McFarland began her political career in the 1970s as a night-shift typist and assistant press liaison for National Security Council staff.

McFarland removed her name from consideration for the ambassadorship in February 2018 due to concerns about her answers to questions related to links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies.

[12] Intrigued by U.S. foreign policy and Nixon's 1972 China visit, Troia majored in Chinese studies, graduating from George Washington in 1973.

[4][10] After working in the Ford administration, Troia studied on scholarship at Oxford University,[4] where she earned a combined master's degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.

[3] In December 1983, Troia was promoted to Principal Deputy to Michael I. Birch, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.

McFarland ran in the Republican primary in the United States Senate election in New York for a seat held by Democrat Hillary Clinton.

[24] She was a late entrant[25] who was recruited once the candidacy of the leading Republican, Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, imploded.

[17][26] McFarland wanted to make a point by running as a Republican in New York, saying: "I spent 20 years of my life fighting against single party rule.

[citation needed] In this role, McFarland was highly critical of President Obama's approach to combating terrorism, saying he failed to acknowledge the threat that "global Islamist jihad" posed to "Western Civilization".

[15] She disagreed with the 2011 military intervention in Libya,[15] applauded the United Kingdom's Brexit vote to withdraw from the European Union,[15] asserted that Iran should either be bombed or should be allowed to attain nuclear capability, and dismissed putative Saudi support for the Iranian nuclear agreement based on a negative view of the honesty and integrity of Arabs.

[37] In 2013, McFarland wrote that Vladimir Putin deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for his actions during the Syrian Civil War.

[38] In 2014, following the annexation of Crimea, she tweeted, "Putin seizes countries, Obama threatens maybe to kick Russia out of the G-8 club.

[42] McFarland was a board member of The Jamestown Foundation from June 2008 until her appointment as Deputy National Security Advisor in 2017.

[43][better source needed] On November 25, 2016, the Washington Post reported that McFarland had been selected as President-elect Donald Trump's Deputy National Security Advisor, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

[15] Retired general Michael T. Flynn, who had been selected as President Trump's national security adviser tweeted a welcome to her.

[16] Former U.S. Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman also praised McFarland for being "one of our country's most experienced, informed and wise foreign policy and national security experts".

[48] Further reports indicated that a requirement for any replacement for Flynn was that McFarland be kept on as that person's number two; this was a disincentive for some potential nominees, including Vice Admiral Robert Harward.

[51] In mid-March 2017, Dina Habib Powell was named as another Deputy National Security Advisor, with an emphasis on strategy.

[62][failed verification] The next day, an email McFarland wrote during the transition surfaced; it read: "If there is a tit-for-tat escalation Trump will have difficulty improving relations with Russia, which has just thrown U.S.A. election to him.

[64] In response to these revelations, Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking Democratic members Mark Warner and Dianne Feinstein suggested that McFarland testify before Congress,[65] Sen. Cory Booker questioned whether McFarland had been fully forthcoming in her previous testimony,[66] and Committee Chair Bob Corker pronounced her nomination "frozen".

[71] On February 2, 2018, McFarland withdrew her nomination[72][73] due to concerns about her answers to questions related to links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies.

[2] At the withdrawal of her nomination, President Trump said in a statement, “unfortunately, some Democrats chose to play politics rather than move forward with a qualified nominee for a critically important post."