John Kelly Popular Books
John Kelly Biography & Facts
John Francis Kelly (born May 11, 1950) is an American former political advisor and retired U.S. Marine Corps general who served as White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. He had previously served as Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump administration and was commander of United States Southern Command. Kelly is a board member at Caliburn International. Kelly enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and was commissioned as an officer near the end of college. He rose through the ranks, eventually serving in his last military post from 2012 to 2016 as a four-star general leading United States Southern Command, the unified combatant command responsible for American military operations in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Prior to joining the Trump administration in January 2017, Kelly had been on the board of advisors of DC Capital Partners, an investment firm that owns Caliburn International. Kelly was selected as the first Secretary of Homeland Security in the Trump administration. Kelly earned a reputation for being an aggressive enforcer of immigration law. After six months, he was selected to replace Reince Priebus as White House Chief of Staff in an attempt to bring more stability to the White House. He was the first career military officer to serve in the position since Alexander Haig during the Nixon and Ford Administrations. Early life and education Kelly was born on May 11, 1950, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Josephine "Honey" (Pedalino) and John F. Kelly. His family was Catholic, his father of Irish ancestry and his mother of Italian descent. His father was a postal worker in Brighton. He grew up in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston. Before he reached the age of 16, he hitchhiked to Washington state and rode the trains back, including a freight-hop from Seattle to Chicago. He then served for one year in the United States Merchant Marine, where he says "my first time overseas was taking 10,000 tons of beer to Vietnam". In 1970, when his mother told him that his draft number was coming up, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in an infantry company with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and was discharged to the inactive reserve as a sergeant in 1972 so that he could attend college. He returned to active duty with the Marines in 1975, completed Officer Candidates School, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on December 27, 1975. In 1976, he graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston and in 1984, he received a Master of Arts degree in National Security Affairs from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. In 1995, Kelly graduated from the National Defense University in Washington, DC with a Master of Science in Strategic Studies. Military career Kelly returned to the Second Marine Division where he served as a rifle platoon and weapons platoon commander, company executive officer, assistant operations officer, and rifle company commander. Sea duty in Mayport, Florida, followed, at which time he served aboard aircraft carriers USS Forrestal (CV-59) and USS Independence (CV-62). In 1980, then-Captain Kelly attended the U.S. Army's Infantry Officer Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. After graduation, he was assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C., serving there from 1981 through 1984, as an assignment monitor. Kelly returned to the Second Marine Division in 1984, to command a rifle company and weapons company. Promoted to major in 1987, he then served as a battalion operations officer. In 1987, Kelly transferred to the Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, serving first as the head of the Offensive Tactics Section, Tactics Group, and later assuming the duties of the Director of the Infantry Officer Course. After three years of instructing young officers, he attended the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the School for Advanced Warfare, both located at Quantico. Completing duty under instruction and selected for lieutenant colonel, he was assigned as commanding officer, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (1st LAR), 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California. During his tenure, 1st LAR was called in to provide augmentation support for police in the city of Long Beach, California during the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Holding this command position for two years, Kelly returned to the East Coast in 1994, to attend the National War College in Washington, D.C. He graduated in 1995 and was selected to serve as the Commandant's Liaison Officer to the U.S. House of Representatives, Capitol Hill, where he was promoted to colonel. In 1999, Kelly transferred to joint duty and served as the special assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, in Mons, Belgium. He returned to the United States in 2001 and was assigned to a third tour of duty at Camp Lejeune, now as the assistant chief of staff G-3 with the Second Marine Division. In 2002, Kelly again served with the 1st Marine Division, this time as the assistant division commander. Much of Kelly's two-year assignment was spent deployed in Iraq. In March 2003, while in Iraq, Kelly was promoted to brigadier general, which was the first known promotion of a Marine Corps colonel in an active combat zone since that of another First Marine Division assistant division commander, Chesty Puller, in January 1951. In April 2003, Kelly took command of the newly formed Task Force Tripoli and drove it north from Baghdad into Samarra and Tikrit. Kelly has stated that during the initial assault on Baghdad he was asked by a reporter for The Los Angeles Times if, considering the size of the Iraqi Army and the vast supplies of tanks, artillery and chemical weapons available to Saddam's forces, he would ever consider defeat. Kelly's response, as recounted by him at a 2007 San Diego Military Advisory Council networking breakfast, was, "hell these are Marines. Men like them held Guadalcanal and took Iwo Jima, Baghdad ain't shit." [sic] His next assignment was as legislative assistant to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Michael Hagee. In January 2007, Kelly was nominated for major general, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 11, 2007. Kelly's next assignment, in July 2007, was as commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). On February 9, 2008, Kelly assumed command of the Multi-National Force–West in Iraq, replacing Major General Walter E. Gaskin. After a year in Iraq, Kelly returned to the United States in February 2009. Kelly was nominated for lieutenant general on March 9, 2011, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 16, 2011. Kelly was the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense and personally greeted Secretary Leon Panetta at the entrance to the Pentagon on July 1, 2011, Panetta's first day as secretary. Kelly was nominated for General on January 31, 2012, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 26, 2012. He suc.... Discover the John Kelly popular books. Find the top 100 most popular John Kelly books.
Best Seller John Kelly Books of 2024
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The Golden Child
Wendy JamesA finalist for the 2017 Ned Kelly Award For readers of Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth, a gripping psychological thriller that asks the question: Can a child be born evil? ...
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Frontier Justice
Bill BrooksWhen a detective is murdered in a fire, his partner sets out on a mission for revenge to track down his mysterious killer.John Henry Cole is an operative of Ike Kelly’s Detective A...
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The Butler
Wil HaygoodThis mesmerizing companion book to the awardwinning film, The Butler traces the Civil Rights Movement and explores crucial moments of twentieth century American history through the...
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Tobruk
Peter FitzSimonsThe number 1 nonfiction bestseller.More than 100,000 copies sold! 'What we have, we hold'MOttO OF AUStRALIA'S 2/17tH BAttALIONIn the tradition of his bestselling Kokoda, Peter Fitz...
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Mrs Kelly
Grantlee KiezaThe astonishing life of Ned Kelly's motherWhile we know much about the iconic outlaw Ned Kelly, his mother Ellen Kelly has been largely overlooked by Australian writers and histori...
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Before the Storm
Alex GrayDiscover your next reading obsession with Alex Gray's Sunday Times bestselling Scottish detective series Don't miss the latest from Alex Gray. Book 20 in the Lorimer series, QUEST...
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NYPD Confidential
Leonard LevittFor years, the police commissioner and the mayor of New York City have duked it out for publicity, credit, and power. Some have translated their stardom into success after leaving ...
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Thursdays at Orange Blossom House
Sophie GreenFrom the author of beloved Top Ten bestsellers The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club and The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle comes a delightful new novel about f...
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Blowback
Miles TaylorINSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe author behind the “eyepopping” (CNN) #1 New York Times bestseller A Warning presents an urgent look at how our deeply divided nation is setting...
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A Planet for the President
Alistair BeatonThis is a story written over a decade ago.Before Fake News, or Alternative Facts, or even social media.It told the story of a nottoodistant future, which really was not too distant...
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Amish Christmas Romance Collection
Linda BylerBestselling Amish novelist Linda Byler’s three heartwarming Christmas romancesin one affordable volume!Linda Byler is beloved for her skillful story telling and truetolife descript...
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The Gatekeepers
Chris WhippleNow with a new chapter on the chaos in the Trump administration, the first indepth, behindthescenes look at the White House Chiefs of Staff, whose actionsand inactionshave defined ...
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Rest in Pieces
Bess LovejoyA “marvelously macabre” (Kirkus Reviews) history of the bizarre afterlives of corpses of the celebrated and notorious dead.For some of the most influential figures in history, deat...
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A Brief Guide to Spiritual Classics
James M. RussellThis very readable brief guide examines a wide range of spiritual writing that can be read for enjoyment or inspiration, including some books that come from beyond any religious tr...
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Dinner with the Schnabels
Toni Jordan'I loved every page of this funny, warm, delightful novel!' LIANE MORIARTY'A smart, funny novel about love, marriage and family.' Weekend Australian'With sharply observed character...
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Monash
Grantlee KiezaStunning trade paperback edition of Grantlee Kieza's bestselling biography of Australia's greatest generalIt's December 1918 and the world war is over. General Sir John Monash atte...
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The Wrong Child
Barry GornellHow far would you go to protect your child?When tragedy strikes in a small Scottish village, everyone in the community is affected.Most people believe one child is to blame for wha...
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The Amish Matchmaker
Amy LillardIn this uplifting new inspirational romance series, awardwinning authorAmy Lillard unites a “Widows’ Club” of women who share solace, friendship, faithand mouthwatering Whoopie Pie...
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Marry Me, Millie
Amy LillardAmy Lillard’s uplifting new series unites a “Widows Club” of women who share solace, friendship, and faith in the Amish community of Paradise Valley, Missouri . . . When her y...
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Justice on Trial
Mollie Hemingway & Carrie Severino#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER! Justice Anthony Kennedy slipped out of the Supreme Court building on June 27, 2018, and traveled incognito to the White House to inform President Donald Tru...
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A Simpler Time
Peter FitzSimonsAn affectionate and hilarious tribute to the childhood of another era, from one of Australia's favourite authors A memoir of love, laughter, loss and billycarts Peter FitzSimons's ...
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Make It Nice
Dorinda MedleyThe Real Housewives of New York City fan favorite Dorinda Medley takes us inside her rollercoaster life and iconic Blue Stone Manor to share how we, too, can Make It Nice.Throughou...
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Life Is A Rollercoaster
Ronan Keating'Brilliant' OK! 'Engagingly warm' Heat 'Sensational' The Mirror'Ronan Keating demolishes his 'Mr Perfect of Pop image in a new wartsandall book of his amazing ride to stardom.' ...
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The Unprotected
Kelly SokolA compelling debut novel exploring postpartum depressionfor readers of suspenseful women’s fiction and fans of Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin.They say motherhood chan...
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The Enemy Within
Tim AyliffeSET TO BE ADAPTED FOR THE SCREEN. Like Michael Connelly’s Bosch, John Bailey will risk everything to get to the truth – and expose a deadly enemy...
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Border Wars
Julie Hirschfeld Davis & Michael D. ShearTwo New York Times Washington correspondents provide a detailed, “factbased account of what precipitated some of this administration’s more brazen assaults on immigration” (The Was...
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My Name Is Nobody
Matthew Richardson'PROOF THAT THE SPY GENRE IS FLOURISHING IN THE 21ST CENTURY' Guardian'I know for certain that there is a mole somewhere within the intelligence services . . . His codename is Nobo...
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First Love, Last Love
Katie FlynnA powerful story of two sisters, and the love that changed their livesIt wasn't a privileged childhood, but it was a happy one. Sybil and Lizzie Cream, brought up in a fisherman's ...
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Red-Blooded American Male
Robert TrachtenbergA collection of 100 inspired and surprising portraits of celebrities and everymen alike from the awardwinning photographer Robert Trachtenberg.Paul Rudd checking out...
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Fear the Dark
Chris Mooney'One of the best thriller writers working today' Lee Child'If you want a thriller that will chill your blood, break your heart and make your pulse race, Chris Mooney is your man' M...
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Hiroshima Sunset
John KellyIn 2007, selfpublishing author, Amanda Blackburn accepts an assignment in Japan to help exonerate the name of a former soldier who served in the postwar Australian occupation army ...