This just came in from CNN - they report that a senior State Department official reports Richard Holbrooke has passed away.
A timeline of his distinguished public service - I wrote it when he first took ill in my diary from Saturday:
A little background on Holbrooke's public service:
- U.S. Foreign Service (1962-1969), Vietnam
- Director, Peace Corps (1970-1976), Morocco
- Assistant Secretary of State (1977-1981), East Asia & Pacific Affairs
- U.S. Ambassador to Germany (1993-1994)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1994-1996), European & Canadian Affairs
- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1999-2001)
- U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan & Pakistan (2009-present)
From 1981-1993, Holbrooke had what is being called the "Wall Street Years". He joined a private firm as VP for Public Strategies and in that capacity, was a senior advisor to Lehman Brothers.
One of his more notable accomplishments as UN Ambassador was to host a meeting of the UN Security Council specifically to discuss the problem of AIDS in Africa. After leaving his poisition as UN Ambassador, he took an anemic Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria and grew it from 17 members to 225 members. It is currently an important focal point for fighting these three diseases.
ABC News now has the story:
ABC News has learned that Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died.
On Friday, Holbrooke was rushed to the hospital with a torn aorta. He went through more than 20 hours of surgery. Earlier this evening, speaking at the US State Department, President Obama sang Holbrooke's praises and called him "a tough son of a gun."
Holbrooke, 69, was a former ambassador to the United Nations and served as chief negotiator at the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia.
The ABC story links to a very nice piece from The New Yorker - it's lengthy, but it really gives a sense of what a thoughtful and interesting person he was.
Update [2010-12-13 19:51:39 by RenaRF]: msmacgyver was kind enough to provide this YouTube video of a Holbrooke appearance on Rachel Maddow's show when I posted about him a few days ago:
Update [2010-12-13 20:10:5 by RenaRF]: The State Department hasn't yet released a statement - but I found some remarks on Holbrooke made only today when Secretary Clinton spoke at a reception for Chiefs of Diplomatic Missions to the US:
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good evening, everyone and a very happy holiday season to you. It is wonderful to welcome so many distinguished guests here to the State Department, where we have some festive cheer, holiday traditions that are made special by the people who gather together. And I’m delighted that so many of you could come and be with us.
But one very dear friend in particular is not with us, and our thoughts are with him tonight. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke has been a giant of the diplomatic corps for almost 50 years. He is practically synonymous with American foreign policy of that time period. He’s taken on the hardest assignments, from Vietnam to the Balkans to Afghanistan and Pakistan. And this week, his doctors are learning what diplomats and dictators around the world have long known: There’s nobody tougher than Richard Holbrooke. He’s a fierce negotiator. I’m sure there are some shoulders here tonight that are still a little bit sore from his arm-twisting.
But he is a fiercer friend and a beloved mentor and an invaluable counselor. He has been a friend of mine for many years and I am deeply grateful for his presence and support. When I came to the State Department, I was delighted to be able to bring Richard in and give him one of the most difficult challenges that any diplomat can face. And he immediately put together an absolutely world class staff. It represents what we believe should be the organizational model for the future – people not only from throughout our own government, but even representatives from other governments all working together. And we know that with Richard, loyalty runs deep and it runs both ways. So tonight, our thoughts and prayers are with Ambassador Holbrooke, his wife Kati, their family, who are here with us as well.