The Fourth of July is a celebration of the United States’ independence. It is a day of family, friends, food,…
Hungary Escapes the Shadow of the Soviet Union
For those trapped in Eastern Europe in the 20th century, the horrors of World War II were supplanted by the…
Apocalypse Not, Part II
On April 29, 1975, Francis Terry McNamara, then Consul General, finally received orders to evacuate the Consulate General in Can…
The Fall of South Korean Strongman Syngman Rhee — April 26,1960
Syngman Rhee, a staunch anticommunist and authoritarian, was the first president of South Korea. Backed by the United States, Rhee…
FSO Ends Up in an Irish Stew Over His Christmas Letter
We’ve all wanted to blow off steam about our boss, co-workers, or those troglodytes in Human Resources. Robin Berrington, who…
Max Kampelman, A Hard-Nosed Pacifist
Max Kampelman (November 7, 1920 – January 25, 2013) was a key negotiator for the United States on major issues…
President Nixon Meant to Thank Faisal, not Faisal
Less than a month before President Richard Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974, he took a presidential tour of the…
Four Days in September — The Kidnapping of the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil
It sounds like something out of Hollywood. Indeed, it was made into a Brazilian movie in 1997 with Alan Arkin…
The USS Pueblo Incident — Assassins in Seoul, A Spy Ship Captured
January of 1968 saw two of the most serious incidents to occur on the Korean peninsula since the end of…
The Iran Hostage Crisis– Part II
In these excerpts, Bruce Laingen, then Charge d’Affaires of U.S. Embassy Tehran and one of the “super Satans” kept hostage at the…