Sembler in the News

Leadership and Commitment to Community
S
embler served as Finance Chairman for the Republican
National Committee from 1997 to 2000. He also served as
Florida’s National Committeeman to the Republican National
Committee after his election in 1994 until 2000. Prior to his
appointment as Ambassador to Italy, Sembler was the Honorary
Chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition and Chairman of the Drug
Free America Foundation, and served on the boards of the International Council of
Shopping Centers, the Florida Governor’s Mansion Foundation, and the Florida
Holocaust Museum, and was a resident member of the Florida Council of 100, a
business advisory group to the Governor of Florida. He continues to serve on the
boards of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation and the
American Australian Education Leadership Foundation.
A
mbassador Mel Sembler was appointed
by President George W. Bush as
Ambassador to Italy and on November
16, 2001, was sworn in by Vice President
Cheney at a White House ceremony.
Ambassador Sembler, the former United States Ambassador to
Australia and Nauru, was most recently the Chairman of the
Board of The Sembler Company, one of the nation’s leading
shopping center developers. He is nationally recognized as an
activist in the anti-drug campaign and as a staunch, long-time
supporter of the Republican Party and its candidates.
With Govenor Bush (Texas) in Israel 1998
Sembler’s Guiding
Principle for Success…
Military Event in Rome 2002
Ambassador Sembler on the grand staircase of Palazzo
Margherita, seat of the U.S. Embassy in Rome 2001.*
THE PRICE OF SUCCESS
I often wonder what it is that brings one man
success in life, and what it is that brings
mediocrity or failure to his brother. The
difference can’t be in mental capacity; there is not
the difference in our mentalities indicated by the
difference in performance. In short, I have reached
the conclusion that some men succeed because
they cheerfully pay the price of success, and others,
though they may claim ambition and a desire
to succeed, are unwilling to pay that price. And
the price is…
Ambassador and Marines at Embassy
Ambassador Sembler and Secretary of
Defense Rumsfeld, 2003
To use all your courage to force yourself to
concentrate on the problem at hand, to think of
it deeply and constantly, to study it from all angles,
and to plan. To have a high and sustained
determination to put over what you plan to
accomplish, not if circumstances be favorable to
its accomplishment, but in spite of all adverse circumstances
which may arise — and nothing
in Rome 2003
Omen or fate? A sign of bigger things to come.
worthwhile has ever been accomplished without
some obstacles having been overcome.
To refuse to believe that there are circumstances
Ambassador Sembler stands before
Florence’s Palazzo della Signoria with
Daria Holowell U.S. Consul, 2002**
Secretary of State Colin Powell and
Ambassador Sembler (Italy) in
January 2002
sufficiently strong to defeat you in the
accomplishment of your purpose. Hard? I should
say so. That’s why so many men never attempt to
acquire success, answer the siren call of the rut
President Bush (41) and
and remain on the beaten paths that are for beaten
Ambassador Sembler in
Italy at tennis matches
May 2003
men. Nothing worthwhile has ever been achieved
without constant endeavor, some pain and constant
application of the lash of ambition. That’s
the price of success as I see it. And I believe every
man should ask himself: Am I willing to endure
the pain of this struggle for the comforts and the
reward and glory that go with achievement? Or
Ambassador Sembler and son Greg,
barbecuing in the rain during a recent visit
home from Italy 2003
President Bush (43),
Betty Sembler,
Ambassador Sembler (Italy)
shall I accept the uneasy and inadequate contentment
that comes with mediocrity? Am I willing
to pay the price of success?
Absolutely no reproduction of any images without the
expressed written consent of The Sembler family. Written
and edited by Dawn Ladd with Nola Beckham and Marsha
Lamp contributing. With gratitude to Marlene McCord,
5
Ambassador Sembler (Italy) and
Prime Minister Berlusconi, Italy 2002
at Villa Taverna, the
Ambassador’s Residence in
Rome, Italy
Joseph French Johnson
Hamilton Institute
Ambassador Sembler speaking to
Government Officials in Bari, Italy 2002
Gabrielle Monical, and Debbie Sembler for their assistance
and contributions to this special edition.
*Photo from Italy Italy magazine.
6
** Photo from Northwestern Magazine.
Ambassador and Mrs. Mel Sembler
Celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary
May 2003
Dolphin Village Shopping Center 1985
BayWalk, St. Petersburg 2000
Mel Sembler, Governor Bush (Texas),
Dick Cheney in Texas 1999
A Special Extra Edition
in the News
A BI-MONTHLY PUBLICATION BY THE SEMBLER COMPANY
Vol. 6 NO. 3 OCTOBER 2003
MEL SEMBLER
A Photo
Essay on
Family, the Man
Behind The
Sembler Company,
and His Patriotism

B
orn in 1930 in
St. Joseph, Missouri,
Mel Sembler is a 1952
graduate of Northwestern
University, where he
earned a Bachelor of Science degree.
He and his wife Betty have three
sons, Steve, Brent, and
Greg, and are the proud
grandparents of eleven
grandchildren.
Betty & Mel 1951
Betty & Mel with sons Steve, Greg,
and Brent 1970
Love &
Family
May 17, 1953
The Next Generation
Logan, Tayllor & Preston
Eve, Ezra, Jacob, Benjamin
Mark, Stephanie, Madison, Erin
Celebrating 40 Years of
Shopping Center Development
and Community Activism…
A s
a developer, Sembler is recognized for
building The Sembler Company into one of
the country’s most recognized shopping
center development firms. In 1986-1987,
Sembler served as the international leader and spokesman for the
shopping center industry as President of the 40,000-member
International Council of Shopping Centers, a position that capped
25 years of active service to this worldwide trade association.
S
embler’s work as a civic and political
activist is equally noteworthy. A supporter
of George H.W. Bush since 1979, Sembler
played a leadership role in raising funds for the
Bush for President campaign. He was Finance
Co-Chairman of The American
Bicentennial Presidential Inaugural,
raising the dollars needed for the
nation’s 41st inauguration of the
President of the United States.
June 1987
Lenox Marketplace,
Atlanta, developed by
The Sembler
Company 1998
A
Jim Bullock, Nancy Reagan
and Mel Sembler 1987
President Ronald Reagan, Mel Sembler,
Vice President Bush in Washington 1988
The Sembler Company Headquarters,
St. Petersburg, Florida
Republican National
Convention Delegate 1988
Ambassador's Residence, Australia
Mary Cheney, daughter of Dick Cheney,
Secretary Dick Cheney (Defense) and Ambassador Sembler
(Australia) in Sydney, Australia in 1992
Mel Sembler, Betty Sembler, Governor Bush (Texas),
Mrs. Sara Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
Laura Bush in Israel in 1998
…and Serving His Country
I
n February 1989, President
George H.W. Bush appointed Sembler
United States Ambassador to Australia
and Nauru. As the President’s personal
representative, he actively promoted United
States’ interests abroad during his three and one-half years’
service. At the recommendation of the Governor-General
of Australia and with the approval of Her Majesty, Queen
Elizabeth II, Sembler was named an Honorary Officer in
the Order of Australia at an investiture
ceremony in October 2000. The Order of
Australia is an Australian society of honor
for the purpose of according recognition to
Australian citizens and is rarely given to
foreigners.
Ms. Marlene McCord.
Attaché to the Ambassador
Senator Brownhill, Ambassador Mel
Sembler (Australia) and Betty Sembler,
Australia 1991
lthough best known as a leading shopping center
developer, Sembler is also renowned for his activism in the
anti-drug movement. In 1976, Sembler and his wife Betty
President Bush (41),
Ambassador and
founded STRAIGHT, an adolescent drug treatment program.
Mel Sembler,
Mel and Betty Sembler 1975
granddaughter Erin 1990
During its 17 years of existence, STRAIGHT successfully graduated more than
Prime Minister
Hawke (Australia)
12,000 young people nationwide from its remarkable program.
Admiring their new
at White House,
In Paris, France 1985
Betty Sembler, Ambassador Sembler (Australia),
grandbaby 1981
June 1989
2 Mel Sembler, Nancy Reagan, Princess Diana at Straight in 1985
3 President Bush (41) at White House in May 1990
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