Roger Zakheim

Roger Zakheim serves as the Director of the Ronald Reagan Institute. He is the co-founder of the Reagan National Defense Forum, host of the Reaganism podcast, and author of Peace Through Strength: How Reagan’s Military Buildup Won the Cold War (forthcoming, November 2026).

He previously practiced law at Covington & Burling LLP where he led the firm’s Public Policy and Government Affairs practice group. Before joining Covington he was General Counsel and Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. Mr. Zakheim’s government experience also includes serving as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.

Mr. Zakheim serves on the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ Advisory Council; FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power Board of Advisors; the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy Advisory Council; a Senior Advisor with the America in the World Consortium; and the Alexander Hamilton Society’s Board of Advisors. He is a Commissioner on the Congressional Commission on the National Defense Strategy of the United States.

Mr. Zakheim frequently speaks and writes on national security and defense issues. He has testified before a number of Congressional committees and regularly appears on TV and lectures on national security topics. His views have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Politico, Fox News, CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, the Atlantic, National Review, among other media outlets.