How important is the national security adviser?

Students' answers may vary.
The national security adviser is the personal counselor to the president in foreign policy and defense matters.President Kennedy was the first to transform this position from bureaucratic assistant to the council to personal adviser to the president; his national security adviser, McGeorge Bundy, came to overshadow his secretary of state, Dean Rusk, in influence.National security advisers are in a strong position to exert influence.They have an advantage over secretaries of state in physical proximity to the president, working in the White House and briefing the president frequently on developments around the globe.National security advisers and their staffs filter the massive amounts of information flowing into the White House from American diplomatic, military, and intelligence personnel throughout the world and can tailor what they report to fit the president's interests more effectively than the larger and more bureaucratic State Department can.None dominated American foreign policy as thoroughly as Henry Kissinger.Under Presidents Nixon and Ford, Kissinger was the basic architect of American foreign policy and its most celebrated spokesperson in the media.