Warren Christopher

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Warren Christopher Warren Christopher Signature.svg

Warren Minor Christopher (born October 27, 1925 in Scranton , Bowman County , North Dakota , †  March 18, 2011 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American diplomat , politician and lawyer . During Bill Clinton's first presidency , Christopher was the 63rd United States Secretary of State .

education and profession

Christopher received his intermediate examination certificate magna cum laude from the University of Southern California in February 1945. He served in the Marine Reserve from July 1943 to September 1946 with active service as a sea ​​lieutenant in the Pacific War Zone. Between 1946 and 1949 he attended Stanford University Law School .

Christopher served as Legal Assistant to Judge William O. Douglas at the US Supreme Court from October 1949 to September 1950 . In October 1950 he started working for the law firm O'Melveny & Myers , where he became a partner in 1958. In June 1967 he became Deputy US Attorney General ( Deputy Attorney General ) under President Lyndon B. Johnson , which he remained until 20 January 1969; then he returned to O'Melveny & Myers .

Political functions and offices

On February 26, 1977, Christopher was sworn in as Deputy Secretary of State Cyrus Vance , which he remained until President Carter's tenure on January 20, 1981. As Deputy Foreign Minister , he conducted the difficult negotiations for the release of the 52 American hostages in the American embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran . He led his country's normalization efforts with the People's Republic of China , helped President Carter obtain ratification of the Treaty on Restoring the Panama Canal in Congress , and chaired the first inter-ministerial human rights working group. Jimmy Carter awarded him the Medal of Freedom on January 16, 1981 , the highest civil honor in his nation.

Christopher's civic activities included the following: member and president of the Board of Trustees of Stanford University , Chairman of the New York Board of Trustees of Carnegie Corporation, director and vice chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations , director of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council , vice chairman of the Board of Governors on the Los Angeles Riots 1965-1966, Special Advisor to Secretary of State George Ball on External Economic Issues, President of the Coordinating Council for Higher Education in the State of California, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1988).

In 1991, Christopher served as Chairman of the Independent Commission for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), commonly known as the Christopher Commission . The commission proposed major reforms to the Los Angeles Police Department following the Rodney King incident , which were confirmed by an overwhelming public referendum . In the incident, an African American driver was excessively beaten by white police officers when he was arrested. The incident was recorded by an eyewitness on video camera and was an external trigger for the violent unrest in Los Angeles in 1992.

In 1992, Christopher worked for Bill Clinton on the presidential transition team. He was sworn in as the 63rd US Secretary of State on January 20, 1993 and remained in the Clinton Cabinet until 1997 . Prior to his appointment, he was a head of the O'Melveny & Myers law firm .

In the 2000 presidential election , Al Gore sent him to Florida to oversee the vote recount.

Honors

As one of the highest honors in the USA, Christopher received the President's Medal of Freedom in 1981 .

Among others, Christopher received the following awards: The American Institute of Public Services Jefferson Award for the greatest civil service performed by an elected or appointed civil servant, the UCLA Medal, the Harold Weill Medal from New York University , the Jefferson Law Degree from the University of Virginia and the Louis Stein Award from Fordham University School of Law . He was a member of the international Salzburg seminar . In 1997 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society .

Private life

Christopher was married to Marie Wyllis for the second time. He was the father of four children from both marriages: Lynn, Scott, Thomas and Kristen.

death

Christopher died on March 18, 2011 in his home town of Los Angeles of complications from kidney and bladder cancer. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) cemetery. Numerous high-ranking US politicians recognized him in their statements for his life's work.

Works

literature

  • David Jackson: Warren Christopher. In: Edward S. Mihalkanin (Ed.): American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell . Greenwood Publishing 2004, ISBN 978-0-313-30828-4 , pp. 116-122.

Web links

Commons : Warren Christopher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: Warren Christopher. American Philosophical Society, accessed June 19, 2018 (with a short biography).