doi:10.7916/fp2j-nd70Oral history interview with Gayle Smith, 2020Smith, Gayle Eoral historiesmixed materialPresidents--United StatesPresidents--Transition periods.--United StatesEbola virus disease--EpidemicsSmith, Gayle EObama, BarackNational Security Council (U.S.)Power Africa (Organization)Feed the Future Initiative (U.S.)United States. Agency for International DevelopmentGayle Smith reflects on her career in global development, including her service on the National Security Council and as administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Presidency of Barack Obama. Smith focuses on her efforts to elevate the status of development programming within the foreign policy of the Obama administration, describing the process of clarifying the administration's development goals in the first ever Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development, issued in September 2010, and through the language of sustained and inclusive economic growth. Smith also discusses the evolution of U.S.-Africa relations during the period of her service, providing details about important initiatives including the 2014 United States-Africa Leaders Summit, Power Africa, and Feed the Future. Also discussed are the partisan politics surrounding the confirmation by the Senate of agency political appointees during the period of the Obama presidency, the administration's response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic, and USAID's activities during the presidential transition of Donald Trump