The Foreign Service Journal, September 2011

Lawrence S. Eagleburger , 80, the only career Foreign Service offi- cer to become Secretary of State, died on June 4 of pneumonia at the University of Virginia Medical Cen- ter in Charlottesville, Va., where he had lived since 1990. Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger was born on Aug. 1, 1930, in Mil- waukee, Wisc., and was a 1952 grad- uate of the University of Wisconsin. Following a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, he returned to the university, receiving a master’s degree in politi- cal science in 1957. After seeing a notice on a campus bulletin board, he took the Foreign Service exam — he had never even thought of the Foreign Service be- fore then, he told the Washington Post in 1984 — and began a 27-year career with the State Department in 1957. Mr. Eagleburger’s first post was Honduras. Following language train- ing at the Foreign Service Institute, he was assigned to Yugoslavia in 1962. There he organized a human- itarian relief effort, including con- struction of a full-scale U.S. Army field hospital in Skopje, after a large earthquake struck Macedonia in 1963. He became known locally as “Lawrence of Macedonia.” After assignments in Washington, D.C., at the Department of State and at the National Security Council, he served as political adviser to the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels in 1969. He returned to Washington in 1973 to become Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s executive assistant. Pres- ident Jimmy Carter appointed Mr. Eagleburger ambassador to Yu- goslavia in 1977. Returning to Washington in 1980, Ambassador Eagleburger serv- ed as assistant secretary for European affairs until 1982, when he was con- firmed as under secretary of State for political affairs. He held that position until 1984, when he retired from the Foreign Service to become the pres- ident of Kissinger Associates. In 1989 Amb. Eagleburger was persuaded to return to the State De- partment by Secretary of State James Baker to serve as Deputy Secretary. He became acting Secretary of State when Mr. Baker stepped down in 1992, and was confirmed to the position on Dec. 8 of that year. His tenure as Secretary ended on Jan. 20, 1993, when President Bill Clinton was sworn in. Ambassador Eagleburger was- known as a troubleshooter, a straight- talker with an independent mind and a rapier wit who specialized in crises. President George H.W. Bush called him “one of the most capable and re- spected diplomats our Foreign Serv- ice ever produced.” After leaving the State Depart- ment, he was an international adviser to the Washington law firm led by former Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn. President George W. Bush asked him to lead the U.S. delegation at the fu- neral of Zoran Dhindjic, the Serbian prime minister. In 2006, he served as a member of the Iraq Study Group. He also led the International Com- mission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims. In a statement from the White House, President Barack Obama eu- logized the former Secretary of State: “Lawrence Eagleburger devoted his life to the security of our nation and to strengthening our ties with allies and partners.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hailed him as “a strong voice and stalwart champion for America’s values. He was outspoken, but al- ways the consummate diplomat. Even in retirement, Larry remained a staunch advocate for the causes he believed in. He never stopped car- ing, contributing and speaking out.” Secretary Eagleburger received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President George H.W. Bush in 1991. And in 1998, AFSA conferred its Lifetime Contributions to Ameri- can Diplomacy Award on him. He was a member of the board of directors of the International Repub- lican Institute, chairman of the board of the Forum for International Policy, and a member of the Washington In- stitute for Near East Policy Board of Advisers. A brief first marriage, to Muriel Saul, ended in divorce in 1963. He married Marlene Ann Heinemann of Milwaukee in 1966. She predeceased him in 2010, after 44 years of mar- riage. Mr. Eagleburger is survived by three sons, Lawrence Scott of Madi- son, Wisc., and Lawrence Andrew and Lawrence Jason, both of Char- lottesville, Va.; three grandchildren; and a sister, Jean Case of Las Vegas, Nev. 62 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 I N M E M O R Y “Lawrence Eagleburger was a strong voice and stalwart champion for America’s values.” — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton