Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin

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interests. 26 Those interests are defined by what Halperin terms “organizational essence”—the consensus view among dominant members of an organization regarding its mission and capabilities. 27 Career officials, concerned about their own careers, tend to support organizational interests; they recognize that “in large measure, promotion depends on being seen as advancing the interest of the organization.” 28 The problem of conformity has been described as especially acute within the Foreign Service. Halperin notes that Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) must be especially careful to win the approval of their immediate supervisors, who prepare efficiency reports on their performance. 29 Efficiency reports are the key criteria in determining promotion. 30 During Lister’s career, and especially in the 1950s and 1960s, the problem of conformity in the Foreign Service may have been even more serious. Schlesinger argues in A Thousand Days that the McCarthy era had taken a heavy toll on the Foreign Service, creating FSOs who had “stopped telling Washington what they really thought and consecrated themselves to the clichés of the cold war.” 31 An Exception to the Rule Based on most accounts of foreign policy-decision making, Lister’s ability to influence foreign policy would predictably be small and limited to the particular sphere in which he worked. Lister would be expected to competently perform his 5
duties but not jeopardize his career advancement by making waves. For all of these reasons, it is remarkable that Lister, at the end of his career, stood out as someone who had made significant contributions. George Lister clearly had many supporters, but, what, was his actual impact? How much of the praise he received was deserved? And, if his impact was beyond the ordinary, what were the keys to his success? Lister’s impact can be measured in several ways—in terms of his influence on U.S. foreign policy-making, but also his influence on the human rights movement and on the state of human rights in countries around the world. Of course, over the course of six decades in the State Department, Lister had more opportunity than most career officials to accomplish his foreign policy goals. The mere cumulative impact of his many small contributions is surely substantial. But even taking into account the length of his career, Lister’s impact was probably outsized for someone of his position—even though, measured against his own objectives, Lister was quite often unsuccessful. His impact, I believe, was related to many factors, but they include his persistence and his understanding of the power dynamics involved in achieving progress on human rights issues. Lister’s papers were donated to the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at The University of Texas at Austin in 2005. In the following Professional Report, drawing upon Lister’s papers and supplementing them with interviews, I examine Lister’s impact and the reasons for his effectiveness. In Chapter Two, I look at Lister’s impact in the first part of his career, between 1941 and 1961, when he was 6
Page 1 and 2: Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007
Page 3 and 4: Impacting Foreign Policy as a Mid-L
Page 5 and 6: Impacting Foreign Policy as a Mid-L
Page 7 and 8: Chile..............................
Page 9 and 10: contributions to U.S. foreign polic
Page 11: etween personalities and more as a
Page 15 and 16: 21 Morton H. Halperin and Patricia
Page 17 and 18: younger sister. As Lister’s long-
Page 19 and 20: as an ideological battle that the U
Page 21 and 22: February 1955, Lister received a le
Page 23 and 24: wanted to bring the entire Socialis
Page 25 and 26: Schlesinger soon began working toge
Page 27 and 28: espects Saragat more than vice-vers
Page 29 and 30: Socialist Party that this office ha
Page 31 and 32: First, his contacts with Italian So
Page 33 and 34: eceptive to the Italian Socialists
Page 35 and 36: 64 George Lister, “Political Less
Page 37 and 38: As he frequently did though, Lister
Page 39 and 40: Impact in the Bureau of Inter-Ameri
Page 41 and 42: leaders,” Lister wrote in 1971. 1
Page 43 and 44: Latin Americans to watch out for [t
Page 45 and 46: Lister’s facility with explaining
Page 47 and 48: away from the Communists, much as h
Page 49 and 50: Domingo as part of an inter-departm
Page 51 and 52: the crisis was “interesting and i
Page 53 and 54: War effort. Besides his propaganda
Page 55 and 56: Affairs to ask that the U.S. press
Page 57 and 58: win the ideological battle against
Page 59 and 60: 31 Ibid. 32 Memo, George Lister to
Page 61 and 62: 104 Ibid. 105 Ibid. 106 Ibid. 107 C
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ights suddenly became a major U.S.
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international human rights experts
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Rights, Carter reiterated that U.S.
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Reagan’s human rights policy was,
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When, as a result of the hearings,
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Human rights were rhetorically usef
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substantial,” Shlaudeman said.
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a reporter as “Mr. Human Rights.
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encourage improvement. As if to und
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Lister won plaudits from Patricia D
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ut the hearings were the starting p
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moment. The bureau had already been
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democratic opposition leaders. List
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greater attention to human rights v
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occurred. Lister’s own toughness
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ability to update the State Departm
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a wide open society, essentially de
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wing regimes, you had to be against
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convinced that clear, reliable info
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he had reduced mistrust, Lister hel
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49 Telephone interview by Gregory K
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117 Ibid., p. 13. 118 Report, Georg
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Chapter 5. Human Rights Case Studie
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The Carter administration had campa
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the Sandinista government became in
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the Sandinistas, but he did not cha
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of the 1980s. Lister’s relationsh
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opinion of the text. Lister suggest
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Lister wrote to Assistant Secretary
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that the USG is pro-Pinochet, you a
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concern about Chile, the Reagan adm
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violations by the Pinochet governme
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luncheons with the Chilean Congress
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how Lister managed to have such a l
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62 Letter, Kim Dae Jung to George L
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129 Library of Congress, Authoritar
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movement—in particular, by insist
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Lister’s other political base was
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State Department as well as human r
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open a political conversation with
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Archival Documents Bibliography Abr
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Lister, George. Memo to Mr. William
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Lister, George. Memo to ARA Office
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Lister, George. Memo to Elliott Abr
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U.S. State Department. Career Histo
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Library of Congress, Chile: The Con
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Shlaudeman, Harry. Former Assistant
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Memorial Service for George Lister.
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