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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Lister’s Impact on Italian Politics Influence on Italian Socialists Lister was undeniably successful at influencing Italian Socialists to moderate their views towards the United States during his time in Rome. The mere fact that Lister initiated contact with Italian Socialists probably had some impact on their perceptions of the United States. Lister’s first contact with Italian Socialists took place in February 1958, when he made an appointment to speak with Ricardo Lombardi, a Socialist leader. 64 Lombardi was startled to find himself having coffee in the Italian Parliament with an American diplomat; he later revealed that he had suspected privately that Lister was with the CIA. 65 Lombardi asked Lister if this meeting represented a U.S. policy change. 66 Lister replied, noncommittally, that he was merely trying to meet as many Italians as possible—which was not untrue. 67 Lister’s relationships with Italian political leaders went beyond formal appointment-making. His intimacy with many of them is evident from the descriptive portraits in his memorandums. A five-page memorandum from February 1963 describes the politics and personality of Saragat, leader of the Democratic Socialists: He is high strung, mercurial, sensitive, proud and easily moved to anger. At his worst he can become pretty ugly, especially when he loses control of his temper. On such occasions, at various Directorate and Central Committee meetings, he has really shaken his victims with his withering blasts to the point where they have seriously considered leaving the Party. 68 The same memorandum makes use of personal details to provide insight into the relationship between Saragat and Nenni. Lister observes that “Nenni likes and 19
espects Saragat more than vice-versa. For example, the former always sends [Saragat] a Christmas card. Of course, it is easier for Nenni to be more generous, for he is in a stronger position, but I think this is genuinely indicative of the real feelings between the two men.” 69 Some of the Italian Socialists Lister made contact with became true friends. His apartment in Rome, where he lived with his wife and mother, was centrally located, permitting it to become “an open-house for advocates of the center-left.” 70 Lister became friends with two Italian Socialists in particular—Paolo Vittorelli and Giovanni Pieraccini—with whom Lister recalled debating “day and night.” 71 The trust Lister developed with various Italian Socialist leaders was strong enough that he was able to affect their public statements and actions. He recalled that sometimes he would receive phone calls from Nenni’s friends late at night asking him to help them with public statements they were preparing for Nenni. 72 Lister’s overtures to Italian Socialists not only brought him into their favor, but also improved their perception of the United States. Lister later wrote that the Socialist autonomists labored “under many misconceptions, many of them grotesque…as to life in the United States, the nature of our society, and American foreign policy aims, in general and in Italy specifically.” 73 Lister used his conversations with Italian Socialists to try to shed light on why the U.S. so strongly opposed the Soviet Union; he also drew upon his experiences in Poland to emphasize the differences between life under a democratic system and life under Communism. 74 20
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 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 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: Schlesinger soon began working toge
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,
Page 71 and 72: When, as a result of the hearings,
Page 73 and 74: Human rights were rhetorically usef
Page 75 and 76: substantial,” Shlaudeman said.
Page 77 and 78:
a reporter as “Mr. Human Rights.
Page 79 and 80:
encourage improvement. As if to und
Page 81 and 82:
Lister won plaudits from Patricia D
Page 83 and 84:
ut the hearings were the starting p
Page 85 and 86:
moment. The bureau had already been
Page 87 and 88:
democratic opposition leaders. List
Page 89 and 90:
greater attention to human rights v
Page 91 and 92:
occurred. Lister’s own toughness
Page 93 and 94:
ability to update the State Departm
Page 95 and 96:
a wide open society, essentially de
Page 97 and 98:
wing regimes, you had to be against
Page 99 and 100:
convinced that clear, reliable info
Page 101 and 102:
he had reduced mistrust, Lister hel
Page 103 and 104:
49 Telephone interview by Gregory K
Page 105 and 106:
117 Ibid., p. 13. 118 Report, Georg
Page 107 and 108:
Chapter 5. Human Rights Case Studie
Page 109 and 110:
The Carter administration had campa
Page 111 and 112:
the Sandinista government became in
Page 113 and 114:
the Sandinistas, but he did not cha
Page 115 and 116:
of the 1980s. Lister’s relationsh
Page 117 and 118:
opinion of the text. Lister suggest
Page 119 and 120:
Lister wrote to Assistant Secretary
Page 121 and 122:
that the USG is pro-Pinochet, you a
Page 123 and 124:
concern about Chile, the Reagan adm
Page 125 and 126:
violations by the Pinochet governme
Page 127 and 128:
luncheons with the Chilean Congress
Page 129 and 130:
how Lister managed to have such a l
Page 131 and 132:
62 Letter, Kim Dae Jung to George L
Page 133 and 134:
129 Library of Congress, Authoritar
Page 135 and 136:
movement—in particular, by insist
Page 137 and 138:
Lister’s other political base was
Page 139 and 140:
State Department as well as human r
Page 141 and 142:
open a political conversation with
Page 143 and 144:
Archival Documents Bibliography Abr
Page 145 and 146:
Lister, George. Memo to Mr. William
Page 147 and 148:
Lister, George. Memo to ARA Office
Page 149 and 150:
Lister, George. Memo to Elliott Abr
Page 151 and 152:
U.S. State Department. Career Histo
Page 153 and 154:
Library of Congress, Chile: The Con
Page 155 and 156:
Shlaudeman, Harry. Former Assistant
Page 157 and 158:
Memorial Service for George Lister.
show all

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?