Richard C Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s emissary to Afghanistan and Pakistan and one of the most celebrated American diplomats of the last half-century, died Monday, the State Department said. He was 69.
Holbrooke, who in 1995 brokered the deal that ended the Bosnian war, died at George Washington University Hospital after having surgery to repair a tear in his aorta.
A 6-foot-2, barrel-chested man, he was renowned for his ruthless negotiating style, which came in handy when he stood up to Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic and brokered the Dayton accords that ended the Bosnian conflict.
Holbrooke, who began his career as a junior Foreign Service officer in the Vietnam War and ended it helping lead the battle to overcome militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan, shaped the narrative of US diplomacy as an advisor to presidents, secretaries of State and Democratic presidential candidates. Holbrooke served every Democratic president since John F Kennedy, and was a contender to be secretary of State for two decades, though he never accomplished the goal. He was the only person to be assistant secretary of State for two regions — East Asia and Europe — and was also US ambassador to the United Nations, as well as ambassador to Germany.
In adding him to his administration on Jan. 22, 2009, two days after his inauguration, President Obama praised Holbrooke as “one of the most talented diplomats of his generation.”
Holbrooke insisted that Afghanistan and Pakistan would be his last diplomatic mission. But despite his age, many who knew him had found that difficult to believe.
Holbrooke’s blunt style made him an effective diplomat but sometimes led to friction with those around him. In every administration in which he worked he had passionate fans and detractors. Every veteran US diplomat has at least a few tales of Holbrooke, recounting his exploits and outsized personality and ego.
As special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Holbrooke oversaw the dispatch of about 1,100 civilian officials to Afghanistan to try to help build the economy and strengthen the weak central government. His approach was to use large helpings of American aid to leverage change in officials and institutions. At the same time, he was not hesitant to complain about Afghan government corruption and ineffectiveness.
During his time in Kabul, he clashed with his US colleagues and foreign leaders, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.
Holbrooke spent about half of his career as an investment banker in New York, mostly during Republican administrations. Even then, he kept his hand in foreign policy, writing opinion pieces and advising Democratic candidates including former President Carter, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), now Obama’s secretary of State.
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was born April 24, 1941, in New York City and raised in Scarsdale, N.Y. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Europe, and his father, a doctor, died when Holbrooke was a teenager. He attended Brown University and entered the Foreign Service after graduating in 1962.
Holbrooke’s talent was recognised early in the State Department. Columnist Walter Lippmann described him as one of the “young lords of the Mekong Delta” during the Vietnam War. Holbrooke wrote one of the volumes of the Pentagon Papers, the secret government analysis of the origins of the Vietnam War that, once leaked, helped turn US public opinion against the conflict. He was also assigned to the Paris peace talks.
In the early 1970s, Holbrooke took a job as a Peace Corps director in Morocco, then became managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine from 1972 to 1977. He returned to the State Department during the Carter administration, serving as assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
He left the diplomatic realm for investment banking in the 1980s but returned after Bill Clinton was elected president, becoming ambassador to Germany, assistant secretary for European and Canadian affairs and then ambassador to the United Nations.
Holbrooke wrote two well-received books, including “To End a War,” his 1998 account of the Dayton negotiations. He also employed his own personal archivist to collect news stories chronicling his career.
Holbrooke returned to the private sector during the George W Bush presidency. His writings and speeches offered a rolling critique of the Republican years that helped build the Democratic case for change and also advertised Holbrooke’s availability for a post in a new administration. He predicted in 2008 that there would be no easy way out of Afghanistan under Obama,
Holbrooke married his third wife, journalist Kati Marton, in 1995, and the couple became known for the parties they would throw in their Central Park West apartment for movie stars, world leaders, artists and journalists.Besides his wife, Holbrooke is survived by two sons from his first marriage, David and Anthony.
Los Angeles Times