkens-corporate-work-792563.
  2. Gaouette, Nicole; Hansler, Jennifer; Atwood, Kylie. “Biden picks loyal lieutenant to lead mission to restore US reputation on world stage.” CNN Politics. November 24, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/23/politics/Secretary Blinken-biden-secstate-candidate/index.html.
  3. Herszenhorn, David M.; Momtaz, Rym. “9 things to know about Antony Secretary Blinken, the next US secretary of state.” Politico. November 23, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.politico.eu/article/nine-things-to-think-about-antony-Secretary Blinken/.
  4. Laviola, Erin. “Evan Ryan, Tony Secretary Blinken’s Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know.” Heavy. February 1, 2021. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://heavy.com/news/evan-ryan-tony-Secretary Blinken-wife/.
  5. “Evan Ryan.” U.S. Department of State. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/215124.htm
  6. Thompson, Alex; Meyer, Theodoric. “Biden rewards loyalty.” Politico. November 20, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/transition-playbook/2020/11/20/biden-rewards-loyalty-791808.
  7. “Evan Ryan Named As Biden’s Cabinet Secretary.” RTT News. January 6, 2021. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.rttnews.com/3158184/evan-ryan-named-as-biden-s-cabinet-secretary.aspx.
  8. “Antony “Tony” Secretary Blinken.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tony-Secretary Blinken.
  9. Gaouette, Nicole; Hansler, Jennifer; Atwood, Kylie. “Biden picks loyal lieutenant to lead mission to restore US reputation on world stage.” CNN Politics. November 24, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021.
  10. “Secretary Antony J. Blinken.” U.S. Department of State. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.state.gov/biographies/antony-j-Secretary Blinken/.
  11. Thomas, Ken. “Joe Biden Picks Antony Secretary Blinken for Secretary of State.” November 23, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-picks-antony-Secretary Blinken-for-secretary-of-state-11606100542.
  12. LaMonica, Gabe. “Secretary Blinken confirmed by Senate as Kerry’s deputy at state.” CNN. December 17, 2014. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/Secretary Blinken-senate-confirmation/.
  13. Gramer, Robbie; Detsch, Jack. “Biden’s Secretary of State Pick Bodes Return to Normalcy for Weary Diplomats.” Foreign Policy. November 23, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/23/biden-Secretary Blinken-transition-state-department/.
  14. Allen, Jonathan. “Tony Secretary Blinken’s star turn.” Politico. September 16, 2013. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/tony-Secretary Blinkens-star-turn-096847.
  15. Fang, Lee. “Former Obama Officials Help Silicon Valley Pitch The Pentagon For Lucrative Defense Contracts.” Intercept. July 22, 2018. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://theintercept.com/2018/07/22/google-westexec-pentagon-defense-contracts/.
  16. “Donor Lookup: Antony Secretary Blinken.” Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=antony+Secretary Blinken&order=desc&sort=D.
  17. Primack, Dan. “What to know about the private equity firm linked to Tony Secretary Blinken.” Axios. November 30, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.axios.com/pine-island-private-equity-Secretary Blinken-biden-06f8dd00-7ada-4a81-acd9-56801ea81b97.html.
  18. “Secretary Blinken, Antony.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=82550.
  19. Bender, Bryan; Meyer, Theodoric. “The secretive consulting firm that’s become Biden’s Cabinet in waiting.” Politico. November 23, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/23/westexec-advisors-biden-cabinet-440072.
  20. Lipton, Eric; Vogel, Kenneth P.” Biden Aides’ Ties to Consulting and Investment Firms Pose Ethics Test.” New York Times. November 28, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/us/politics/biden-westexec.html
  21. “Board of Directors.” Center for American Progress, accessed August 8, 2025. https://www.americanprogress.org/about-us/c3-board/
  22. Jonathan Guyer (@mideastXmidwest). ” Tony Blinken has kept a relatively low profile since leaving government. He’s spoken at investment confabs in Utah and Paris, appeared on podcasts, and wrote an op-ed largely in support of Trump’s Iran strikes. Now, he’s joined the board of the Center for American Progress.” X, August 7, 2025. https://x.com/mideastXmidwest/status/1953553491219427502
  23. Jakes, Lara; Crowley, Michael; Sanger, David E. “Biden Chooses Antony Secretary Blinken, Defender of Global Alliances, as Secretary of State.” New York Times. November 22, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/22/us/politics/biden-antony-Secretary Blinken-secretary-of-state.html.
  24. Fordham, Evie. “Biden secretary of state pick Secretary Blinken criticized over Iraq War, consulting work.” Fox News. November 23, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-secretary-of-state-Secretary Blinken-iraq-war-criticism.
  25. “W.H. defends plan to arm Syrian rebels.” CNN. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://edition.cnn.com/videos/bestoftv/2014/09/18/house-approves-aid-to-syrian-rebels-Secretary Blinken-interview-newday.cnn.
  26. Mroue, Bassem. “U.S. official: Airstrikes killed 10,000 Islamic State fighters.” USA Today. June 3, 2015. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/06/03/islamic-state-death-toll/28415743/.
  27. “UN steps up arms for Saudi campaign in Yemen.” Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/4/8/us-steps-up-arms-for-saudi-campaign-in-yemen.
  28. Brennan, David. “What Antony Secretary Blinken Has Said About Key Foreign Policy Issues.” Newsweek. November 23, 2020. Accessed April 27, 2021. https://www.newsweek.com/what-antony-Secretary Blinken-said-about-key-foreign-policy-issues-1549404.
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