Robert Cutler (June 12, 1895 – May 8, 1974) was an American government official who was the first person appointed as the president's National Security Advisor.

[5] US President Franklin Roosevelt nominated Cutler for the position of head occupational analyst of the Army Specialist Corps (ASC) with the rank of colonel.

[1] In October, he was promoted to brigadier general and was awarded the Legion of Merit for "his foresight and careful planning, consummate tact, unusual ability and vigor" during his service with the Legislative and Liaison Division of the War Department Special Staff.

[1] In 1952, Cutler served as Eisenhower's personal secretary on the campaign train, a position that had him perform a number of tasks, including speechwriting and advising.

[3] U.S. News & World Report described Cutler as "emerging as the right-hand man of the General" and "probably closer to the candidate in a personal sense than Gov.

[11] In that position, Cutler played a major role in turning the National Security Council into a top policy making body.

[13] Cutler oversaw the drafting of Eisenhower's Executive Order 10450, signed on April 27, 1953, contributing language that identified "sexual perversion" as grounds for exclusion from employment by the federal government.

His homosexuality was known to some Washington insiders, including the prominent columnist Joseph Alsop, a closet gay himself, and Charles Bohlen, whose nomination as ambassador to Moscow had been threatened by McCarthy's innuendo about his sexuality.

[18] On October 14, 1959, Eisenhower announced that he would nominate Cutler to serve a three-year term as an executive director of the new Inter-American Development Bank.