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Smith Hempstone | |
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_(page_52_crop).jpg) Hempstone inKenya in March 1993 | |
| Born | (1929-02-01)February 1, 1929 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | November 19, 2006(2006-11-19) (aged 77) Suburban Hospital Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Education | George Washington University, 1946-47 University of the South,B.A., 1950 Harvard University, graduate study, 1964-65 |
| Alma mater | University of the South |
| Occupations | Journalist and U.S. diplomat |
| Political party | Republican Party (1958-1968) Independent(1968-2006) |
| Board member of | Trustee, University of the South, 1975–1978 governor,Institute of Current World Affairs, 1975–1978. |
| Spouse(s) | Kathaleen Fishback "Kitty", January 30, 1954 - February 20, 2021 –his death |
| Children | daughter, Katherine Hope Hempstone ofBaltimore, and two grandsons and one granddaughter |
| Parent(s) | Smith (a naval officer) and Elizabeth (Noyes) Hempstone |
| Awards | Sigma Delta Chi Award for distinguished service in journalism (foreign correspondence), 1960 Nieman Fellow, 1964–1965 Overseas Press Club citations for excellence in foreign correspondence, 1968, 1974 Honorary doctorate of letters fromUniversity of the South, 1968. |
| Notes | |
Smith Hempstone (February 1, 1929 – November 19, 2006) was a journalist, author, and theUnited States ambassador toKenya from 1989 to 1993.[4] He was a vocal proponent ofdemocracy, advocating free elections for Kenya.
Hempstone was born February 1, 1929,Washington, D.C. He attendedGeorge Washington University, and later transferred to theUniversity of the South inSewanee, Tennessee, where he graduated.
From 1949 to 1952, he was aU.S. Marine in theKorean War, and left the Marines with the rank ofcaptain.
He then did radio rewrite for theAssociated Press inCharlotte, North Carolina in 1952. He was a reporter for theLouisville Times inLouisville, Kentucky in 1953, a rewrite editor atNational Geographic inWashington, D.C. in 1954, and then a reporter atThe Washington Star from 1955 to 1956. He was a fellow of theInstitute of Current World Affairs inAfrica from 1956 to 1960.
In 1961, Hempstone became a foreign correspondent for theChicago Daily News inAfrica, where he served until 1964, and then inLatin America in 1965. In 1966, he joinedThe Washington Star as foreign correspondent in Latin America. From 1966 to 1969, he wasThe Star's correspondent in Europe. He was associate editor and editorial page director ofThe Star from 1970 to 1975. In 1975, following a disagreement withThe Star's new owner Joe L. Allbritton, he left the newspaper. Beginning in 1975, he authored a syndicated twice-weekly column, "Our Times", which carried in over 90 newspapers.
In 1982, Hempstone was named executive editor of the newly foundedWashington Times and, following the resignation of editor and publisherJames R. Whelan in 1984, briefly served as editor of the paper before being replaced byArnaud de Borchgrave.
In 1989, PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush appointed Hempstone ambassador toKenya at a time when the United States was beginning to pressure African countries to democratize and improvehuman rights. Hempstone worked toward these goals by advocating for multiparty elections in Kenya in 1991, nine years afterKenyan presidentDaniel arap Moi banned all parties except his own. The Moi administration derided him, saying he failed to understand that strong, unified government was necessary to keep Kenya's tribal groups from dividing the nation.
Hempstone aided dissidents and befriended opponents of the Moi administration, causing the African press to describe his style as "bulldozer diplomacy." The Kenyan government isolated him and, according to Hempstone's bookRogue Ambassador: An African Memoir, twice attempted to kill him. Multi-party elections were ultimately held in Kenya in 1992, which were won by Moi with 36 percent of the vote.
In 2001, former Kenyan government ministerNicholas Biwott successfully sued Hempstone in High Court Civil Suit Case No. 1273 in Kenya[5][6] for suggesting in his autobiography that Biwott had been involved in the murderRobert Ouko, Kenya's minister of foreign affairs, in February 1990. Hempstone did not defend himself in the suit.
On November 19, 2006, Hempstone died from complications ofdiabetes inSuburban Hospital inBethesda, Maryland.
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| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Kenya 1989–1993 | Succeeded by |
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