Foreign Service (1962–1969) President
John F. Kennedy's call to service inspired Holbrooke to enter government work. A few weeks after college graduation, Holbrooke entered the
Foreign Service where he underwent Vietnamese language training. He served for six years in
Vietnam, first in the
Mekong Delta, as a civilian representative for the
Agency for International Development working on the
rural Pacification Program, a program supporting the
South Vietnam government with economic development and enacting local political reforms. Holbrooke later became a staff assistant to Ambassadors
Maxwell Taylor and
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., by securing the position from his best friend,
Anthony Lake. Following these assignments, Holbrooke spent a year as a mid-career fellow at the
Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
Peace Corps and Foreign Policy (1970–1976) In 1970, at his own request, Holbrooke was assigned to be the
Peace Corps Director in
Morocco. Holbrooke initially rejected an offer to become the editor of the magazine
Foreign Policy instead recommending his friend, John Campbell. After two years, he left the
Foreign Service to become the managing editor of the magazine after Campbell died of thyroid cancer. Holbrooke held the position from 1972 to 1976. During his tenure, the magazine ran investigative reports on Vietnam and the Middle East which disturbed some members of the foreign policy community. At the same time (1974–75), he was a consultant to the President's Commission on the Organization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy and was a contributing editor to
Newsweek International. While at State, he was a top adviser to Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. During his service, he feuded with Carter's National Security Advisor,
Zbigniew Brzezinski, although they both held similar positions on policy.
Wall Street years (1981–1993) In January 1981, Holbrooke left government and became both senior advisor to
Lehman Brothers U.S. Ambassador to Germany (1993–1994) In 1993, after
Bill Clinton became president, Holbrooke was initially slated to be Ambassador to Japan due to his depth of knowledge and long experience in Asian affairs. However, this appointment eventually went to former Vice President
Walter Mondale, and Holbrooke unexpectedly was appointed Ambassador to Germany. In 1992, Holbrooke was also a member of the Carnegie Commission on America and a Changing World and chairman and principal author of the bipartisan Commission on Government and Renewal, sponsored by the
Carnegie Foundation and the
Peterson Institute. He was chairman and principal author of the "Memo to the President-Elect: Harnessing Process to Purpose," a blue-ribbon Commission report sponsored by the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the
Institute for International Economics. Holbrooke served in Germany during a dramatic moment: only a few years after
German reunification, he helped shape U.S. relations with a new Germany. A highlight of his tenure was President Bill Clinton's visit to Berlin in July 1994, when thousands of
Germans crammed the streets to welcome the American leader. While in Germany, Holbrooke also was a key figure in shaping the U.S. policy to promote
NATO enlargement, as well as its approach to the war in Bosnia. In 1994, while serving as U.S. Ambassador to Germany, he conceived the idea of a cultural exchange center between the people of Berlin and Americans. With
Richard von Weizsäcker, former
President of Germany, and
Henry A. Kissinger as co-chairman, this institution—
The American Academy in Berlin—was announced on September 9, 1994, the day after the
U.S. Army Berlin Brigade left Berlin. The American Academy in Berlin opened three years later in a villa on the
Wannsee once owned by the German-Jewish banker Hans Arnhold. The
American Academy in Berlin is now (as of 2009) one of the most important links between Germany and the United States. Its Fellows have included writers (including Pulitzer Prize winning authors
Arthur Miller and
Jeffrey Eugenides), economists, government officials, and public policy experts such as
Dennis Ross and former U.S. Ambassador to The People's Republic of China,
J. Stapleton Roy. In 2008, The American Academy in Berlin awarded its annual
Henry A. Kissinger Award for Transatlantic Relations to
George H. W. Bush. In 2007, the Award's first recipient was former
German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (1994–1996) before peace talks in
Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1995 In 1994, Holbrooke returned to Washington to become the
assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, a position he held until 1996, when he resigned for personal reasons (he had recently married the author
Kati Marton and wished to return to New York). While assistant secretary, Holbrooke led the effort to implement the policy to enlarge NATO and had the distinction of leading the negotiation team charged with resolving the Balkans crisis. However, Holbrooke's biographer
George Packer, discredited Holbrooke's story, stating that another man traveling with the delegation, Colonel Banky, was in fact the person who searched for the APC while Holbrooke and Clark waited near the Humvee. In 1996, he was awarded the
Manfred Wörner Medal, awarded by the
German Ministry of Defense for public figures who have rendered "special meritorious service to peace and freedom in Europe."
Balkan envoy (1996–1999) Upon leaving the State Department, Holbrooke was asked by President Clinton to become, as a private citizen, a special envoy to the Balkans given his service in the region. In 1997, Holbrooke became a special envoy to
Cyprus and the Balkans on a
pro-bono basis as a private citizen. During 1998 and 1999, in his capacity as special presidential envoy, Holbrooke worked to end the conflict between the armed forces of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), who were fighting for an independent
Kosovo in the
Kosovo War. Holbrooke returned to Bosnia two years later to the city of
Sarajevo. In March 1999 he traveled to
Belgrade to deliver the
ultimatum to
Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević before the NATO attack began. Holbrooke was strongly anti-
Serbia and referred to
Serbs as "murderous assholes". Holbrooke wrote numerous articles about his experiences in the Balkans, and in 1998, published the widely acclaimed book,
To End a War, a memoir of his time as the chief negotiator of the
Dayton Peace Accords, ending the Bosnian civil war.
The New York Times ranked the book as one of the eleven best books of the year in 1998. In his book he assessed Bosnian president
Alija Izetbegovic negatively stating, "although he paid lip service to the principles of a multi-ethnic state, he was not the democrat that some supporters in the West saw". According to
Radovan Karadžić and
Muhamed Sacirbey, ex-Bosnian foreign minister, Holbrooke signed an agreement with Karadžić that if the latter withdrew from politics he would not be sent to the
Hague tribunal. Holbrooke denied these terms, saying Karadžić's statement was "a flat-out lie." Holbrooke and Bildt were considered candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize as a result of the Dayton Peace Accords. However, Holbrooke's personal lobbying for the award may have been detrimental to their chances. During his time as ambassador Hobrooke forwent the official ambassador's residence at the Waldorf Astoria hotel instead letting his chief of staff temporarily use the residence. Holbrooke secured a reduction in U.S. dues to the UN despite a booming American economy by enfolding the U.S. position within a broad push to update the UN's long-outdated
financial system. As negotiations reached a critical phase in the fall of 2000, Holbrooke bridged a gap between what the United States was legally permitted to pay and the amounts the rest of the UN membership were willing to shoulder by securing an unprecedented contribution by billionaire
Ted Turner, founder of the
UN Foundation. Holbrooke and his team received a standing ovation in the
United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the terms of the deal were presented. Holbrooke's other achievements as UN Ambassador included getting the
United Nations Security Council to debate and pass a resolution on
HIV/AIDS, the first time that body had treated
public health as a matter of global security. In January 2000, Holbrooke used the United States' presidency of the UN Security Council to spotlight a series of crises in Africa, holding six consecutive UN debates that brought together leaders from the region and the across the globe, including former South African President
Nelson Mandela and then U.S. Vice President
Al Gore, to catalyze more effective UN interventions in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Angola, and elsewhere. Ambassador Holbrooke's lobbying kept Sudan off the UN Human RIghts Commission in 2000 due to the genocide and chattel slavery practiced in the country. Holbrooke decried a "double standard" whereby African conflicts received insufficient global attention. In 2000, Holbrooke led a UN Security Council delegation in a series of diplomatic negotiations throughout Africa, including to the
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe,
Rwanda, and
Uganda. Holbrooke also secured membership for Israel in the UN's
Western European and Others regional group, ending Israel's historic exclusion from regional group deliberations and allowing it to, for the first time, stand for election to leadership positions in UN sub-bodies. During the final weeks of his term, Holbrooke secured consultative status at the United Nations for
Hadassah, the Jewish women's service organization, overcoming strenuous objections from certain
Arab delegations.
GBCHealth In January 2000, when the United States was in the rotating presidency of the
UN Security Council, Ambassador Holbrooke held an unprecedented meeting of the Security Council to discuss AIDS in Africa. No Security Council session in the history of the UN had ever been devoted to a health issue prior to this historic meeting. Vice President
Al Gore presided over the Security Council and declared that AIDS was a security threat to all nations. Upon leaving the UN a year later, Holbrooke took over a nearly moribund NGO that was intended to mobilize businesses and corporations in the fight against AIDS. At the time, it had 17 members. Over the next six years, Holbrooke turned this organization—originally called the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS—into a worldwide organization with over 225 members. It expanded to include
malaria and
tuberculosis, becoming the
Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2006. In 2011, the organization became GBCHealth and expanded its mandate to include an array of health issues. GBCHealth is the official focal point for mobilizing the business community in support of
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and has grown into an important part of the ongoing war against these three diseases.
Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign Holbrooke was Clinton's lead foreign policy advisor in her 2008 campaign for president and was believed to be her preferred choice for Secretary of State. When Obama
defeated Clinton and selected her as Secretary of State, Holbrooke was her preferred option for
Deputy Secretary of State, but was vetoed by Obama.
Special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2009–2010) . In January 2009, Holbrooke was appointed by President Obama as special representative for
Afghanistan and
Pakistan (SRAP). Holbrooke was never in serious contention to become Obama's secretary of state although he interviewed for the position. After Hillary Clinton became secretary of state she requested that Holbrooke become SRAP, a newly created role which he had previously advocated for. Holbrooke's tenure as SRAP has been considered lackluster. Holbrooke's relationship with President Obama was minimal and his relationship was even worse with Joe Biden. He became unpopular in the administration when he attempted to aid Afghan President
Hamid Karzai's political opponents during his reelection bid. He also asserted that: one of the most cost-effective steps
Washington could take would be to boost the agriculture sector of
Afghanistan, which in years past had been a productive and profitable source of exports. Replicate the past success, he said, and Afghans would have money and jobs—and that, in turn, would create stability in the country. He called for 'a complete rethink' of the drug problem in Afghanistan, suggesting that draconian eradication programs were bound to fail. However, according to
David Corn, "Holbrooke's skill set did not lead to much accomplishment in
Afghanistan. He never worked out a productive relationship with Afghan President
Hamid Karzai … He butted heads with other administration officials and was dismissed by European colleagues. He brokered no breakthroughs." Holbrooke was the Founding Chairman of the
American Academy in Berlin; President and CEO of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, the business alliance against HIV/AIDS, until his appointment as a special envoy by President
Barack Obama; and Chairman of the
Asia Society. Holbrooke's other board memberships included the
American Museum of Natural History,
Malaria No More (a New York-based nonprofit that was launched at the 2006
White House Summit with the goal of ending all deaths caused by malaria),
Partnership for a Secure America, and the
National Endowment for Democracy. Holbrooke was also an honorary trustee of the
Dayton International Peace Museum, as well as professor-at-large at the
Watson Institute for International Studies at
Brown University, his alma mater. Additionally, Holbrooke was an advisory board member for the
Partnership for a Secure America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. Holbrooke also served as vice chairman of
Credit Suisse First Boston, managing director of
Lehman Brothers, managing editor of
Foreign Policy, and director of the Peace Corps in Morocco. He wrote numerous articles and two books:
To End a War, and the co-author of
Counsel to the President, and one volume of
The Pentagon Papers. He received more than a dozen honorary degrees, including an
LL.D. from
Bates College in 1999. He wrote a monthly column for
The Washington Post and
Project Syndicate. On March 20, 2007, he appeared on
The Colbert Report to mediate in what
Stephen Colbert (or rather,
his television alter-ego) saw as
Willie Nelson infringing on his ice cream flavor time. Holbrooke was the 'ambassador on call' and after a short mediation process the two parties agreed to taste each other's
Ben and Jerry's ice cream to make amends. He subsequently sang "
On the Road Again" in a trio with Colbert and Nelson. Holbrooke was an Eminent Member of the
Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation until his death. In June 2008,
Conde Nast Portfolio reported that Holbrooke and his son allegedly got multiple below-rate loans at
Countrywide Financial because the corporation considered them "FOA's"—"
Friends of Angelo" (Countrywide Chief Executive
Angelo Mozilo). A documentary titled
The Diplomat centered on the legacy of Holbrooke's career appeared on HBO in the fall of 2015. The documentary was directed by his son,
David Holbrooke, and features notes from Holbrooke's "secret audio diary" which "he dictated on a near daily basis from August 2010 until his death". He was a member of the Steering Committee of the
Bilderberg Group and participated in every conference between 1995 and 2010. == Positions ==