Richard Holbrooke

Richard Holbrooke
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Name	Richard Holbrooke
Caption	Holbrooke in 1999
Office	United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
President	Barack Obama
Term start	January 22, 2009
Term end	December 13, 2010
Predecessor	Position established
Successor	Frank Ruggiero (acting)
Office1	22nd United States Ambassador to the United Nations
President1	Bill Clinton
Term start1	August 25, 1999
Term end1	January 20, 2001
Predecessor1	Bill Richardson
Successor1	James B. Cunningham (acting)
Office2	United States Ambassador to Germany
President2	Bill Clinton
Term start2	1993
Term end2	1994
Predecessor2	Robert M. Kimmitt
Successor2	Charles E. Redman
Office3	Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs
President3	Bill Clinton
Term start3	1994
Term end3	1996
Predecessor3	Stephen A. Oxman
Successor3	John C. Kornblum
Birth date	24 April 1941
Birth place	New York City, U.S.
Death date	13 December 2010
Death place	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Larrine Sullivan (div.), Blythe Babyak (div.), Kati Marton (m. 1995)
Education	Brown University (BA), Princeton University (MPA)

Richard Holbrooke was an American diplomat, author, and investment banker who played a pivotal role in shaping United States foreign policy for nearly five decades. He is best known for brokering the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian War, a feat that cemented his reputation as a tenacious and skilled negotiator. Holbrooke served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton and later as the first United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan for President Barack Obama.

Early life and education

Born in New York City, he was raised in Scarsdale, New York. He graduated from Scarsdale High School before attending Brown University, where he edited the student newspaper, *The Brown Daily Herald*. After earning his bachelor's degree, he entered the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, receiving a Master of Public Administration.

Diplomatic career

Holbrooke began his government service in 1962 as a foreign service officer in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He later worked on the staff of the Paris Peace Accords negotiations. In the 1970s, he served as Director of the Peace Corps in Morocco and as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under President Jimmy Carter. After a period in investment banking at Lehman Brothers, he returned to public service in the Clinton administration.

Dayton Accords and Balkan diplomacy

Appointed as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs in 1994, his most defining achievement was negotiating the Dayton Agreement in 1995. He led the U.S. diplomatic team at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base talks, applying relentless pressure on the warring parties—Slobodan Milošević of Serbia, Franjo Tuđman of Croatia, and Alija Izetbegović of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The accords ended the brutal Bosnian War and established the framework for the modern state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Later roles and initiatives

Following the success at Dayton, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1999 to 2001. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed him as the first Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, a role in which he advocated for a comprehensive civilian-military strategy. He was also a longtime member of the board of the American Museum of Natural History and served as vice chairman of the Asia Society.

Personal life and death

He was married three times; his third wife was author Kati Marton. He had two sons, David and Anthony. On December 10, 2010, he suffered a tear in his aorta and was rushed to George Washington University Hospital. Despite emergency surgery, he died on December 13, 2010, in Washington, D.C.. His funeral service was held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Legacy and honors

Widely regarded as one of America's most formidable diplomats, his legacy is intrinsically linked to peace in the Balkans. He was posthumously awarded the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award. The Center on International Cooperation at New York University hosts an annual lecture in his name, and he was a frequent nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. His papers are archived at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University.

Category:American diplomats Category:United States ambassadors to the United Nations Category:1941 births Category:2010 deaths