Scott Gration
Scott Gration | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Kenya | |
In office May 18, 2011 – July 23, 2012 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Michael Ranneberger |
Succeeded by | Robert F. Godec |
United States Special Envoy to Sudan | |
In office March 17, 2009 – April 1, 2011 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Princeton Lyman |
Personal details | |
Born | Jonathan Scott Gration 1951 (age 72–73) Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit Bronze Star Purple Heart |
Jonathan Scott Gration (born 1951)[1] is a former United States Air Force officer who worked as a policy advisor to President Barack Obama.
Born in
In 2009, Obama named Gration as the United States Special Envoy to
Early life and education
Gration, known by his middle name Scott, was born in
After his family returned to the United States, he studied at Rutgers University, where he enlisted in the ROTC program and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He earned a master's degree in national security studies from Georgetown University in Washington in 1988.[11]
Military career
Upon graduating from Rutgers, his "low
Returning to flight service, he trained on the
From January 1988 he attended the
From June 1992 he spent a year studying at the National War College, followed by two years of staff duties in Washington, including a six-month period as an executive officer to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and as a planner for the National Security Council.
In mid-1995, now promoted to colonel, he returned to flight service, and that June took up command of the
Through 2000 and 2001 he was deputy director for operations (J-39, responsible for
In August 2003 he was appointed Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, and in June 2004 the director, strategy, plans, and policy directorate of United States European Command.
In the course of his career, Gration recorded more than 5,000 flying hours, including 983 hours of combat and combat support time in 274 combat missions over Iraq. He was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit, as well as the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and seventy nine other decorations.[9][12]
Military Promotion dates
- Second Lieutenant Jan. 24, 1974
- First Lieutenant July 24, 1976
- Captain July 24, 1978
- Major May 1, 1985
- Lieutenant Colonel June 1, 1988
- Colonel Jan. 1, 1995
- Brigadier General Oct. 1, 1999 (original line number cancelled)
- Major General April 1, 2003[12]
Political activity
Gration voted for George W. Bush in 2000.[9] In 2006, he traveled to Africa on a five-nation, fifteen-day, fact-finding tour, accompanying Senator Barack Obama as an "African expert".[13] He later endorsed Obama's presidential campaign, citing that Obama had the "judgment, wisdom, courage, experience, and leadership capability that we desperately need."[14]
In 2007, the Obama campaign "beg[a]n sending Gration out on the stump . . . in an effort to improve the inexperienced senator's image on national security."
Press reports say that in 2009, as a senior official on Obama's transition team, Gration called and emailed several of President Bush's Pentagon appointees to inform them they were being dismissed. Those calls and emails were followed up by an email from Jim O'Beirne, the special assistant to the secretary of defense for White House liaisons, who expressed exasperation that Gration informed the employees directly instead of letting O'Beirne's office know first. A Pentagon spokesperson said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was "absolutely satisfied" with how the transition was handled.[15]
Civil service
After retiring from the Air Force, Gration served as CEO of Millennium Villages, an organization dedicated to reducing extreme poverty. He then joined the Safe Water Network where he helped to provide safe water to vulnerable populations in India, Bangladesh, and Ghana.
In January 2009 it was speculated that he would be nominated to be the
United States Special Envoy to Sudan
On March 17, 2009, Gration was named U.S. Special Envoy to
Gration and his team were able to coordinate an end to the Chad-Sudan conflict,[20] unify most of the Darfur rebel groups and encourage their participation in the Doha peace talks,[21] and assist the 2010 Sudanese National Elections[22] and the 2011 Southern Sudan referendum on independence.[23]
On appointing Ambassador Princeton Lyman to replace Gration as special envoy, on April 1, 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recognized Gration as a "dedicated public servant," saying "Scott has been instrumental to our work in Sudan over the last two years. We are absolutely delighted that the President has nominated him to be our next Ambassador to Kenya, and we will continue to rely on his passion and skills for the people of the region and we thank [him] for [his] service."[24]
In a March 2013 speech at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson called U.S. efforts led by Gration and Lyman "a major accomplishment" of the Obama administration. Carson said: "Under the leadership of President Obama's special envoys, first General Scott Gration and now Ambassador Princeton Lyman, the United States led international efforts to reinvigorate the CPA. President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and Ambassador Susan Rice's leadership kept the 2011 referendum on South Sudan's independence on track, and led to South Sudan's independence in July 2011."[25]
United States Ambassador to Kenya
President
Gration described media reports describing various theories as to why he resigned his post as "silliness".[28] In an interview with The Cable, Gration insisted that his one-year tenure as the U.S. envoy in Nairobi was a success.[29] Speaking in 2015, Gration attributed his resignation to "the use of Gmail in the US Embassy, my insistence on improving our physical security posture, and other twisted and false allegations".[7] According to an article in Ars Technica, he "worked out of a bathroom because it was the only place in the embassy where he could use an unsecured network and his personal computer, using Gmail to conduct official business. And he did all this during a time when Chinese hackers were penetrating the personal Gmail inboxes of a number of US diplomats."[30]
The Inspector General's report on Gration's behavior stated that "The Ambassador has lost the respect and confidence of the staff to lead the mission" and that his leadership had been "divisive and ineffective." It found that he directed staff to work on projects with "unclear status and almost no value," did not read classified front channel messages, used commercial e-mail systems instead of secure government ones for official and sensitive business, and ignored U.S. government policy.[31]
The potential action against Gration became a talking point in the Hillary Clinton email controversy during her presidential campaign as part of the attempt to establish whether the State Department had official guidelines on personal email accounts during her tenure.[7]
Private sector
Following his resignation as ambassador, Gration returned to the private sector, heading an investment group in East Africa.[7][32] He also released a memoir, Flight Path: Son of Africa to Warrior-Diplomat (Mulami Books, 2016), telling his life story and defending himself against the charges that led to his resignation.[32][33]
References
- ^ Jonathan Scott Gration (1951–)
- ^ Bohan, Caren. "Obama chooses Sudan envoy, to announce Wednesday". March 17, 2009. Reuters. Accessed May 9, 2018.
- ^ "Adding Pressure to Sudan, Obama Will Tap Retired General as Special Envoy" The New York Times Published: March 17, 2009
- ^ a b Raghavan, Sudarsan (29 June 2012). "U.S. Ambassador to Kenya J. Scott Gration resigns over 'differences' with Washington". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ a b "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts"
- ^ a b "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate"
- ^ a b c d e Gerstein, Josh (March 5, 2016). "Ousted ambassador sounds off on Hillary email flap". Politico. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- ^ "Scott Gration". ancestry.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hirsh, Michael (2007-08-01) Hero-Worshipping Obama, Newsweek
- ^ "Interview with John Alexander Gration - Collection 230". Wheaton College.
- ^ Obama Asks Retired Air Force General to Run NASA - Space.com News - Brian Berger and Becky Iannotta, Space News Staff Writers, 13 January 2009
- ^ a b "Major General Jonathan S. Gration". United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^ Taxpayers, campaign fund, Obama's own money pay for trip Archived 2008-01-31 at the Wayback Machine - Lynn Sweet, August 28th, 2006
- ^ Barack Obama as the next Commander in Chief - Scott Gration, July 17th, 2007
- ^ Youngman, Sam (31 December 2008). "Obama dismisses Bush Pentagon appointees". The Hill (Newspaper). Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ "Eligibility of a retired military officer for appointment as Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration" (PDF). U.S. Department of Justice. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-13.
- ^ “Key U.S. Senator Cautions Obama on NASA Pick!” = SpaceNews.com
- ^ "Ex-Air Force pilot to be named as Sudan envoy" - AP
- ^ "U.S. envoy to Sudan says Bashir indictment will make his job harder". Washington Post. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ Lavallee, Guillaume (9 February 2010). "Chad-Sudan deal could end Darfur insecurity, says US envoy". London: Telegraph (UK). Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ "Sudan Government, JEM Resume Doha Peace Talks". Sudan Vision Daily Newspaper. Archived from the original on 2010-12-03. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ "U.S. envoy expresses confidence over credibility of Sudan elections". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ "International Partners Present Referendum Materials to Sudanese Officials". DipNote Blog | U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ Clinton, Hillary. "Secretary Clinton Announces Ambassador Lyman as Special Envoy for Sudan". YouTube. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ Carson, Johnnie. "U.S.-Africa Partnership: The Last Four Years and Beyond". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ "Why Scott Gration Really Resigned". The New Republic. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- ^ Kiely, Eugene (October 28, 2016). "A Guide to Clinton's Emails". Fact Check. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- ^ Mutiga, Murithi (18 August 2012). "General has no regrets over his 'respect' diplomacy". Daily Nation (Kenya). Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ^ Rogin, Josh (14 August 2012). "Gration: I was a great ambassador". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ^ Gallagher, Sean (March 8, 2015). "The Ambassador who worked from a Nairobi bathroom to avoid State Dept. IT". Ars Technica. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- ^ Heil, Emily (2012-08-10). "Ambassador to Kenya slammed". Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ^ a b "Scott Gration". LinkedIn. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
- ^ Sadin, Steve (November 21, 2016). "Author Recounts Tales of War, Diplomacy". Retrieved May 9, 2018.