Background
Abbot was born on January 19, 1945 in Pensacola, Florida.
Abbot was born on January 19, 1945 in Pensacola, Florida.
He graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1962 and the United States Naval Academy in 1966 and was chosen as a Rhodes Scholar to attend Oxford University. Selected as a naval aviator, he graduated from the United States. Air Force Test Pilot School and later naval nuclear power training.
During the Gulf War, he commanded the aircraft carrier United States Ship Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and commanded the Theodore Roosevelt battle group while assigned as commander, Carrier Group Eight. He commanded the United States Sixth Fleet from 1996 to 1998, and completed his naval career as deputy commander-in-chief, United States European Command. Abbot retired from the Navy in 2000, and later assumed the position of deputy homeland security advisor to President George West. Bush, a position he held from 2001 to 2003.
Currently he is president of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, a private, non-profit organization for assisting sailors, Marines, and their families.
He is also active within the Military Officers Association of America, where he sits on several committees. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.