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

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Ivan Run.” 20 Lister concluded that “for those who have even a partial understanding of the operation of the Soviet system, the widely advertised and loudly lamented shallow materialism and grubby values of the West are very secondary shortcomings indeed.” 21 Impact During Early Assignments Lister’s impact during the initial part of his career is more difficult to judge than at any other time period; the document record is scarce. His impact, I suspect, was akin to that of other FSOs charged with the kinds of activities he performed: analyzing information about the political situation in the countries he was assigned to, developing contacts who could serve as sources of information, and seeking opportunities to win the propaganda battle against the Communists. According to Lister, his job at the Polish desk permitted him to be particularly effective. Lister recalled in a memorandum from 1962 that his Polish desk position had been “the best job in the Department at the time.” 22 Lister wrote that “[w]e made significant progress against the Communists” when [Władysław] Gomulka, the long- time Polish Communist leader, returned to power in the 1950s after a brief removal. 23 “Among other things,” he recalled, “I was able to establish some very useful confidential contacts inside the Polish Embassy.” 24 In his job at the Polish desk, Lister took advantage of the smallest opportunities to win the ideological battle against Communism. For example, in 13
February 1955, Lister received a letter from a Mr. K. Romanowicz, a Polish émigré to the United States who also operated an anti-Communist bookstore in Paris. 25 Romanowicz sought $3000 to operate a “mobile anti-communist library” in northeastern France, where the Polish minority was being targeted by the Warsaw government with Communist propaganda. 26 Romanowicz’s imaginative scheme was to purchase an automobile, which he would use to drive around Polish minority areas and distribute anti-Communist literature. Lister urged in a memo that the request be approved; he argued that “this could well prove to be a case in which a modest expenditure would be put to very effective use…” 27 Some of Lister’s attempts to gain a propaganda advantage were quite skillful. For instance, Lister recognized that a conference on world affairs planned for April 1956 at the University of Colorado, Boulder, would be an ideal chance to counter Polish Communist propaganda. 28 The organizers of the conference had requested the Polish Ambassador to the United Nations to submit a Polish flag, but Lister writes in a memo that the Ambassador, “with typical Polish Communist enterprise and brashness” announced that he would bring the flag to the forum himself, thus securing himself a place as a speaker. 29 Lister was successful in arranging for a “capable, articulate, and well-prepared Polish anti-Communist” to surprise the Ambassador at the forum by joining him on the same panel. 30 Additionally, he proposed providing Voice of America (VOA) coverage of the panel for broadcast to Poland. Lister wrote, “Naturally, it would not be necessary for the VOA man to stay any longer than the 14
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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 and 18: younger sister. As Lister’s long-
Page 19: as an ideological battle that the U
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.
Page 69 and 70: 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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