The Foreign Service Journal, December 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2020 63 F ifty years ago, Anthony Lake resigned from the Foreign Service over the war in Vietnam. He later returned to government service and went on to play a pivotal role in developing the Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian War. The conviction that it is essential for dip- lomats and foreign affairs officials to speak truth to power was a constant in his career, the lessons of which remain relevant today. A “Low-Profile” Kind of Guy On a wall in Lake’s home office hangs a framed photograph of him with President Bill Clinton inside Marine One. Light streams into the helicopter from a small panel window, illumi- nating Clinton; Lake is seated off to the side. “I love that photo, because the president is in the spotlight, and I’m in the shad- ows,” Lake says, only half-joking. During a career that spanned six decades and five administrations, he worked on foreign pol- icy at the highest levels: He served as national security adviser, director of policy planning and executive director of UNICEF; he played a leading role in helping to end conflicts in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Eritrea; and he advised more than a half-dozen presidential candidates, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Yet, according to friends and colleagues, he has always shunned the spotlight. “Tony is a low-profile kind of guy,” says I.M. Destler, who first met Lake when they were freshmen at Harvard in the late 1950s and later co-authored a book on American foreign policy with him. I first learned about Lake more than a decade ago, when I joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to Southeast Asia, the same region where he started his own career in the Foreign Service a half-century earlier. His work on Vietnam and eventual decision to leave the Department of State over the war fascinatedme. When I reached out to Lake earlier this year and asked to discuss his story in depth, he initially greetedmy request with self-deprecating humor: “I’ve had a hard time holding down a job,” he quipped. Lake’s self-effacing manner belies not only his lifelong commit- ment to public service but also his enduring affinity for the Foreign Service: When a group of officers testified before Congress during the 2019 impeachment hearings, Lake co-drafted an appeal solicit- ing contributions to the AFSA Legal Defense Fund to help defray their legal expenses. “Serving in the Foreign Service seems more challenging now than at any point inmy lifetime,” he states. Speaking truth to power resonates with Anthony Lake. Not only has he seen this movie before, but he also personally starred in a prequel: 50 years ago, Lake resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service over President Richard Nixon’s decision to invade Cam- bodia. He had been special assistant to National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, with responsibility for the Vietnam negotia- tions. The Nixon administration responded to his resignation by having the FBI tap his home phone. Lake later sued, settling after a decade and a half for a signed letter from Kissinger admitting that the retaliatory measure had been “unconstitutional” and acknowledging that Lake’s loyalty had been beyond reproach. FS HERITAGE Rennie A. Silva currently serves as a political officer at U.S. Embassy Vilnius. His previous assignments include U.S. Embassy Riyadh and the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in Washington, D.C. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cambodia from 2007 to 2009. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. government. Idealism, Diplomacy and Power Tony Lake’s Story Through six decades and two major foreign policy crucibles— Vietnam and the Balkans—Tony Lake showed a steady commitment to public service, as well as a belief in speaking truth to power. BY RENN I E A . S I LVA