James R. Bullington | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Burundi | |
In office March 13, 1983 –July 11, 1986 | |
President | Ronald Reagan |
Preceded by | Frances D. Cook |
Succeeded by | James Daniel Phillips |
Personal details | |
Born | James R. Bullington October 27,1940 Chattanooga,Tennessee,U.S. |
Spouse | Tuy Cam |
Alma mater | Auburn University Harvard University |
James Richard Bullington (born October 27,1940) is an American retired diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Burundi.
Bullington was born on October 27,1940, [1] and is a native of Tennessee. [2] He received his bachelor's degree from Auburn University in 1962 where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity and editor of the student newspaper,The Plainsman. [3]
As editor of The Plainsman,Bullington wrote an editorial in 1961 condemning attacks in Alabama on the "Freedom Riders" and calling for desegregation at Auburn University. The editorial provoked a Ku Klux Klan cross-burning at his fraternity house as well as criticism from the Governor of Alabama,John Patterson,who threatened to cut Auburn's appropriations if Bullington were not removed as editor. The editorial and cross-burning were widely covered in the regional and national press. The American Association of University Professors stepped in to intervene on Bullington's behalf,and he continued as editor for his full one-year term. [4] [5]
Bullington's early career focused on the war in Vietnam. From 1965 to 1966 he was the Vice Consul at the consulate in Huế. [2] In May 1966 the consulate was attacked and burned by a mob. His actions during the event earned him the State Department's Superior Honor Award. [3] [6]
After the events in Hue he became the aide to U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam,Henry Cabot Lodge Jr,at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. [3]
From 1967 to 1968 he was assigned to Quảng TrịProvince to work with CORDS,the joint civil-military counterinsurgency program. [7]
During the 1968 Tet Offensive Bullington was trapped behind enemy lines in Hue and disguised himself as a French priest to escape. His experience has been chronicled in several books and articles,most notably in Mark Bowden's Hue 1968:A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam. [3]
Bullington earned his Masters in Public Administration degree from Harvard University in 1969. [3]
From 1969 to 1970 he was assigned to Washington D.C. as a Political Analyst for Vietnam for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the Department of State and detailed to the National Security Council Staff as a member of the Vietnam Special Studies Group. In 1971-73 he was Deputy Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Chiangmai,Thailand. From 1973 to 1975 he was the Chief Political Officer for the State Department's Vietnam Working Group,service for which he was awarded his second Superior Honor Award. [3]
Bullington was assigned as Consul in Mandalay,Burma,in 1975-76,and then to Rangoon,Burma from 1976 to 1978 as the Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs for the U.S. Embassy. In 1978-79,he was a student at the U.S. Army War College. From 1979 to 1980 he was the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in N’Djamena,Chad. He was awarded his third Superior Honor Award in 1980 when he led the evacuation of Americans (while under fire) from Chad during the civil war. Later that year he was moved to Cotonou,Benin where he was permanent charged'affaires and chief of mission. In 1982 he became Senior Advisor on African Affairs to the U.S. delegation at the United Nations. [3]
Bullington was appointed Ambassador to Burundi in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan. [3] He held the post until 1986. From 1986 until his retirement in 1989 he was the State Department's Senior Seminar Dean. [7]
After retiring from 27 years in the U.S. Foreign Service,in 1989 Bullington became Director of International Affairs for Dallas,TX,and in 1993 he became Director for the Center for Global Business and a professor at Old Dominion University. [8] He next served as country director for Peace Corps in Niger,2000-2006. [7] [9] He came out of retirement in 2012-2014 to lead a State Department "expeditionary diplomacy" effort to help resolve the long-running Casamance conflict in Senegal. [10] [11] He published an autobiographical memoir in 2017:Global Adventures on Less-Traveled Roads:A Foreign Service Memoir. [12] His other books are:Adventures in Service with Peace Corps in Niger, [13] 2007,and Expeditionary Diplomacy in Action:Supporting the Casamance Peace Initiative, [14] 2015. Ambassador Bullington received a Lifetime Achievement Award from his alma mater,Auburn University,in February 2022. [15]
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat and author. He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world.
Sigma Pi (ΣΠ) is a collegiate fraternity with 232 chapters at American universities. As of 2021,it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. The fraternity is headquartered in Nashville,Tennessee.
Thomas Reeve Pickering is a retired United States ambassador. Among his many diplomatic appointments,he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1989 to 1992.
James "Scotty" Barrett Reston was an American journalist whose career spanned the mid-1930s to the early 1990s. He was associated for many years with The New York Times.
Hans Michael Mark was a German-born American government official who served as Secretary of the Air Force and as a Deputy Administrator of NASA. He was an expert and consultant in aerospace design and national defense policy.
William Joseph Burns is an American diplomat and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Biden administration since March 19,2021. He previously served as U.S. deputy secretary of state from 2011 to 2014;in 2009 he served as acting secretary of state for a day,prior to the confirmation of Hillary Clinton. Burns retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a 32-year career. From 2014 to 2021,he served as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD),otherwise known as the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue,works to prevent and resolve armed conflicts around the world through mediation and discreet diplomacy. A non-profit organisation based in Switzerland,HD was founded in 1999 on the principles of humanity,impartiality and independence. HD is supervised by an independent board,regularly reports to donors and undergoes financial audits every year.
Ural Alexis Johnson was a United States diplomat.
James William Spain was an American diplomat in the US Foreign Service with postings in Karachi,Islamabad,Istanbul,Ankara,Dar Es Salaam,and Colombo and four ambassadorships in Tanzania,Turkey,the United Nations,and Sri Lanka.
The United States Department of State,like other agencies of the U.S. federal government,gives civilian decorations for outstanding service,sacrifice,or heroism. The criteria for the awards are set down in 3 FAM 4820 - Foreign Affairs Manual,3 FAM - Personnel,section 3 FAM 4800 Department Awards Program.
James Franklin Collins is a former United States Ambassador to Russia. A career Foreign Service Officer in the State Department,he is a Russian specialist.
Robert Sherwood Dillon was the United States Ambassador to Lebanon from 1981 to 1983. He was born in 1929 in Chicago and attended Duke University,graduating in 1951.
Emory Coblentz "Coby" Swank was the United States ambassador to Cambodia from 1970 to 1973.
Robert Campbell Strong was a United States diplomat serving as head of U.S. missions in Baghdad,Iraq and Taipei,Taiwan.
Ellis Ormsbee Briggs was an American diplomat who served as Ambassador to seven countries over the course of his career.
James Michael Gleason "Jim" Seely was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and was the acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy from December 18,1988 to January 1990.
Roger Alan McGuire was the United States Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Guinea-Bissau from October 14,1992 to August 28,1995. He was appointed to the post by President George H. W. Bush on June 15,1992.
Frances Dee Cook was a career Foreign Service Officer who was the US Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi from 1980–1983,Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon,1989–1993 and she was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman on December 28,1995.
Gwynn Garnett was the administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States of America from 1955 to 1959. He also wrote the first draft of what would become the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 that would become known as the Food for Peace program.