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

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experience working in a bank—helped him get a job in the commercial section of the embassy, beginning in May 1941. 10 First Assignments: 1941-1957 Background Lister remained in Colombia from May 1941 through at least March 1944, when he became stationed in Buenaventura, Colombia. After passing the Foreign Service Exam, Lister was appointed a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) in December 1945. 11 Lister’s assignments for the next decade were mainly in Europe. In February 1946, he was assigned to Warsaw, Poland, where he worked at the U.S embassy for two and a half years. 12 In February 1949, he began a year of Russian language training in the U.S., followed by two years as a political officer in Moscow, where he served under Ambassador George F. Kennan. 13 Beginning in August 1952, Lister began a year of Communist and Soviet studies, taught in Russian, in the Bavarian city of Regensburg, in West Germany. 14 He then returned to the State Department, where he worked for four years mainly at the Polish desk, which, as the name suggests coordinated policy towards Poland. 15 Lister’s direct encounters with Communist countries in these years not only made him an avowed anti-Communist, but also shaped his perspective on how Communism should be fought. In his work as a political officer, Lister’s job largely entailed combating Soviet propaganda. He thus came to regard the Cold War largely 11
as an ideological battle that the U.S. needed to win in the realm of ideas. His experience with Communism also led him to distinguish between Communist governments and the people living beneath those regimes. Although Lister clearly opposed Communism due to the threat posed to U.S. national security by a growing Soviet bloc, he also understood that life under a Communist system was bleak in comparison to life in Western democracies. At a conference in Geneva in 1949, Lister consulted with various Polish diplomats about U.S. trade policy towards Poland. Lister reported in a memorandum that one of the diplomats, whom Lister realized did not wholeheartedly support the Communist Party, told Lister “not to forget Poland.” 16 Lister replied that he “had great respect for the common people of Poland” and that he “would never forget them.” 17 Lister also describes an encounter in Geneva with another U.S. diplomat, Walt Rostow, who appeared to have been impressed by “Polish achievements” in a recent visit to Poland. 18 Lister was critical of Rostow, observing that he did not seem “to have a full appreciation of the human effort and misery which many of those achievements represented. Nor did he seem to realize how cordially the Polish people hate their Government – and how desperately they hope that America will force the Soviet Union out of Poland.” 19 Lister’s concern about life under Communism was rooted partly in his own studies. During his year of training at Regensburg, in 1952-1953, he completed a 75- page paper on Soviet careers titled “How Soviet Careers Are Made or What Makes 12
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Page 3 and 4: Impacting Foreign Policy as a Mid-L
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Page 7 and 8: Chile..............................
Page 9 and 10: contributions to U.S. foreign polic
Page 11 and 12: etween personalities and more as a
Page 13 and 14: duties but not jeopardize his caree
Page 15 and 16: 21 Morton H. Halperin and Patricia
Page 17: younger sister. As Lister’s long-
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
Page 63 and 64: ights suddenly became a major U.S.
Page 65 and 66: international human rights experts
Page 67 and 68: 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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