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Michael Rives joined the Foreign Service in 1950 and served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Brazzaville from 1963 to 1966. In this excerpt from his oral history, he remembers the rather unforgettable Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. G. Mennen Williams, whose grandfather, Gerhard Heinrich Mennen, founded the Mennen line of men’s personal […]
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy Captive in the Congo: A Consul’s Return to the Heart of Darkness “Hoyt’s book is a gripping and well-documented tale of U.S. relations with the remnants of the Belgian Congo during the 1964 Simba rebellion in Stanleyville. A deftly written account of an American diplomat’s experiences while held hostage by […]
When it comes to determining the world’s greatest films, we may focus on Italian giants of neorealism like Bicycle Thieves or moody, existential dramas from France. But what truly makes a film great? Is it a measure of perfect cinematography and sound? Or a matter of generational context and the perspective that time provides? We […]
When William Lacy Swing left Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 1966, he vowed to never return until the end of Apartheid. Twenty-three years later, Swing did just that, returning to South Africa as the United States ambassador. Thanks to the relationships he had formed early on in his Foreign Service career, especially throughout his time […]
Life as a Foreign Service spouse is constantly evolving, particularly for Foreign Service wives. While the State Department is now having active conversations about how to best support women and families, in earlier days, women’s needs were not always considered a priority. Wives of ambassadors especially bore the brunt of this unfortunate reality. They were […]
Nineteen sixty-eight was one of the most chaotic years in American history. As the unpopular Vietnam War raged on, protests demanding peace and an immediate withdrawal of American forces erupted from coast to coast. At the forefront of these protests stood college students, many of whom distinguished themselves from the older generations by embracing a […]
Prior to mid-August 1960, the United States had limited diplomatic activity in the French African colonies. However, within a 48-hour time span, Alan Wood Lukens, the U.S. Consul in Brazzaville, suddenly had plenty to do when the French announced a rapid withdrawal from their African colonies. This action suddenly promoted him de facto as the […]
The currency of Soviet Russia was the ruble—or was it? When General Services Officer Robert Weisberg was posted to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in 1984, he found out first-hand that things sometimes get done a little faster with a few cartons of cigarettes and bottles of vodka. In a winter with heavy snowfall, it […]
Gobble, gobble! Thanksgiving is a unique American holiday — one that U.S. embassies, foreign service families, and American expats of all kinds celebrate around the world. We dipped into our oral history collection for some Thanksgiving memories. At its best, Thanksgiving is a celebration of food, family, friends, and cross-cultural exchange and understanding. Happy Thanksgiving!
After decades of right-wing dictatorship, Portugal faced a threat of a takeover by communists in the mid-1970s. Ambassador Frank Carlucci, who went on to become Secretary of Defense, headed up efforts to prevent the first loss of a NATO member state to the alliance’s political and ideological foes. That meant engaging with parties and politicians […]
