John Tierney impressed me deeply with both his brilliance and his humanity.  In this discussion we covered a lot of ground, from his time in Congress to his work on behalf of the Council For A Livable World.  John is a natural leader and has done so much to improve the lives of people.  It was an honor to have him on the show in which I hope is the first of many appearances.

John Tierney is the Executive Director at Council for a Livable World, where his work focuses on national security issues in Congress, nuclear nonproliferation, missile defense, and other areas of peace and security.

Tierney is a former nine-term Massachusetts congressman who served on the House Intelligence Committee and chaired the National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee of the Government Oversight and Reform Committee. During his congressional career, Tierney spent considerable time advocating on nuclear non-proliferation and national security issues. As a Member, Tierney was regularly endorsed by the Council for a Livable World for his leadership in arms control and preventing nuclear proliferation.

Tierney’s 18-year career included oversight of the Government Accountability Office’s annual assessment of the Pentagon’s Weapons Selection Programs and reform of overall Pentagon spending. In 2009, Foreign Policy Magazine praised Tierney, noting that he “has a reputation for taking on thorny oversight issues the House Armed Services Committee shied away from.”

Here’s our episode with another congressmen, Tim Ryan.