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=<div>brazen nature of Bolton’s appointment was underscored by the fact that it came the same day that <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/03/22/595897412/john-boltons-curious-appearance-in-a-russian-gun-rights-video" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">news broke</a> of Bolton having recorded a video for a Russian gun group in 2013, after being introduced to the group by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Given the scandals around Russia and the NRA of late, the indifference to the politics of this news speaks volumes about the White House’s commitment to Bolton.As outraged as many supporters of diplomacy have been at Trump’s appointments and policies, Bolton’s appointment reaches a new level. Here at LobeLog, we are reprinting, with permission, the profile of John Bolton from <a href="https://rightweb.irc-online.org/" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Right Web</a>, a site which tracks the activities of a vast array of right wing and militaristic figures and organizations.(Note: Right Web generally relies on footnotes for its citations. While LobeLog does not usually employ footnotes, we feel that getting Bolton’s profile to our readers is important enough to make an exception here.)John Bolton is a senior fellow at the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute and the chairman of the <a href="https://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/gatestone_institute" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Gatestone Institute</a>, a right-wing “pro-Israel” activist group that has been accused of fomenting anti-Muslim sentiment. A longtime national security hawk, Bolton is a former board member of the <a href="https://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/project_for_the_new_american_century" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Project for the New American Century</a> and a past adviser to the <a href="https://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/jewish_institute_for_national_security_affairs" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs</a>. He is a frequent contributor to Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, the <a href="https://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/weekly_standard" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Weekly Standard</a>, and other right-wing media outlets.Bolton has been a key Republican Party figure since he was tapped to serve in the Reagan administration in the 1980s, where he held a series of posts at USAID before joining a team of <a href="https://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Federalist_Society" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Federalist Society</a> lawyers under Attorney General <a href="https://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Meese_Edwin_III" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Edwin Meese</a>.<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn1" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[1]</a> He later worked in several high-level positions in the George W. Bush administration, including as the State Department’s chief diplomat on arms control and as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. A major focus of his work in and out of government has been to free U.S. military power from international constraint.Bolton has long dismissed the legitimacy of the United Nations and other international institutions. In a 1994 speech at the World Federalist Association, Bolton infamously declared, “If the UN secretary building in New York lost ten stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.”<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn4" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[4]</a> He has also dismissed international treaties as nonbinding “political obligations”<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn5" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[5]</a> and was a leading opponent of the International Criminal Court, which he once claimed would turn the “senior civilian and military leaders responsible for our defense and foreign policy” into “potential targets of the politically unaccountable Prosecutor in Rome.”<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn6" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[6]</a>In late 2016, Bolton was rumored to be the leading candidate for the position of Secretary of State for President-elect Donald Trump.<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn2" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[2]</a> After being passed over for that position, he was rumored to be the leading candidate for National Security Adviser if H.R. McMaster resigned or was ousted.<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn3" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[3]</a>In the Trump EraDuring the 2016 election campaign, Bolton broke with other neoconservative pundits like <a href="https://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/kagan_robert/" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Robert Kagan</a> in praising <a href="https://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/trump_donald/" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Donald Trump</a>‘s foreign policy positions. He commended Trump for saying that Islamic militants are waging an “ideological war” on the West, for calling the planned withdrawal of troops from Iraq as “reckless,” and for urging more military action against ISIS.<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn7" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[7]</a>Shortly after Trump’s election, press accounts reported that Bolton was being “eyed” by Trump for Secretary of State. He subsequently became a contender to replace the controversial retired Gen. <a href="https://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/flynn_michael/" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Michael Flynn</a>, who was forced out of his position as National Security Adviser (NSA) only weeks after Trump’s inauguration because of his controversial contacts with Russian officials. The idea of Bolton as NSA, overwhelmingly opposed by Democrats, divided Republicans, with the hawkish Sen. <a href="https://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/cruz_ted/" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">Ted Cruz</a> (R-TX) pushing the candidacy<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn8" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[8]</a> and libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) calling him a “bad choice” who could end up promoting “secret wars.”<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn9" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[9]</a>
In March 2018, Bolton’s name once again surfaced as a candidate for the NSA position. H.R. McMaster was rumored to be seeking an exit from the Trump administration, and Bolton met with Trump in the Oval Office while these rumors were circulating.<a href="https://lobelog.com/john-bolton-the-essential-profile/#ftn10" style="color: rgb(241, 96, 44); text-decoration-line: none;">[10
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