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

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Conclusion Apart from his initial stint in Colombia, during the first 20 years of his career, Lister served in the European theater, on the front lines of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. As a political officer, his job was to promote democratic ideology, discredit Communist regimes and dogma, and report on political developments in the countries he was covering. His experiences in Russia and Poland left him as a committed Cold Warrior but also someone who cared deeply about the plight of people living in Communist societies. In Italy, Lister actively engaged in trying to persuade the Socialists to become more receptive to the U.S. and to become firm adherents to the idea of democracy. His efforts were a factor in the emergence of a center-left government in Italy. Regardless of whether a center-left government turned out to be in U.S. interests, Lister’s Italian experience demonstrates the possibilities for a mid-level bureaucrat to alter U.S. foreign policy at the execution stage. By virtue of being in Rome, rather than in Washington, Lister was in a position to give U.S. policy towards Italian Socialists his own interpretation. His key technique was dialogue. Beginning a conversation with Italian Socialists was enough to send them a different signal, even though they knew he was only a functionary. In some senses, the debate that occurred inside the White House when Kennedy took office was occurring after a small policy shift had already taken place. By 1958, Lister had already decided that it would be valuable to become more 25
eceptive to the Italian Socialists—and he had steered U.S. policy in this direction. On the other hand, it took White House involvement for the U.S. to take the most significant step in altering U.S. relations with the Socialists: a conversation, in public view, between Kennedy and Nenni. U.S. actions to bring about a center-left government in Italy can probably best be characterized as a collaboration between officials at the highest and the lowest levels. 1 Charles Frankel, High on Foggy Bottom: An Outsider’s View of the Government, (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969), p. 81. 2 Memorial Service for George Lister, “George Lister, Mr. Human Rights,” February 21, 2004, p. 6. 3 Memorial Service for George Lister, Reading by Margaret Eubank, “Final Reflections,” February 21, 2004, p. 3. 4 Telephone Interview by Gregory Krauss with Margaret Eubank, Retired Foreign Service Officer, April 15, 2007. 5 Ibid. 6 George Lister, “Political Lessons: Italy and Chile,” in Italian Socialism: Between Politics and History, ed. Spencer M. Di Scala (Amherst: Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, 1996), p. 192. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Telephone Interview by Gregory Krauss with Margaret Eubank, Retired Foreign Service Officer, April 15, 2007. 10 “Career History,” undated, Papers of George T. Lister, Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin [document hereinafter “Career History”] [papers hereinafter “Papers of George T. Lister”). 11 Career history; Memo, George Lister to Clare Timberlake, September 19, 1962, Papers of George T. Lister, p. 2 [hereinafter “Timberlake memo”]. 12 Career History; Timberlake memo, p. 2. 13 Career History; Timberlake memo, p. 2. 14 Career History; Timberlake memo, p. 2. 15 Career History; Timberlake memo, p. 2. 16 Memo, Lister to unnamed, June 1949, Papers of George T. Lister, p. 3. 17 Ibid. 18 Ibid. 19 Ibid. 20 Report, George Lister, “How Soviet Careers are Made or What Makes Ivan Run,” June 20, 1953, Papers of George T. Lister, p. 73. 21 Ibid. 22 Timberlake memo, pg. 2. 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid. 26
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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 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: First, his contacts with Italian So
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
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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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