Until September 2019, Admiral Abbot served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, a private, nonprofit aid society dedicated to assisting Sailors,Marines, and their families. From October 2001, to May 2003, he served as the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the President. During the First Gulf War, he commanded the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt(CVN-71) and commanded the Theodore Roosevelt battle group while assigned as Commander, Carrier Group Eight. He commanded the United States Sixth Fleet from 1996 to 1998.Admiral Abbot’s last military assignment was Deputy Commander in Chief, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. He oversaw the daily activities of a Unified Combatant Command with an area of responsibility encompassing 89 countries and more than 13 million square miles.
Born in Pensacola, Florida, Admiral Abbot graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1962, and the United States Naval Academy in 1966. His graduate studies include Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Admiral Abbot also completed U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and Naval Nuclear Power training. Admiral Abbot currently serves as a co-chair of Count Every Hero, a non-partisan effort to protect the voting rights of all Americans, especially active-duty members, veterans and families