
Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger
Former United States Secretary of State
Education
- bachelor's and master's degrees - University of Wisconsin
Overview
Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger was an American statesman and career diplomat, who served briefly as the Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush from December 1992 to January 1993, one of the shortest terms in modern history. Previously, he had served in lesser capacities under Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, and as Deputy Secretary of State to James Baker under George H. W. Bush. Eagleburger is the only career Foreign Service Officer to have served as Secretary of State. He was also Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (international security affairs) from January to May 1973.
In 1957, Eagleburger joined the United States Foreign Service, and served in various posts in embassies, consulates, and the Department of State. From 1961 to 1965 he served as a staffer at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He was known as the person who handled the Skopje 1963 earthquake crisis, and managed the first US-Soviet humanitarian cooperation, after which he was nicknamed Lawrence of Macedonia.
Starting in 1969, he served in the Nixon administration as an assistant to National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. He stayed in this appointment until 1971; thereafter he took on several positions, including advisor to the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels, and, following Kissinger's appointment as Secretary of State, a number of additional posts in the State Department and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (1971–73).
Following Nixon's resignation, he briefly left government service. He was then named the Executive Secretary to the Secretary of State from 1975 to 1977, and subsequently was appointed as ambassador to Yugoslavia by President Jimmy Carter, a post he held from 1977 to 1980. While working as Executive Secretary to Kissinger in 1975 he carried out secret talks with the Cubans in New York City.
From May 14, 1981, to January 26, 1982, Eagleburger was Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs. In 1982, Reagan appointed him as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs (the State Department's third-ranking position), a position he held for several years. He then became president of Kissinger Associates, a consultancy firm which provided firms with advice on international politics. In 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed him Deputy Secretary of State (the Department's second-ranking position); he also served as the President's primary advisor for affairs relating to the quickly disintegrating Yugoslavia. On August 23, 1992, James Baker resigned as Secretary of State (to manage Bush's unsuccessful re-election campaign), and Eagleburger served as Acting Secretary of State until Bush gave him a recess appointment for the remainder of the Bush administration.
His period as advisor for Yugoslavian affairs from 1989 to 1992 was controversial as he gained a reputation for being a strong Serbian partisan. This perceived partisanship led the European press to dub him Lawrence of Serbia (a reference to Lawrence of Arabia). Eagleburger had controversial ties to Yugoslavia both in promoting loans to Yugoslavia as a government official and later serving on the board of a Yugoslav-government-owned LBS Bank (Ljubljanska Banka) as well as with Yugo Motors, USA. About one-quarter of LBS Bank's business came from Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, whose Atlanta branch was instrumental in diverting U.S. agricultural loans to arms purchases by Saddam Hussein.
In 1991, President Bush awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal. He was a member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute.
Early Life
Eagleburger was born August 1, 1930 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Helen (née Van Ornum), an elementary school teacher, and Leon Sidney Eagleburger, a medical doctor. He graduated from Jacobs High School in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, then attended Stevens Point State College (now the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point), before earning his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin. During his time at Wisconsin, he joined Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
He was also a member of the Board of Visitors at the College of William and Mary from 1996 to 2000 and from 2002 to 2006.[citation needed]
Eagleburger also served in the United States Army (1952–1954), attaining the rank of first lieutenant.
Career
- United States - Former Secretary of State