Thomas R. Pickering
Tom Pickering | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Jordan | |
In office March 2, 1974 – July 13, 1978 | |
President | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
Preceded by | L. Dean Brown |
Succeeded by | Nicholas A. Veliotes |
Executive Secretary of the Department of State | |
In office July 30, 1973 – January 31, 1974 | |
President | Richard Nixon |
Preceded by | Theodore L. Eliot Jr. |
Succeeded by | George Springsteen |
Personal details | |
Born | Thomas Reeve Pickering November 5, 1931 Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
Spouse |
Alice Stover
(m. 1955; died 2011) |
Children | 2 |
Education | Bowdoin College (BA) Tufts University (MA) University of Melbourne (MA) |
Thomas Reeve "Tom" Pickering (born November 5, 1931) is a retired
Early life and education
Born in Orange, New Jersey, Pickering is the son of Hamilton Reeve Pickering and Sarah Chasteney Pickering. Raised in Rutherford, New Jersey, he graduated from Rutherford High School.[1][2]
He enrolled at
Before joining the State Department, Pickering served on active duty in the United States Navy from 1956 to 1959,[5] and later served in the Naval Reserve where he reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander.[6]
Diplomatic career
Pickering's four-decade-long career in
Early career
Early in his career, he was assigned to the U.S. embassy in
Pickering's time as
As Ambassador to Israel, Pickering led the United States' criticism of an Israeli policy that expelled Palestinians accused of instilling uprising.[12] Pickering stressed to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir that the United States considered the actions illegal and unhelpful for peace efforts.[13]
United Nations and subsequent career
President
In December 1994, while serving as U.S. Ambassador to Russia, he wrote that "hostility to early NATO expansion is almost universally felt across the domestic political spectrum here."[18] Although the quote would erroneously be described as coming from William J. Burns,[19][20][21] who was serving as counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow at the time, Burns did not claim ownership of the cable, only saying, in his memoir, that "we reported [it] just after the Budapest outburst."[22]
Following the resignation of Secretary of State Warren Christopher in 1996, Pickering was reportedly a top contender for the post, but was ultimately passed over in favor of then-UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright.[23]
From 1997 to 2001, Pickering served as
After the State Department
Following his retirement from the Foreign Service in 2001, Pickering served as Senior Vice President for International Relations at Boeing until 2006. Currently[when?], he is serving as an independent board member at the world's biggest pipe company, OAO TMK, in Moscow. At present[when?], he is affiliated with the International Crisis Group and currently serves as its Co-Chair,[26] and oversees their international actions as co-chair. In addition, he is Chairman of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, Chairman of the Board of Advisers of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy,[27] Chairman of the American Academy of Diplomacy, Chairman of the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation,[28] and a member of the Board of Advisors of the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Global Panel Foundation based in Berlin, Prague and Sydney.[29]
Following his retirement, the U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Fellowship Program was renamed the
Pickering serves on the board of directors for
Pickering also serves as Co-Chairman of the International Economic Alliance (IEA),[35] where he actively hosts and partakes in international forums attended by notable corporate leaders, ambassadors, and senior government officials from member nations of the Alliance.
Pickering is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization that works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation, and promote good governance. He is also a board member of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).[36]
In 2012, along with former
In 2014, Pickering gave the keynote speech at the Student Conference on U.S. Affairs at
Personal life
Pickering lives in Fairfax County, Virginia. His wife, the former Alice Jean Stover, whom he married in 1955, died in 2011. The couple had two children, Timothy and Margaret.[39]
Pickering is fluent in French, Spanish, and Swahili, and has a working knowledge of Russian, Hebrew, and Arabic.[40]
Honors and awards
In 2002, Pickering was presented the Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award by the American Foreign Service Association.
In May 2015, Pickering received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Brandeis University. He addressed the graduates as the commencement speaker.[41]
References
- ^ "About Rutherford High School". Rutherford High School. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
Career diplomat and ambassador Thomas H. Pickering and presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan are among those honored as part of this tradition.
- ^ "Department of State Nomination of Thomas R. Pickering To Be Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.", The American Presidency Project, September 11, 1978. Accessed March 26, 2024. "The President today announced that he will nominate Thomas R. Pickering, of Rutherford, N.J., to be Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs."
- ^ "Ambassador Tom Pickering Lecture Introduction". Bowdoin College (Office of the President). Archived from the original on June 3, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
- ^ "Ambassador Thomas Pickering '53 Wins Bowdoin Prize". Bowdoin College Campus News. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
- ^ "Biography: Thomas Pickering". United States State Department Web Site. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
- ^ "The American Academy of Diplomacy- Pickering". The American Academy of Diplomacy Web Site. Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2008.
- ^ "Thomas R. Pickering". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ a b Mohr, Charles (December 7, 1988). "Bush's Selections for the United Nations, the C.I.A. and Top Economic Posts; Thomas Reeve Pickering, U.S. Representative to the United Nations". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- ^ Isaacson, Walter; Wierzynski, Gregory H. (August 8, 1983). "Disappearing Act at Foggy Botton". Time. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ "Taking Sides?". Time. May 14, 1984. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- ^ "Bush's Choice for U.N. Carried Contra Appeal". The New York Times. December 8, 1988. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- ^ Brinkley, Joel (August 25, 1988). "U.S. Criticism Sets Off Furor In Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- ^ "Middle East Trials and Errors". Time. January 11, 1988. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ "Senate Backs U.N. Delegate". The New York Times. March 8, 1989. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- ^ Lewis, Paul (November 10, 1990). "MIDEAST TENSIONS; U.S. Envoy to U.N. on Center Stage". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- ^ Gelb, Leslie H. (February 3, 1992). "Jan 24-30: A Quick Study; A Diplomat's Diplomat Goes to Russia". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
- U.S. State Department. p. 2.
- ^ "Ukraine war follows decades of warnings that NATO expansion into Eastern Europe could provoke Russia". The Conversation. February 28, 2022.
- ^ 168 Cong. Rec S632-S636 (February 10, 2022) (statement of Sen. Bernie Sanders).
- ISBN 9780300265613.
- ISBN 9780525508861.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ "The Many Lives of Madeleine". Time. February 17, 1997. Archived from the original on May 18, 2008. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
- ^ Turner, Martin (July 7, 1998). "Abiola's death - an eyewitness account". BBC News. Abuja. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ International Crisis Group Annual Report 2014
- ^ "Board of Advisers". Georgetown University. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ "Our Directors & Staff - Rostropovich Vishnevskaya Foundation".
- ^ "Board of Advisors - About - The National Bureau of Asian Research". Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ "The Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Scholarship". The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Archived from the original on February 26, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
- ^ "Ambassador Thomas Pickering '53 Wins Bowdoin Prize". Bowdoin College Campus News. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
- ^ "www.american-iranian.org". www.american-iranian.org. March 25, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ "www.constitutionproject.org". www.constitutionproject.org. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
- ^ "Thomas Pickering | AMERICA ABROAD MEDIA". Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
- ^ "International Advisory Board – International Economic Alliance". Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ^ "Staff and Board". NIAC. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ^ Politics, NBC. "Chilly reception for McCain idea of special Benghazi panel".
- ^ Eastwood, Kathy (November 20, 2014). "Worst-case scenarios discussed at 66th SCUSA". United States Military Academy West Point. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016 – via www.westpoint.edu.
- ^ "Alice Pickering Obituary - Demaine Funeral Home - Alexandria VA".
- ^ "Ambassador Tom Pickering Lecture Introduction". Bowdoin College Office of the President. Archived from the original on June 3, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
- ^ "Former U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering to speak at commencement". BrandeisNOW. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
External links
- Thomas Reeve Pickering (1931 - ) U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian
- Thomas R. Pickering at The American Academy of Diplomacy
- Charting the Future of U.S.-India Relations, June 2011 interview with Ambassador Thomas Pickering
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Thomas R. Pickering on Charlie Rose
- Thomas R. Pickering at IMDb
- Thomas R. Pickering collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Video (with audio available) conversations with Pickering on Bloggingheads.tv
- Interview with Thomas R. Pickering in Spanish newspaper El País on 12 Juli 2009