Amanda J. Rothschild, Ph.D.
Twitter: @Rothschild_AJ
Amanda J. Rothschild is a national security professional, former presidential speechwriter, and
strategic communications expert. She has served in several senior foreign policy and
communications positions in government as well as in the non-profit and private sector community.
During the Trump administration, Rothschild served as Senior Advisor and Member on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and as a Special Assistant to the President and the Senior National Security Speechwriter at the White House. Her service at the White House and National Security Council from 2017-2020 included traveling with the president for international engagements and foreign policy meetings, including the 2017 Asia Trip to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, U.N. meetings in New York, the World Economic Forum, NATO, G20, and G7 meetings, State Visits abroad, and the Helsinki, Singapore, and Hanoi Summits. She also served as a chief speechwriter to several U.S. National Security Advisers. She is a recipient of the National Security Council’s Outstanding Service Award and a presidential "Certificate of Appreciation" for her service during the Singapore Summit.
Outside of government, Amanda has served as Vice President at a strategic communications and public relations firm, as Senior Policy Director at the Vandenberg Coalition, as a nonresident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, and as a member of the Advisory Council of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy.
Rothschild's research and commentary on international and political affairs have appeared in scholarly and popular outlets, including International Security, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the National Interest, Newsweek, the New York Times, the New York Sun, Forbes, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Hill, and the Washington Examiner.
She received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was a member of the MIT Security Studies Program, and she completed predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. While completing her doctoral studies, Rothschild received the International Studies Association's Patricia Weitsman Award, which recognizes the best research paper on any aspect of international security studies written by a graduate student. To learn more about her doctoral research, see Sarah Baldwin's profile for MIT, "The Courage to Dissent: Political Science Meets Personal History," or Casey Campbell's for Belfer, "Investigating U.S. Debate and Response to Mass Killings."
Rothschild received her B.A., summa cum laude, in Political Science from Boston College, where she was a member of the Division I women's ice hockey team and a Rhodes Scholar Finalist (Final Selection Round, District 2 MA/CT). At commencement, she received the Finneran Commencement Award, the College of Arts and Sciences' highest award, for the senior who has “achieved outstanding success in studies, while also devoting time and talents to other activities for the enrichment of the College.” She also received the Donald S. Carlisle Award for outstanding achievement in political science and the John McCarthy S.J. Award for the most distinguished "Scholar of the College" thesis in the social sciences. As a student-athlete, she was twice named to the six-player Division I Hockey East Academic All-Star Team in the goaltender's position.
Twitter: @Rothschild_AJ
Amanda J. Rothschild is a national security professional, former presidential speechwriter, and
strategic communications expert. She has served in several senior foreign policy and
communications positions in government as well as in the non-profit and private sector community.
During the Trump administration, Rothschild served as Senior Advisor and Member on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and as a Special Assistant to the President and the Senior National Security Speechwriter at the White House. Her service at the White House and National Security Council from 2017-2020 included traveling with the president for international engagements and foreign policy meetings, including the 2017 Asia Trip to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, U.N. meetings in New York, the World Economic Forum, NATO, G20, and G7 meetings, State Visits abroad, and the Helsinki, Singapore, and Hanoi Summits. She also served as a chief speechwriter to several U.S. National Security Advisers. She is a recipient of the National Security Council’s Outstanding Service Award and a presidential "Certificate of Appreciation" for her service during the Singapore Summit.
Outside of government, Amanda has served as Vice President at a strategic communications and public relations firm, as Senior Policy Director at the Vandenberg Coalition, as a nonresident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, and as a member of the Advisory Council of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy.
Rothschild's research and commentary on international and political affairs have appeared in scholarly and popular outlets, including International Security, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the National Interest, Newsweek, the New York Times, the New York Sun, Forbes, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Hill, and the Washington Examiner.
She received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was a member of the MIT Security Studies Program, and she completed predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. While completing her doctoral studies, Rothschild received the International Studies Association's Patricia Weitsman Award, which recognizes the best research paper on any aspect of international security studies written by a graduate student. To learn more about her doctoral research, see Sarah Baldwin's profile for MIT, "The Courage to Dissent: Political Science Meets Personal History," or Casey Campbell's for Belfer, "Investigating U.S. Debate and Response to Mass Killings."
Rothschild received her B.A., summa cum laude, in Political Science from Boston College, where she was a member of the Division I women's ice hockey team and a Rhodes Scholar Finalist (Final Selection Round, District 2 MA/CT). At commencement, she received the Finneran Commencement Award, the College of Arts and Sciences' highest award, for the senior who has “achieved outstanding success in studies, while also devoting time and talents to other activities for the enrichment of the College.” She also received the Donald S. Carlisle Award for outstanding achievement in political science and the John McCarthy S.J. Award for the most distinguished "Scholar of the College" thesis in the social sciences. As a student-athlete, she was twice named to the six-player Division I Hockey East Academic All-Star Team in the goaltender's position.