National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones Stepping Down

WASHINGTON (Oct. 8) -- In another White House shake up, President Barack Obama on Friday announced that his national security adviser, Gen. James Jones, was stepping down after helping to shape the foreign policy for nearly two years. Tom Donilon, Jones' deputy, will take over as the top security adviser.

Obama hailed Jones, a lifelong military man before his White House post, as a "dedicated public servant and a friend to me." The president turned over the job to Donilon, a workhorse figure in the White House who brings to the job a long background of Democratic politics and diplomacy.

The president said that Jones, from the start, had planned to leave within two years. The move comes just one week after Obama lost his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, who quit to run for Chicago mayor. Other significant staff changes are likely as Obama's term nears its midterm mark.

Gerald Herbert, AP

National Security Adviser James Jones, shown in a 2009 photo, is stepping down and will be replaced by his top deputy, Tom Donilon.

Jones has served during a time when Obama has sought to reshape American foreign policy on many fronts, from ending the combat mission in Iraq to expanding the war in Afghanistan to attempting to improve relations across Europe and Asia. Jones had quiet clout but also found himself in a world of turf battles and tensions given the competing demands, ideas and personalities in the government and the challenge of trying to coordinate them at the National Security Council.

"Through these challenges, Jim has always been a steady voice in Situation Room sessions, daily briefings, and with meetings with foreign leaders, also representing our country abroad with allies and partners in every region of the world," Obama said in a Rose Garden ceremony.

Obama had recruited Jones for a job he had not been seeking. Before the cameras Friday, Jones told Obama that he accepted the job in large part because "I was persuaded that you were willing to take on the hard issues of our time at a very, very difficult moment in our nation's history."