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

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was sort of an oddball in a sense but I thought he was a terrific man of principle,” Crimmins said. 109 Conclusion Between 1961 and 1973, Lister worked quite independently in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs in a position that was free of the bureaucratic restraints he loathed. His success was mixed. He was least effective at persuading top decision- makers to fully adopt his policy ideas. His bureaucratic freedom left him able to weigh in on a variety of policy issues. Yet, without a bureaucratic constituency, very often it seems nobody was listening to him. Lister, for example, was unable to persuade those responsible for U.S. policy towards Chile to open a dialogue with the Chilean Socialist party. Despite his best efforts, U.S. embassies in many Latin American countries did not participate in what Lister called “effective political dialogue.” Lister also failed to win approval for his proposal to the National Security Council for the U.S. government to coordinate efforts to identify and influence potential Latin American leaders. His greatest impact may have been on the opinions of thousands of Latin Americans regarding U.S. democracy and foreign policy goals. His anti-Communist propaganda activities and his speaking and publishing efforts amounted to a significant public diplomacy effort for one lone State Department official. His success in persuading the U.S. government to adopt a more open visa policy also helped to 49
win the ideological battle against the Communists, both by denying Communist governments an opportunity to portray the U.S. as fearful of leftist political philosophy and by increasing the number of Latin American visitors who stood to be favorably impressed by the United States. Much of Lister’s ability to affect policy occurred at the interpretive level. The cables he sent out to embassies to clarify certain policies provided him an opportunity to shape those policies—for example, on the threat of guerilla warfare in Bolivia. Moreover, when speaking to students, Lister claimed to be trying to remove some of their misconceptions about U.S. foreign policy. Many of the “misconceptions” he addressed, however, were not misconceptions, but rather a true reflection of certain strands in U.S. foreign policy thinking—for example, the “misconception” that the U.S. cares if a country is economically socialist or capitalist. Lister’s speeches and publications may have served not only to influence Latin American audiences, but perhaps also to pressure U.S. foreign policymakers to take a nuanced approach to fighting Communism All in all, by 1973, Lister could probably have considered his career to have been moderately successful. Although he had never risen to become an Ambassador or a top State Department official, he had helped stop the advance of Communism into Western Europe, particularly in Italy. He had also developed a strong record combating Communist influence in Latin America. At 60, he was eligible for retirement from the Foreign Service. But Lister still had more energy left. He had yet 50
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Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007
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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 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: Affairs to ask that the U.S. press
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
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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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