Gen. John Gordon

lthough the White House's homeland-security operation has taken a lower profile since the advent of the Department of Homeland Security, John Gordon wields considerable behind-the-scenes influence. He replaced Tom Ridge when Ridge became secretary of the new department, and Gordon's office is the node for homeland-security policy and intergovernmental coordination. He meets with President Bush daily and oversees the Homeland Security Council staff.

The backstage role suits Gordon well, colleagues say. "He's Mr. Stealth, never leaves his fingerprints on anything," said one peer. But friends say he's frustrated by the tangled and growing homeland-security bureaucracy.

A retired four-star Air Force general, Gordon worked for the National Security Council as deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism before he took his current job in April 2003.

"I went from playing offense to defense," said Gordon, who spent 36 years of his career in national security, including a three-year stint as deputy director of central intelligence in the Clinton administration.

Gordon said the toughest part of his job is balancing long-term thinking with daily crisis response, and he's currently focused on the changing nature of terrorism and how to protect against it. He was a driving force behind the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, as well as the recent "end-to-end" bioterrorism assessment, aimed at identifying gaps and prioritizing efforts to fill them. Gordon said he wants to perform similar assessments for other weapons of mass destruction.

Gordon, 57, a native of Jefferson City, Mo., earned his bachelor of science degree at the University of Missouri and his master's degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School and New Mexico Highlands University. Between jobs at the CIA and NSC, Gordon served as an undersecretary at the Energy Department, heading the National Nuclear Security Administration.