Shlaudeman joined the
United States Foreign Service in 1954. As a
Foreign Service Officer, he was posted to
Barranquilla 1955–56; to
Bogotá 1956–1958; to
Sofia 1959–1962; and to
Santo Domingo 1962–1964. He moved to
Washington, D.C., in 1964, becoming the
Dominican Republic desk officer in the
United States Department of State. In 1965, he became assistant director of the State Department's Office of Caribbean Affairs, and also served as an advisor to
Ellsworth Bunker, the
United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States. From 1967 to 1969, he was special assistant to
United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk. He returned to the field in 1969 as deputy
chief of mission in
Santiago, Chile, and then returned to the U.S. in 1973 to become Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.
President of the United States Gerald Ford nominated Shlaudeman as
United States Ambassador to Venezuela and he held this post from May 9, 1975, until May 14, 1976. Ford next nominated Shlaudeman as
Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, and he held this office from July 22, 1976, until March 14, 1977. President
Jimmy Carter nominated him as
United States Ambassador to Peru, holding this post from June 28, 1977, until October 20, 1980. Carter then named him
United States Ambassador to Argentina, holding this post from November 4, 1980, until August 26, 1983, during the
Falklands War. Shlaudeman spent 1983–84 as a member of the
National Bipartisan Commission on Central America. In 1984, President
Ronald Reagan named Shlaudeman as the President's Special Envoy for Central America. He then served as
United States Ambassador to Brazil from August 5, 1986, until May 14, 1989. President
George H. W. Bush then nominated him as
United States Ambassador to Nicaragua and he served in this post from June 21, 1990, until March 14, 1992. Shlaudeman received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. ==References==