John Brennan - Fast Facts

Here is a look at the life of John Brennan, nominated to be the director of the CIA.

Personal: Birth date: September 22, 1955

Birth place: New Jersey

Birth name: John O. Brennan

Father: Owen Brennan, an Irish immigrant

Mother: Dorothy Brennan, an Irish immigrant

Marriage: Kathy (Pokluda) Brennan

Children: Kyle; Kelly; Jaclyn

Education: Fordham University, BA, 1977; University of Texas, Masters in Government, 1980

Other Facts: Studied at the American University in Cairo, Egypt during college.

Speaks Arabic.

Was considered a shoo-in for the position of CIA director after Barack Obama's election in November 2008. Brennan dropped out of the running for the job after being criticized for supporting the enhanced terrorist interrogation techniques in use since September 11, 2001.

Timeline: 1980 - Brennan joins the CIA's Directorate of Operations as a Career Trainee.

1981 - Joins the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence.

1982-1984 - Political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

1984-1989 - Works in the Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis in the Directorate of Intelligence.

1990-1992 - In charge of terrorism analysis in the Director of Central Intelligence's Counterterrorist Center.

1994-1995 - CIA's daily intelligence briefer at the White House during the administration of President Bill Clinton.

1995-1996 - Executive Assistant to then-CIA Deputy Director George Tenet.

1996-1999 - CIA Chief of Station in Saudi Arabia.

1999-2001 - Chief of Staff to then-CIA Director George Tenet.

March 2001-March 2003 - CIA Deputy Executive Director.

March 12, 2003-December 6, 2004 - Founding director of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center.

October 2004-August 2005 - Interim Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

November 2005-January 2009 - President and CEO of The Analysis Corporation.

2008 - Intelligence adviser to then-Sen. Barack Obama during his presidential campaign.

January 20, 2009-present - Assistant to President Barack Obama for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.

January 7, 2013 - Nominated by President Barack Obama to be director of the CIA.