Elizabeth Bagley

Last updated

Smith Bagley
​
​
(m. 1983;died 2010)​
Elizabeth Bagley
Foto Oficial Embaixadora Elizabeth Frawley Bagley - 52658472147.jpg
Bagley in 2023
United States Ambassador to Brazil
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 3, 2023
Education Regis College (BA)
Georgetown University (JD)

Elizabeth Frawley Bagley (born July 13, 1952) is an American diplomat, attorney, political activist and philanthropist who is the United States ambassador to Brazil in the Biden administration. She previously served as the United States ambassador to Portugal from 1994 to 1997.

Contents

Early life and education

Bagley was born the second child of eight children to Judge John D. Frawley and Rosemary Frawley. In 1974, Bagley graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Spanish from Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts. She is a 1987 graduate of the Georgetown University Law School, where she obtained a Juris Doctor in international law. She also attended university and law school in France, Spain, and Austria, where she studied international trade law and public international law.

Career

Bagley has served in four presidential administrations as a diplomat.

During the Carter administration, she served as Congressional liaison officer for The Panama Canal Treaties in the Department of State. Additionally, she was special assistant to Sol Linowitz, a top diplomat for President Jimmy Carter, for the Camp David Accords from 1979 to 1980. In the twilight of Carter's presidency, she was the Congressional liaison to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe from 1980 to 1981.

In the Clinton administration, she was appointed to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Portugal from 1994 to 1997. She later served as senior advisor under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, where she established and headed the Office of Media Programming Acquisition for the newly independent Balkan states. She also served as a United States Senate liaison for NATO Enlargement.

As an international law attorney, she was adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University in Washington from 1991 to 1993.

In the Obama administration, she twice served as the special advisor for Secretary's Initiatives, and was appointed by President Obama as the U.S. Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2012. Prior to assuming those posts, she was the Special Representative for Global Partnerships in the Office of the Secretary of State.

President Joe Biden nominated Bagley to be the next United States Ambassador to Brazil on January 19, 2022. [1] Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 18, 2022. [2] The committee was deadlocked on her nomination on June 23, 2022. Her nomination was considered controversial as comments came to light that were linked to anti-Semitic tropes, including acknowledging Israel's capital of Jerusalem as "stupid." [3] Her nomination was discharged from the committee by a unanimous consent on December 6, 2022. The United States Senate confirmed her nomination by voice vote on December 14, 2022. [4] On January 9, 2023, she was sworn into office by Vice President Kamala Harris. [5] She presented her credentials to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on February 3, 2023. [6]

Associations and memberships

Bagley is a member of both Massachusetts and District of Columbia bar associations. She was The American Ireland Fund's Nantucket Celebration honoree in 2009 for her philanthropy towards the Republic of Ireland for more than 30 years. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Democratic Institute. [7]

Awards and recognition

In 1997, Bagley was awarded the Grand Cross of Prince Henry the Navigator, the highest civilian honor in Portugal. She received a Legum Doctor (LL.D.) from Regis College in 2003. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Global Democracy Award from the International Women’s Democracy Center in March and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in May of the same year.

Political involvement

Political donations and fundraising for the Democratic Party

Bagley is a major political donor and fundraiser who "over the years [has] raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidates." [8] Her late husband, Smith W. Bagley (1935–2010), was an heir to the R. J. Reynolds tobacco fortune and a Finance Chair for the Democratic National Committee, [9] and the Bagleys were regarded as "two of the heaviest financial hitters in the [Democratic] party." [10] Closely associated with the Clintons since Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, [11] She was a major fundraiser during Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2016. [12] Additionally, she and her husband have contributed over $1,000,000 to the Clinton Foundation. [13] She was also "part of the national finance team for the Obama campaign, having personally raised over $350,000" as of August 2008. [8] Bagley also "raised the maximum $600,000 for President Obama's inauguration events" in 2009. [14] President Obama visited her residence in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. in 2011, and First Lady Michelle Obama was the main speaker at a fundraiser at her home on Mothers Day, May 2012. [15]

Philanthropy

Elizabeth Frawley Bagley with the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children ICMEC Board.jpg
Elizabeth Frawley Bagley with the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children

She is a board member for The American Ireland Fund, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Personal life

On December 17, 1983, she married Smith Bagley, a social activist, Democratic fundraiser, business executive, and the grandson of R.J. Reynolds. He died in January 2010 at age 74. [14] Together, they had two children: Vaughan Elizabeth Bagley and Conor Reynolds Bagley.

She resides in Washington, D.C. [15] She also owns a house in Nantucket. [16]

Bagley and her children own the operations of cell phone operator Cellular One in Northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, under the holding company Smith Bagley Inc. which does business as Cellular One of East Arizona. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Kennedy</span> American author and diplomat (born 1957)

Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is an American author, diplomat and attorney serving as the United States ambassador to Australia since 2022. Kennedy previously served in the Obama administration as the United States ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017. Most of Kennedy's professional life has been in literature, law, politics, education reform, and charity. She is a member of the Kennedy family and the only surviving child of US president John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Podesta</span> American political consultant (born 1949)

John David Podesta Jr. is an American political consultant who has been serving as Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy since 2024, having previously served as the Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation from 2022 to 2024. Podesta previously served as White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001 and counselor to President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2015. Before that, he served in the Clinton administration as White House staff secretary from 1993 to 1995 and White House deputy chief of staff for operations from 1997 to 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanne Verveer</span> American diplomat

Melanne Verveer, born on June 24, 1944, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, is the executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security at Georgetown University. She also holds positions as a founding partner of Seneca Point Global, a women's strategy firm, and as a co-founder of Seneca Women. Verveer co-authored the book "Fast Forward: How Women Can Achieve Power and Purpose" with Kim Azzarelli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillary Clinton</span> American politician and diplomat (born 1947)

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and the first lady of the United States as the wife of Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party and the only woman to win the popular vote for U.S. president. She is the only first lady of the United States to have run for elected office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denise Bauer</span> American diplomat (born 1964)

Denise Campbell Bauer is an American diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to France and Monaco. Bauer served as Ambassador of the United States to Belgium from 2013 to 2017. After being nominated by President Barack Obama, she was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on August 2, 2013; she was sworn in the following August 7. She left office on January 20, 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the executive director of Women for Biden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign</span> Political campaign for United States presidency

The 2008 presidential campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton, then junior United States senator from New York, was announced on her website on January 20, 2007. Hillary Clinton was previously the First Lady of the United States and First Lady of Arkansas prior to her election as U.S. Senator from New York. She is also the wife of former President Bill Clinton. Clinton was the source of much media speculation since having expressed interest in being a candidate in the 2008 presidential election since at least October 2002.

The following is a timeline of major events leading up to and immediately following the United States presidential election of 2008. The election was the 56th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008, but its significant events and background date back to about 2002. The Democratic Party nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, defeated the Republican Party's nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Cutter</span> American lawyer and political consultant

Stephanie Cutter is an American political consultant. She served as an advisor to President Barack Obama during his first presidential term, and was deputy campaign manager for his 2012 re-election campaign. She previously worked in campaign and communications roles for other prominent Democrats including Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and Michelle Obama. The New York Times described her as "a popular but polarizing face of [Obama's] campaign", and a "soldier who says the things the candidate can't say."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mari Carmen Aponte</span> American diplomat (born 1946)

Mari Carmen Aponte is an American attorney and diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Panama in the Biden administration since November 2022. She previously served as acting assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs on May 5, 2016. She also served as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador from August 2010 until December 2011 and again from June 14, 2012, until December 2015. Before that she was serving as a member of the board of directors of Oriental Group, a major financial and banking services enterprise in Puerto Rico. President Obama also nominated her as the United States' permanent representative to the Organization of American States, but the Senate had not acted upon that nomination upon adjournment in December 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón</span> American attorney and diplomat (born 1975)

Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón is a Dominican Republic-born American attorney and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra from 2022 to 2024. Prior to her service as ambassador she was the chief of staff to First Lady Jill Biden. She formerly served as a litigation and international arbitration partner with the international law firm Winston & Strawn LLP. She was previously a partner with Chadbourne & Parke LLP, practicing in the firm's International Arbitration and Latin America groups. Reynoso is also affiliated with the faculty at Columbia University School of Law and the School of International and Public Affairs. From March 2012 until December 2014, she served as United States Ambassador to Uruguay. She is a former deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the United States Department of State. President Biden nominated her to be the next United States Ambassador to Spain on July 27, 2021, being confirmed on December 18, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neera Tanden</span> American political consultant (born 1970)

Neera Tanden is an American political consultant and government official serving as director of the United States Domestic Policy Council since 2023. Tanden previously served as a senior advisor and staff secretary to President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2023 and as president of the Center for American Progress (CAP), a center-left policy research and advocacy organization, where she worked in different capacities since its founding in 2003 until she joined the Biden administration in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Ryan</span> American public servant (born 1971)

Evan Maureen Ryan is an American public servant, serving as White House cabinet secretary in the administration of Joe Biden. She previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in the Obama administration (2013–2017) and was assistant for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison for then-Vice President Joe Biden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Democratic National Convention</span> American political event

The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majority of them elected through a preceding series of primaries and caucuses, to nominate a candidate for president and vice president in the 2016 United States presidential election. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was chosen as the party's nominee for president by a 54% majority of delegates present at the convention roll call securing it over primary rival Senator Bernie Sanders, who received 46% of votes from delegates, and becoming the first female candidate to be formally nominated for president by a major political party in the United States. Her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia, was confirmed by delegates as the party's nominee for vice president by acclamation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries</span> Selection of the Democratic Party nominee

Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for President in the 2016 United States presidential election. The elections took place within all fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and Democrats Abroad and occurred between February 1 and June 14, 2016. Between 2008 and 2020, this was the only Democratic Party primary in which the nominee had never been nor had ever become President of the United States. This was the first Democratic primary to nominate a woman for President.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miriam Sapiro</span> American politician

Miriam Elizabeth Sapiro served as the Deputy Trade Representative under Ron Kirk and became the acting Trade Representative on May 23, 2013. A former senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Sapiro served as well in the State Department and on the National Security Council under Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulinabo S. Mushingi</span> Congolese-American diplomat (born 1956)

Tulinabo Salama Mushingi is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Angola and the United States ambassador to São Tomé and Príncipe from 2022 to 2024. He previously served as the United States ambassador to Burkina Faso from 2013 to 2016, and a joint appointment as United States ambassador to Senegal and United States ambassador to Guinea-Bissau from 2017 to 2022. He also served in the executive offices of Secretaries of State John F. Kerry and Hillary Clinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign</span> American political campaign

In 2016, Hillary Clinton ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. An experienced Democratic politician, Clinton served as the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and the first lady of the United States as the wife of Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. She was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, businessman Donald Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shefali Razdan Duggal</span> American activist and diplomat (born 1971)

Shefali Razdan Duggal is an Indian-American political activist and diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to the Netherlands. She was previously appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which supervises the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, for a term which expired in January 2018.

Subsequent to her loss of the 2016 United States presidential election, Hillary Clinton retired from electoral politics and has since engaged in a number of activities.

Smith Walker Bagley was an American businessman, Democratic fundraiser and party executive, and socialite. He was an heir to the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco fortune, and was married to US Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley.

References

  1. ↑ "President Biden Announces Nominees for Ambassadors and Key Roles". The White House. January 19, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  2. ↑ "NOMINATIONS". www.foreign.senate.gov. May 18, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  3. ↑ "The U.S. Finally Has an Ambassador to Brazil. What Does Israel Have to Do With It?". Haaretz. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  4. ↑ "PN1691 - Nomination of Elizabeth Frawley Bagley for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. May 18, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ Samuels, Ben (January 10, 2023). "The U.S. Finally Has an Ambassador to Brazil. What Does Israel Have to Do With It?". Haaretz. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  6. ↑ Embaixada EUA Brasil [@EmbaixadaEUA] (February 3, 2023). "A embaixadora @USAmbBR, Elizabeth Bagley, apresentou suas credenciais hoje ao presidente @LulaOficial no Palácio do @planalto" (Tweet) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved February 5, 2023– via Twitter.
  7. ↑ "Board of directors". ndi.org. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Balling, Joshua (August 21, 2008). "Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley a tireless fundraiser for the Democratic party". Inquirer and Mirror. Nantucket, MA. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  9. ↑ Hevesi, Dennis (January 5, 2010). "Smith Bagley, Executive and Democratic Fund-Raiser, Dies at 74". New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  10. ↑ Cillizza, Chris; Dan Balz (February 20, 2006). "Special Care for Big Clinton Donors". Washington Post. Washington, DC.
  11. ↑ Balling, Joshua (August 4, 2005). "Bill & Hillary plan island visit Aug. 11". Inquirer and Mirror. Nantucket, MA. Archived from the original on October 28, 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  12. ↑ "NY titans among Clinton's 'HillRaisers'". Crain's New York Business.com. Crain Communications Inc. April 27, 2007. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Clinton Foundation Donor List". FOXNews.com. Fox News Network, LLC. December 18, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  14. 1 2 Sullivan, Patricia (January 4, 2010). "Smith Bagley dies at 74; Democratic fundraiser, socialite". Washington Post. Washington, DC. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  15. 1 2 Solomon, Beth (September 16, 2011). "President Obama visits Bagley residence in Georgetown". The Georgetown dish.
  16. ↑ Clauss, Kyle (July 28, 2016). "Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Are Coming to Nantucket". Boston Magazine. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Indirect Ownership, Ownership, 01/28/2016". FCC. January 28, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.