Obama's National Security Point Man

What makes Jones unusual is that after his tour as commandant came to an end, he didn't muster out. Instead, he went overseas as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, a job that since the Cold War's end has been as much about diplomacy as about war-fighting. That's how he came to be in Obama's office in early 2005, giving the new Senator a "wave top" briefing on Russia, Africa and NATO's troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The conversation lasted an hour. Jones impressed Obama with his "broad view of U.S. national-security interests, from classic military power to training missions, energy security and diplomacy," says an aide who attended the briefing. Obama struck Jones as a "very, very good listener."

For the past year, Jones has been holed up at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he led a program to redefine America's energy policy. At the same time, Congress asked Jones to assess the training of Iraqi forces, a key to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. By last summer, says a close Obama aide, "General Jones was already under consideration for a top job in the Administration."

Though not above spin, Jones is willing to admit things that are not to his advantage and take responsibility for his errors. At a West Wing meeting in late 2002, Bush asked each of the service chiefs whether he agreed with Donald Rumsfeld's plan for a lightly armed invasion of Iraq, and Jones said he did. When I asked him recently if, in retrospect, he should have spoken out against the plan, he said, "In hindsight, that's probably fair."

Jones is equally blunt about how bad things have become in Gaza. After advocating for more realistic goals in the Middle East last year, Jones started a pilot project in the West Bank town of Jenin to organize training for Palestinian police and funding for development projects. Now he fears that his modest successes there may be undermined if the violence in Gaza continues. "I think they still believe" in peace, Jones says, but "I haven't asked that question since Gaza." It will be up to him and Obama to find the answers.

See pictures of Barack Obama's college years.

See the Six Degrees of Barack Obama.