James Norman Mattis, born on September 8, 1950, in Pullman, Washington, to John West Mattis, a merchant mariner who worked on the Manhattan Project, and Lucille Proulx Mattis, a Canadian immigrant who served in Army Intelligence during World War II, grew up in a bookish household in Richland, Washington, without a television. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1969 while attending Central Washington University through ROTC, graduating with a B.A. in history in 1971 and being commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1972. Over a 44-year military career, he rose to four-star general, commanding units in key operations including Task Force 58 in Afghanistan (2001), the 1st Marine Division in Iraq (2003), U.S. Central Command (2010-2013), and U.S. Joint Forces Command (2007-2010), earning nicknames like 'Warrior Monk' for his bachelorhood, intellectualism, and devotion to military history; he retired in 2013. Known for his expertise in military strategy, he has been a key figure in U.S. defense policy. Post-retirement, Mattis served as a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, co-edited 'Warriors and Citizens' (2016), and authored the bestseller 'Call Sign Chaos' (2019). He joined boards including Theranos (later embroiled in fraud scandal), General Dynamics (2013-2017, rejoined 2019), and as Senior Counselor at The Cohen Group. Nominated by President-elect Trump, he served as the 26th United States Secretary of Defense from 2017 until resigning in December 2018 over U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria. A lifelong bachelor until marrying physicist Christina Lomasney in June 2022, he has no children and owns a library of 7,000 books, recommending Marcus Aurelius's 'Meditations'. Inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution in 2021.