December 5, 1984
The President today announced the appointment of James Peter Covey as Senior Director of Near
East and South Asian Affairs for the National Security Council and Special Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs.
Following service as interpreter/translator in the U.S. Army Security Agency in Berlin (1965 -
1969) and as a secondary school teacher in Kampala, Uganda (1970 - 1971), Mr. Covey entered
the Foreign Service in 1971. Since then he has served as consular officer in Pretoria (1972 -
1974); watch officer in the State Department's Operations Center (1974 - 1975); special assistant
to the Secretary of State (1975 - 1977); a fellow of the Center for Strategic and International
Studies at Georgetown University (1977 - 1978); political officer for the State Department's
Office of Israeli and Arab-Israeli Affairs (1978 - 1980); delegate to the Egyptian-Israeli-U.S.
peace talks (1979 - 1980); deputy principal officer in Jerusalem (1980 - 1983); member of the
Habib mission in Beirut (1982); and Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State
(1983 to present).
Mr. Covey graduated from St. Lawrence University (B.A., 1965). He is married to Christine
Ramsay Covey. They have two children and reside in Washington, DC. He was born March 7,
1944.