This Is The Profile Of William Burns, Joe Biden's Choice CIA Director

Joe Biden. (Instagram/@joebiden)

JAKARTA - US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed an experienced former career diplomat, William Burns, as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Not without reason, Biden chose Burns, who has a career experience as a diplomat for 33 years, before finally becoming Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and retiring in 2014.

Fluent in Russian, Arabic and French, Burns was the US Ambassador to Russia and Jordan. No wonder he is one of the few diplomats who understand the intricacies of Russia and the Middle East.

Not only that, Burns (64) is also behind the scenes to lead secret talks that paved the way for the nuclear deal with Iran during the 2015 Barack Obama Administration.

Biden chose Burns to anticipate spying in the government, as well as to punish Russia if it is proven responsible for cyber violations by influencing US government agencies. This includes restoring the nuclear deal with Iran that Donald Trump left behind.

"Bill Burns is an exemplary diplomat with decades of experience on the world stage, keeping our people and our country safe and secure," Biden said in a statement, reported by Reuters on Monday 11 January.

"He assured me that intelligence should be apolitical, professional in dedicated service to the nation. The American people will sleep well with him as our next CIA Director," added Biden.

Aerial photo of the CIA headquarters area in Langley, Virginia. (Source: commons.wikimedia)

William Joseph Burns was born in the Fort Bragg area, North Carolina on April 4, 1956. The husband of Lisa Carty has two children. His educational background, La Salle University (BA) and St. John's College, Oxford (M.Phil & D.Phil)

Burns has three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards as well as various other awards, such as the Department of Defense Award for Distinguished Public Service, the US Intelligence Community Medallion to the CIA Agency Seal Medal.

From abroad, Burns won the Commandeur, Legion of Honor (France), Knight Commander, Order of Merit (Germany), Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun (Japan), Marshall Medal (UK), Commendatore, Order of Merit (Italy) to First Order, Al Kawkab Medal (Jordan).

Before officially serving as Head of the CIA, Burns must get approval from the US Senate. Joe Biden himself has asked the US Congress to approve its national security team, including the CIA chief, before his inauguration on January 20.