Warren Christopher | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait,c. 1993 | |
| 63rdUnited States Secretary of State | |
| In office January 20, 1993 – January 17, 1997 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Deputy | Clifton R. Wharton Jr. Strobe Talbott |
| Preceded by | Lawrence Eagleburger |
| Succeeded by | Madeleine Albright |
| 5thUnited States Deputy Secretary of State | |
| In office February 26, 1977 – January 20, 1981 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Charles W. Robinson |
| Succeeded by | William P. Clark Jr. |
| 9thUnited States Deputy Attorney General | |
| In office March 10, 1967 – January 20, 1969 | |
| President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Ramsey Clark |
| Succeeded by | Richard G. Kleindienst |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Warren Minor Christopher (1925-10-27)October 27, 1925 Scranton, North Dakota, U.S. |
| Died | March 18, 2011(2011-03-18) (aged 85) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Redlands University of Southern California (BA) Stanford University (LLB) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Rank | Ensign |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Warren Minor Christopher (October 27, 1925 – March 18, 2011) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, andUnited States Navy officer who served as the 63rdUnited States secretary of state from 1993 to 1997.
Born inScranton, North Dakota, Christopher clerked forSupreme Court JusticeWilliam O. Douglas after graduating fromStanford Law School. He became a partner in the firm ofO'Melveny & Myers and served asDeputy Attorney General from 1967 to 1969 under PresidentLyndon B. Johnson. He served asDeputy Secretary of State under PresidentJimmy Carter, holding that position from 1977 to 1981. In 1991, he chaired theChristopher Commission, which investigated theLos Angeles Police Department in the wake of theRodney King incident.
During the1992 presidential election, Christopher headedBill Clinton'ssearch for a running mate, and Clinton chose SenatorAl Gore. After Clinton won the 1992 election, Christopher ledthe Clinton administration's transition process, and he took office as Secretary of State in 1993. As Secretary of State, Christopher sought to expandNATO, broker peace in theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, and pressureChina regarding itshuman rights practices. He also helped negotiate theDayton Agreement, which ended theBosnian War. He left office in 1997, and was succeeded byMadeleine Albright.
Christopher oversaw the Gore campaign'sFlorida recount effort in the aftermath of the disputed2000 presidential election. At the time of his death in 2011, he was a senior partner at O'Melveny & Myers in the firm'sCentury City, California, office. He also served as a professor at theUniversity of California at Los Angeles.
Warren Minor Christopher was born inScranton, North Dakota, the son of Catherine Anne (née Lemen) and Ernest William Christopher, a bank manager.[1] He was of part Norwegian descent.[2]
Christopher graduated fromHollywood High School in Los Angeles, and attended theUniversity of Redlands, before transferring to theUniversity of Southern California (USC). He was a member of the college fraternityKappa Sigma Sigma. He graduatedmagna cum laude from USC in February 1945. From July 1943 to September 1946, he served in theUnited States Naval Reserve, with active duty as an ensign in the Pacific Theater. He enteredStanford Law School in September 1946, where he founded and became the first editor of the newStanford Law Review.[3] While there, he was also elected to theOrder of the Coif.
Christopher became the first graduate of Stanford Law School to become aU.S. Supreme Courtlaw clerk when he clerked for JusticeWilliam O. Douglas from October 1949 to September 1950.[4] He practiced law with the firm of O'Melveny & Myers from October 1950 to June 1967, becoming a partner in 1958 and serving as special counsel to GovernorPat Brown.[5] Christopher served asUnited States Deputy Attorney General from June 1967 until January 20, 1969, after which he rejoinedO'Melveny & Myers. PresidentLyndon B. Johnson selected him to assist federal efforts to combat the urban riots inDetroit during July 1967 and inChicago during April 1968. In 1974, Christopher served as the president of theLos Angeles County Bar Association. Attorney GeneralElliot Richardson considered appointing Christopher as thespecial counsel to investigate theWatergate scandal, but he declined.[6]
Christopher was sworn in on February 26, 1977, as theDeputy Secretary of State and served in that position until January 20, 1981. As Deputy Secretary, he was involved in the successfulIran hostage crisis negotiations, and the resultingAlgiers Accords securing the safe release of52 American hostages inIran. He also spearheaded theSino-American relations with thePeople's Republic of China, helped to win ratification of thePanama Canal treaties, and headed the first interagency group onhuman rights. PresidentJimmy Carter awarded him thePresidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, on January 16, 1981.[7]
Christopher's professional activities included service as president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1974–1975; chairman of the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary of theAmerican Bar Association, 1975–1976; member of the board of governors of theState Bar of California 1975–1976; and special counsel to California governorEdmund G. Brown in 1959.
Christopher's civic activities included the following: member and president of the board of trustees ofStanford University; chairman,Carnegie Corporation of New York board of trustees; director and vice chairman,Council on Foreign Relations; director,Trilateral Commission,Bilderberg Group,Los Angeles World Affairs Council; vice chairman of the Governor's Commission on theWatts riots (The McCone Commission) in 1965–1966; president, Coordinating Council for Higher Education in the State of California; Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences;[8] member of theAmerican Philosophical Society;[9] and chairman emeritus,Pacific Council on International Policy.
In 1981, Christopher received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually byJefferson Awards.[10]
In 1991, Christopher served as chairman of the Independent Commission on theLos Angeles Police Department, which came to be known as theChristopher Commission. The Commission proposed significant reforms of theLos Angeles Police Department in the aftermath of theRodney King incident (see1992 Los Angeles riots), which were approved overwhelmingly at the ballot box. In 1992, Christopher headed thevice presidential search forGovernor Bill Clinton's presidential campaign and served as the Director ofhis presidential Transition.[7]
Serving as Secretary of State from January 20, 1993 until January 17, 1997, Christopher's main goals were theenlargement of NATO, establishing peace between Israel and its neighbors, and using economic pressure to force China's hand onhuman rights practices. The major events transpiring during his tenure included theOslo Accords, theDayton Agreement, normalization ofUnited States–Vietnam relations, theRwandan genocide,Operation Uphold Democracy inHaiti, and theKhobar Towers bombing.
On April 13, 1993, elevenIraqi Intelligence Service agents smuggled a car bomb intoKuwait City in an attempt to assassinate former PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush as he spoke atKuwait University.[11] Secretary Christopher, among others, urged President Clinton to make a retaliatory strike against Iraq.[12] On June 26, 1993, the United Stateslaunched 23 Tomahawk missiles against the Baghdad intelligence headquarters.[13]
In August 1993, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meeting inNorway drew up theOslo Accords, which created thePalestinian Authority in exchange for Palestinian recognition ofIsrael's right to exist. Secretary Christopher accepted Israeli Foreign MinisterShimon Peres's offer to host the signing ceremony. The ceremony took place in Washington D.C. on 13 September 1993, withMahmoud Abbas signing for thePalestine Liberation Organization, Peres signing for theState of Israel, Secretary Christopher signing for the United States andAndrei Kozyrev signing for Russia, in the presence of President Clinton.[14] Christopher was one of the mainvisionaries and proponent of anintegrated Middle East.[15]
In order to initiate furtherenlargement of NATO with minimal backlash from Russia, Secretary Christopher promoted thePartnership for Peace program as a stepping-stone into full NATO membership. This was against protests from the Pentagon.
In what has been considered a terrible failure of the international community, the US and UN failed to intervene to stop theRwandan genocide in 1994. Over the course of a hundred days, some 800,000 Tutsis were massacred by Hutu militia.[16][17]
During the1992 presidential campaign, then-candidate Clinton blasted President George H. W. Bush for givingChina low-tariff trading privileges despite its human rights abuses. Secretary Christopher agreed with this view and believed that the US should use economic pressure to force China to improve its human rights record. However, on May 26, 1994, President Clinton renewed China's low-tariff trading privileges, effectively delinking the human rights issue from China's trade relations with the US.U.S.-Sino relations improved as a result, with PresidentJiang Zemin visiting the U.S. in November 1997 and President Clinton visiting China in June 1998.[18]
On September 19, 1994, a US-led coalition returnedHaiti's popularly elected PresidentJean-Bertrande Aristide to power after a1991 coup by theHaitian Armed Forces underRaoul Cédras had unseated him. The US military effort, known asOperation Uphold Democracy, was largely the product ofColin Powell's diplomatic efforts, with little role played by Christopher.[19]
In the wake of the 1993 Oslo Accords, Secretary Christopher encouraged Jordan'sKing Hussein to make a peace treaty with Israel. Christopher eventually offered Hussein $200 million in military equipment and $700 million in debt forgiveness to sweeten the deal. On October 27, 1994, Israeli Prime MinisterYitzchak Rabin and Jordanian Prime MinisterAbdelsalam al-Majali signed theIsrael–Jordan peace treaty. The signing was witnessed by President Clinton and Secretary Christopher. Christopher sought to obtain a similar treaty between Rabin and Syrian PresidentHafez al-Assad, but to no avail.[20]
Working with SenatorJohn McCain, in 1994, Secretary Christopher began actively promoting the normalization ofUnited States–Vietnam relations. At the time, the U.S. had not had an embassy in Vietnam since 1975. The main obstacle to normalization came fromVietnam veterans andPOW/MIA support groups who were convinced that Hanoi was not fully cooperating in the search for the remains of US soldiers in Vietnam. However, after Secretary Christopher convinced President Clinton that theVietnamese government was fully cooperating in these searches, the President announced the formal normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam on July 11, 1995.[21]
InDayton, Ohio, Secretary Christopher—working with Assistant SecretaryRichard Holbrooke—negotiated peace talks between President ofSerbiaSlobodan Milošević, President ofCroatiaFranjo Tuđman, and President ofBosniaAlija Izetbegović. The result was the November 1995Dayton Agreement, which put an end to theBosnian War.[22]
In the wake of theKhobar Towers bombing, Secretary Christopher traveled toSaudi Arabia to witness the site of the attack. InDhahran (the home of the Khobar Towers), Foreign Minister PrinceSaud al-Faisal allegedly promised Christopher that theFBI would have the full cooperation of the Saudi government. Eventually, however, the Saudi government and the FBI repeatedly conflicted during the course of the investigation resulting in many arguments and fights, especially over the role of female FBI agents.[23]
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In addition to several honorary degrees, Christopher received the following awards: the Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service for the Greatest Public Service Performed by an Elected or Appointed Official; theUCLA Medal; the Harold Weill Medal fromNew York University; theJames A. Garfield Baller Award; the Thomas Jefferson Award in Law from theUniversity of Virginia Law School; and the Louis Stein Award fromFordham Law School.
Christopher's picture hangs in theWar Remnants Museum inHo Chi Minh City, near pictures ofJohn Kerry,Robert McNamara,Elmo Zumwalt, and other American dignitaries, in commemoration of his visit toVietnam, after normalization of relations between the two countries.[24]
At the 1999 unveiling of his portrait at the Department of State, attended by President Clinton, Christopher remarked: "To anyone who has served in Washington, there is something oddly familiar about [having your portrait painted]. First, you're painted into a corner, then you're hung out to dry and, finally, you're framed."[citation needed]
He was sent to supervise the contestedFlorida recount forAl Gore'scampaign in the2000 United States presidential election. In the 2008 filmRecount, which covers the days following the controversial election, Christopher was portrayed by British actorJohn Hurt. He was a member of theWashington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) Board of Advisors.[citation needed]
He was an Advisory Board member for thePartnership for a Secure America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy.[citation needed]
Former Secretaries of StateJames Baker and Christopher served as Co-Chairs of the Miller Center's National War Powers Commission. Baker and Christopher testified on March 5 before theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee about the War Powers Consultation Act of 2009 – the statute that the Commission unanimously recommended in its July 2008 report. The statute is designed to replace theWar Powers Resolution of 1973 and provide for more meaningful consultation between thePresident andCongress on matters of war.[citation needed]
From 2003 until his death, Christopher taught a small seminar course on international affairs as part of the Honors Program atUCLA.[25]
Warren Christopher married twice. He married Joan Southgate Workmanon June 14, 1949, inSan Diego, California; the couple had a daughter, Lynn (born May 30, 1952). They divorced in 1955.[26][27]
He was married to Marie Wyllis from 1956 until his death; the couple had two sons: Scott (born December 27, 1957[28]) and Thomas (born July 24, 1959[29]), and a daughter, Kristen (born March 26, 1963[30]).
Christopher had five grandchildren: Andrew, Lauren, Warren, and Chloe Christopher, and Christopher Henderson.[4]
He wroteIn the Stream of History: Shaping Foreign Policy for a New Era (1998) andChances of a Lifetime (2001).[4]
Christopher was a recipient of the state ofNorth Dakota'sRoughrider Award.[31]
He was a senior partner atO'Melveny & Myers.[5]
Christopher served as an Honorary Co-Chair for theWorld Justice Project.[32] TheWorld Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen theRule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.[33]
Christopher died at his home in Los Angeles on March 18, 2011, from kidney and bladder cancer. He was 85 years old.[5][34][35] He was survived by his wife and four children from two marriages.[5][35][36] He is interred atForest Lawn Memorial Park inHollywood Hills.
President Obama described Christopher as a "resolute pursuer of peace" for his work in the Middle East and the Balkans.[37] Hillary Clinton described Christopher as a "diplomat's diplomat – talented, dedicated and exceptionally wise".[38] He was described as "the best public servant I ever knew" by PresidentJimmy Carter in his memoirs.[35] On March 19, 2011, Carter stated that "[America] has lost a great and revered leader".[39]
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| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. Deputy Attorney General Served under:Lyndon B. Johnson 1967–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | United States Deputy Secretary of State 1977–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Secretary of State Served under:Bill Clinton 1993–1997 | Succeeded by |
