Robert B. Oakley

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Robert B. Oakley
U.S. Ambassador to Zaire
In office
6 November 1979 – 22 August 1982
PresidentJimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
Preceded byWalter L. Cutler
Succeeded byPeter Dalton Constable
Personal details
Born
Robert Bigger Oakley

(1931-03-12)March 12, 1931
Dallas, Texas, United States
DiedDecember 10, 2014(2014-12-10) (aged 83)
McLean, Virginia, United States
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1958⁠–⁠2014)​
(his death)
Alma materSouth Kent School, Princeton University

Robert Bigger Oakley (March 12, 1931 – December 10, 2014) was an American

United States Ambassador to Zaire, Somalia, and Pakistan and, in the early 1990s, as a special envoy during the American involvement in Somalia.[1]

Department of State

Born in

Saigon, Paris, and Beirut. He also served at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and as Senior Director for Middle East and South Asia on the staff of the National Security Council
.

In February 1977, he became Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of State for

U.S. Ambassador to Somalia
in August 1982. In September 1984, he was appointed Director of the State Department Office of Combating Terrorism. He again joined the National Security Council Staff on January 1, 1987, as Assistant to the President for Middle East and South Asia.

He was named as

Pressler Amendment.[3]

After retiring from the Foreign Service in September 1991, Oakley became associated with the

Operation Restore Hope until March 1993. In October 1993, he was again named as Special Envoy for Somalia by President Bill Clinton, and served in this capacity until March 1994. In January 1995, he joined the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. In 2000, Oakley claimed in an interview with the Washington Post that the Clinton administrations "obsession with Osama" was making Bin Laden stronger.[4]

Recognitions

During his service with the State Department, Oakley received numerous State Department awards, including: the State Department Meritorious Honor Award, four Presidential Meritorious Service Awards, and the State Department Distinguished Honor Award. For his service as Special Envoy to Somalia, he received a second State Department Distinguished Honor Award and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. On June 18, 1993, he received the Diplomatic Award for Excellence of the American Academy of Diplomacy. In October 2008, Oakley was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from Princeton in Africa.[5]

Family

In

Phyllis Elliott who, under then-prevailing rules, was obliged to resign. The Oakleys have two children, and five grandchildren. Phyllis E. Oakley returned to the Foreign Service in 1974.[6]

Death

Oakley died in McLean, Virginia from complications from Parkinson's disease, on December 10, 2014, aged 83.[7]

References

  1. Notable Names Database
    (NNDB)
  2. ^ Battle of Jalalabad - Operation Jalalabad - Pak-Afg war, 1989, retrieved 2023-07-06
  3. ISBN 978-1-4008-5040-2
    , retrieved 2022-02-13
  4. ISSN 0190-8286
    . Retrieved 2023-12-23.
  5. The American Academy of Diplomacy
  6. Notable Names Database
    (NNDB)
  7. ^ "Robert Oakley, diplomatic troubleshooter, dies at 83". Washington Post.com. Retrieved December 11, 2014.

External links

Note: When consulted on June 12, 2016, both of the below links were no longer active.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
U.S. Ambassador to Zaire

1979–1982 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
U.S. Ambassador to Somalia

1982–1984 		Succeeded by
Peter Bridges
Preceded by
U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan

1988–1991 		Succeeded by
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