His paternal grandfather was from Bessarabia. Gordon is a retired United States Navy officer who was a senior adviser to numerous prominent Republican po- litical figures. Gordon has also been a television commentator and columnist with various media outlets including One America News Network, Fox News, Sky News, The Daily Caller, USA Today, The Hill, The Washington Times and others. Gordon founded Protect America Today, a national security-themed Super PAC in February 2012. Gordon served a 20-year military career, first in amphibious warfare, and then as a spokesman for the Navy and Department of Defense. He managed communi- cations and press relations in a wide variety of locations including posts in Europe, Latin America and Asia. His final assignment was at the Pentagon, serving under Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates from 2005 to 2009. In March 2016, he joined theTrump campaign as the Director of National Security, managing the National Security Advisory Committee under its chairman, Senator Jeff Sessions (R. - Ala.) who became the Attorney General following Trump's election victory. State Department documents show Gordon was formally recommended for the position of Under Secretary, Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, appearing on the primary list of can- didates. In 1994, Gordon served at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base asthe spokesman for the Haitian and Cuban refugee crises.