Charles Martin Kupperman is a Jewish American national security expert who grew up in Waukegan, Illinois, where his parents owned a paint factory. He graduated from Waukegan Township High School in 1968, where he played varsity baseball, and is married to Judie Kupperman, also a graduate of the same high school; they have three children. He earned a BA in political science from Purdue University (1972), an MA in international relations from the University of British Columbia (1973) with a thesis on U.S. strategic doctrines from 1945–1972, and a PhD in strategic studies from the University of Southern California (1980) with a thesis on the SALT II Debate, supervised by William Van Cleave. His career includes roles in the Reagan Administration as a senior defense analyst for the Committee on the Present Danger (1978–1980), foreign policy adviser to Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, executive assistant to the acting NASA administrator (from December 1985), executive director of the General Advisory Committee on Arms Control at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, executive assistant to the director of the Office of Personnel Management, and special assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Administration (from July 1986). In the private sector, he served as president and CEO of Xsirius Superconductivity (1991, Arlington, Virginia), director of total quality management at McDonnell Douglas Corporation, vice president of Washington space operations at Lockheed Martin Corporation, and vice president for business development in missile defense systems at Boeing (retired July 2006 after six years). Under President Donald Trump, he served as Deputy National Security Advisor from January 11, 2019, to September 22, 2019, and acting National Security Advisor from September 10 to September 18, 2019. He was a member of the Center for Security Policy board of directors from 2001 to 2010 and served on the board of advisors for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program, as well as treasurer of the Bolton for New Hampshire PAC (late 2014). Kupperman was involved in the July 25, 2019, call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that sparked the Trump-Ukraine scandal and House impeachment inquiry; he received a subpoena to testify on October 28, 2019, but did not comply due to executive privilege claims, leading to a lawsuit (Charles M. Kupperman v. United States House of Representatives, et al., Case 1:19-cv-03224-RJL), which was dismissed on December 30, 2019, after the subpoena was withdrawn. He has faced criticism from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for ties to the Center for Security Policy and alleged anti-Islam statements.