Anthony Cecil Eden Quainton (born April 4, 1934) is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to the
Central African Empire,
Nicaragua,
Kuwait, and
Peru.
Early life and education
He was born in
Seattle and educated at
St. Michaels University School in Victoria, Canada. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Princeton University and a Bachelor of Literature from
Oxford University, where he studied as a
Marshall Scholar
The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...
.
Career
Quainton joined the
United States Foreign Service in 1959. As a
Foreign Service Officer
A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...
, he was posted to
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
1959–62, to
Karachi 1963, to
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
1964–66, and to
New Delhi 1966–69. He spent 1969–72 at the
United States Department of State in
Washington, D.C., as the senior political officer for
India in the
Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs. He then spent 1972–73 as a political officer at the
U.S. Embassy, Paris
The Embassy of the United States in Paris is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the French Republic. The embassy is the oldest diplomatic mission of the United States. Benjamin Franklin and some of the other Founding Fathers were t ...
. From 1973 through 1976, he was
deputy chief of mission in
Kathmandu. In 1976, President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
nominated Quainton as
United States ambassador to the Central African Empire. Ambassador Quainton presented his credentials on February 20, 1976, and held this post until June 9, 1978.
He then became the
coordinator for Counterterrorism. During this time, he oversaw the task force in charge of dealing with the
1980 Dominican Republic Embassy siege in Bogotá
The Dominican Republic Embassy siege was the 1980 siege of the embassy of the Dominican Republic by M-19 guerrillas in Bogotá, Colombia. The guerrillas held nearly 60 people, including 15 ambassadors, hostage. Of the initial group, 18 were held ...
by M-19 guerrillas.
[The Tampa Tribune, Feb. 29th 1980.] He held this post until 1981 and was then named
United States ambassador to Nicaragua by President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, presenting his credentials on March 26, 1982, and serving there until May 6, 1984. Reagan then appointed Quainton
United States ambassador to Kuwait
This is a list of United States ambassadors, or lower-ranking diplomatic heads, to Kuwait.
Ambassadors
* Dayton S. Mak (1961–1962) – ''Chargé d'Affaires''
* Parker T. Hart (1962–1963) – ''First ambassador''
* Howard Rex Cottam (1963†...
, a post which he held from September 1984 to August 1987. Quainton returned to the United States in September 1987, serving as Deputy
inspector general of the Department of State
The inspector general of the Department of State heads the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State and is responsible for detecting and investigating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the United States Department of St ...
from September 1987 to November 1989.
Newly-inaugurated President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
named Quainton
United States ambassador to Peru
The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Peru. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.''
Notes
S ...
. He presented his credentials on December 11, 1989, and served until September 16, 1992.
After his tenure in a Peru, Bush then nominated Quainton to be
assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, an office he held from September 23, 1992, until December 29, 1995. President
Bill Clinton then named him
director general of the Foreign Service which Quainton held from December 29, 1995, to August 22, 1997.
In 1997, Quainton left government service and joined the
Una Chapman Cox Foundation
The Una Chapman Cox Foundation is a non-profit organization that works to support the effectiveness and professionalism of the United States Foreign Service through various projects and initiatives.
Amb. (ret.) Lino Gutierrez serves as the current ...
. He then became president and CEO of the
National Policy Association
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
. Since 2003, he has been the Distinguished Diplomat-in-Residence at the
American University School of International Service.
Personal life
While in England, he married a fellow Marshall Scholar, Susan Long, in 1957. He spent 1958–59 working as a
research assistant at
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...
.
References
State Dept. Archived BiographyFaculty Page at the School of International Service
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quainton, Anthony
1934 births
United States Assistant Secretaries of State
Living people
People from Seattle
Princeton University alumni
Marshall Scholars
Ambassadors of the United States to Nicaragua
Ambassadors of the United States to the Central African Republic
Ambassadors of the United States to Kuwait
Ambassadors of the United States to Peru
American chief executives
Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
United States Foreign Service personnel
Directors General of the United States Foreign Service
20th-century American diplomats