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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

activists were solidly anti-war. As noted in Chapter 3, Lister had supported the Dominican intervention in 1965, and he had later supported the Vietnam War. For other reasons, though, Lister’s devotion to human rights was not surprising. Lister was already a grizzled veteran of his own personal struggle against the State Department bureaucracy. Although nearing retirement age, perhaps he relished the chance for one more battle with State Department policymakers. Also, despite his support for the Vietnam War, Lister was sensitive to the way in which militaries could be used as a tool of repression. In the late 1960s, without using the term “human rights,” he had even begun to speak out about U.S. military aid to right- wing dictatorships in Latin America. Finally, since his days as an FSO in Poland and Russia, he had cared deeply about the plight of people living under totalitarian regimes. In a speech in 1998, Lister said that freedom of speech and women’s rights were the “two key human rights” in his opinion. 52 “He was not a religious man but I think he had a sense for the ways that governments can treat their fellow citizens in an inhuman and hideous way,” said Joseph Eldridge, who served as director of WOLA from 1974 to 1986. Human rights work furthermore dovetailed nicely with the kind of work Lister already advocated and excelled at. Lister had written Averell Harriman in 1962 that he desired to be a “global anti-communist activist.” The human rights issue gave Lister a new way to take an activist approach against Communism around the world. Lister had also called for more “effective political dialogue” with Latin Americans. 65
Human rights were rhetorically useful for convincing Latin Americans that U.S. foreign policy objectives were not malevolent. Additionally, although Lister had often been a host to visiting Latin Americans, his opportunities to personally conduct dialogue with political leaders, especially those out of power, had dwindled since his last overseas assignment in Italy. Despite his calls for diplomats at U.S. Embassies to conduct such dialogue, the results were frequently disappointing—especially with regards to Chile and with establishing ties with the democratic left. However, under the banner of human rights, Lister could re-engage himself in diplomacy. He now had a reason to maintain a relationship with any Latin American political dissident who was living in or visiting Washington, D.C. Human Rights Career Overview: 1973-2002 Beginning with his appointment as a human rights officer in 1974, Lister would work 28 more years at the State Department. As of August 14, 1974, Lister was already receiving a pension and working full-time in a consultant capacity to the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. 53 He continued at the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs until October 1979, when his employment records indicate that he technically retired. 54 Assistant Secretary of State Viron P. Vaky, according to Eubank, reportedly tried to get Lister to leave the State Department at that point, but Lister continued on. In July 1981, Lister switched to the Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, where he would serve as an unpaid consultant until 2002. 55 66
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 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,
Page 71: When, as a result of the hearings,
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?