Appointment of Two Special Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs

The President today announced his intention to appoint the following individuals to be Special Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs:

Kenneth E. deGraffenreid joined the National Security Council staff in March 1981 and is currently Senior Director of Intelligence Programs. He served from 1977 to 1980 on the professional staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee and then participated on the Reagan transition team at the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. deGraffenreid also served for 10 years in the U.S. Navy as an aviator and intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency and is presently a commander in the Naval Reserve. He is a 1967 graduate of Purdue University and received his M.A. in national security studies from Catholic University. Mr. deGraffenreid has written and lectured widely on intelligence and national security issues. He is married, has two children, and resides in Severna Park, MD. He was born July 18, 1944, in Chicago, IL.

Constantine C. Menges has served since 1983 as Senior Director of Latin American Affairs at the National Security Council. Previously he served as the national intelligence officer for Latin America with the Central Intelligence Agency (1981-1983). Until September 1981 he was senior associate with the Washington office of the Hudson Institute. His professional work on foreign policy has included experience as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin (1964-1967), as a professional staff member at the Rand Corp. (1967-1970), and as a subcabinet official (1975-1977). Dr. Menges also has worked on domestic policy issues as an official of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1970-1975), including service as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Education. He received his A.B. degree from Columbia College in New York and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. Dr. Menges has lectured and published extensively on international politics and Latin American issues, including coauthorship of Politics in Europe (1965) and authorship of Spain: The Struggle for Democracy Today (1978). He was born September 1, 1939, in Ankara, Turkey.