J. Richard Blankenship

James Richard Blankenship (born 1959)J. Richard Blankenship (1949–)
/ref> is a former politician that served as United States Ambassador to the Bahamas from 2001 to 2003. He was nominated by President George W. Bush in the spring of 200

Early life and education

Blakenship was born in 1959 in Troy, Alabama and is a graduate of Florida State University and Harvard Kennedy Schoolbr>

Career

Before becoming ambassador to the Bahamas, Richard Blankenship was a partner in the Capital Policy Group, an investment banking firm whose home office was in Jacksonville, Florida and a close friend of Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. He is currently managing as Director of Global Policy Advisers, an international business consulting group. He also served as President and CFO of St. John's Capital, a regional firm with offices in the U.S. Southeast.

While serving in the Bahamas, Blankenship became best known for his emphasis on drug interdiction. Under his leadership, record amounts of cocaine were seized and more drug smugglers extradited to the United States than in the entire relationship between the Bahamas and United States. Notable in his efforts was the added use of electronic intelligence gathering and small guerrilla actions against the cartels, which the U.S. Coast Guard in joint efforts with the DEA had been practicing for some time ineffectively.

Blankenship could often be found in the producing countries of South America coordinating operations, in the jungles or on isolated islands with law enforcement authorities. He was referred to as the "no nonsense diplomat" by ''The Nassau Tribune'' after exposing a ten-year cover-up of a Royal Bahamas Defence Force theft of cocaine used in an undercover operation. Some Mexican Government officials believe the smuggling routes through Mexico were established because of the increased emphasis Blankenship brought to interdiction efforts in the Caribbean.

It is thought Global Policy Advisers is currently involved with interdiction efforts of governments in the Caribbean and South America. It is known Global Policy Advisers has clients in Mexico and is conducting intelligence gathering, according to Mexican police authorities. Blankenship, located in Mexico City, would neither confirm nor deny any information about Global Policy Advisers' clients. Blankenship is also listed as the Managing Director of The Policy Advisers, a partnership providing foreign policy advice to U.S. clients. Recently he became Chairman of the Board of Bio-Renewable Fuels Inc, a company whose mission it is to grow renewable biomass fuels (eucalyptus trees) for use by electrical producers both in the United States and abroad.

Blankenship writes a syndicated column for newspapers in the Caribbean and his writings on reorganization of government can frequently be found on conservative web sites.

References

External links

Biography
at United States Department of State

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blankenship, J. Richard
1949 births
Living people
Ambassadors of the United States to the Bahamas
American chief financial officers
Florida State University alumni
Harvard Kennedy School alumni