Christopher Thomas Landau, born on November 13, 1963, in Madrid, Spain, to Austrian émigré parents who fled to the U.S. via Colombia following Hitler's rise to power, is the son of George Landau, a U.S. Foreign Service officer who later served as U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, Chile, and Venezuela. He earned an A.B. in History from Princeton University in 1985 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991. A prominent constitutional lawyer and appellate advocate, Landau argued multiple cases before the U.S. Supreme Court while at Kirkland & Ellis and served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit during the Trump administration. Nominated by President Trump, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from 2019 to 2021, focusing on border security, trade, and counternarcotics cooperation amid tense U.S.-Mexico relations. In 2025, he was confirmed as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, overseeing key foreign policy operations. Landau has been involved in high-profile legal advocacy and diplomatic roles shaping U.S. influence in Latin America and beyond.