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Trump's national security adviser studied at UNC-Chapel Hill

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump's pick for National Security Adviser, got much of his education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a masters and a doctorate in history.

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, President Donald Trump's pick for National Security Adviser, got much of his education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in history.

​Wayne Lee, now a professor at UNC, was McMaster's classmate.

"That experience here at UNC, learning about all those processes, has greatly informed the way he's going to approach his job as national security adviser," Lee said.

“He's a really sharp guy," he said. "He has an enormous ammount of energy he sort of bowls you over with the amount of energy he has. He bowled us over with the amount of energy he had as a student."

While a student, Lee was able to read the draft copy of McMaster's book , Dereliction of Duty, that would one day garner national attention.

"The irony of his book and his current job is that the book is an argument for a military that is open in its critique and its resistance to civilian orders that they think are going to be destructive," Lee said. "And he is now the senior military adviser, although not in the military chain of command to a president who has been intolerant to dissent."

Professor Lee said that relatioship will be interesting to follow.

"It's going to be a tricky role for him to figure out how to be resistant, or to be critical, to be honest with the president about his opinions but at the same time then carry out the orders that are given to him," he said.

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