William Timken

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Robert Timken, Jr.
William Timken (left) and Lars-Hendrik Röller

William Robert Timken Jr. Born December 21, 1938 in Canton , Ohio, is an American businessman. From 2005 to December 2008 he was the United States Ambassador in Berlin .

Life

After high school he studied at Stanford University until 1960 and then at Harvard Business School . From 1962 he was with the family owned Timken Company (an automotive supplier), which he ran from 1975 to late 2003. His great-grandfather Henry Timken came from Tarmstedt near Bremen and had emigrated to the USA in 1838 at the age of seven. Timken is married with six children. His first wife, Suzanne, had four children, from whom he divorced in 1996. William timken jr. is a knight of the French Legion of Honor .

Ambassador to Germany

Timken with Knut and Thomas Dörflein

In his inaugural address, Timken described effective German-American cooperation as the key to strong transatlantic relations, which is very much in the national interests of these two countries as well as the interests of the world.

The American State Department announced on Timken's appointment that, in view of Germany's economic problems, an entrepreneur had been consciously nominated who could analyze the situation very well.

On his appointment, the German press emphasized that he had no diplomatic experience and - like his predecessor - did not speak a word of German, as well as the fact that he supported the last presidential election campaign of incumbent US President George W. Bush with large donations and that he was diligent Fundraising Acquirer. The politically and diplomatically inexperienced Timken Jr. was not a career diplomat, but (like many other ambassadors) a political envoy who bought his work with generous party donations; Timken himself saw that as an advantage. Some observers praised his commitment, particularly in projects aimed at integrating migrants. This included, for example, an exchange program for underprivileged students.

Shortly before his scheduled recall, Timken gave an interview to Welt am Sonntag in which he praised the services of George W. Bush and allegedly expressed criticism of the new President, Barack Obama , on several occasions . He accused him of his uncritically admitted drug use in earlier years. “Europe's media” are also affected by Timken's accounts: “I'm sorry that the European media report so one-sidedly, instead of questioning the prevailing opinion. In the Bush case they were very unfair. "

During the term of office as ambassador, the surveillance of Angela Merkel's cell phone in Berlin, which spied on the embassy in Berlin from 2002 to 2013, falls.

Web links

Commons : William R. Timken  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Speeches and texts by Ambassador Timken ( Memento from April 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Entrepreneur becomes US ambassador in Berlin . Deutsche Welle , July 20, 2005
  3. ↑ Bush nominates entrepreneur Timken as German ambassador. (No longer available online.) Sueddeutsche.de, July 20, 2005, formerly in the original ; Retrieved August 15, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.sueddeutsche.de  
  4. ^ Entrepreneur Timken becomes US ambassador in Berlin. Spiegel Online , July 20, 2005, accessed August 15, 2009 .
  5. ↑ z. B. Deutsche Welle and Der Deutschlerner . In: Berliner Zeitung , August 24, 2005. Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff: Good friend - A major donor could become America's new ambassador to Germany . In: Die Zeit , No. 20/2005, p. 12; the ambassador himself replied to this in his press conference on the inauguration ( memento of the original from October 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / german.germany.usembassy.gov
  6. ^ Sylvia Wania: Interview. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , November 8, 2005
  7. ↑ Holger Schmale: America for Beginners . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 22, 2007; Claudia Keller: WR and S. Timken How America's Ambassadors Integrate Germany's Foreigners . In: Die Zeit , No. 31/2006
  8. ↑ Windows on America ( Memento from August 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Bush's ambassador in Berlin settles accounts with Europe . In: Die Welt , December 6, 2008
  10. ↑ I believe in President Bush's policies . In: WamS , December 7, 2008; Interview by Dagmar von Taube
predecessor Office successor
John A. Cloud US Ambassador to Germany
September 2, 2005 to December 5, 2008 		John M. Koenig
personal data
SURNAME Timken, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Timken, William Robert Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Canton , Ohio