Robert G. Rich Jr. (born November 15, 1930) is an American former diplomat who served as the Ambassador to Belize.
Rich was born in
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...
on November 15, 1930.
He graduated from the
University of Florida in 1952 and served in the
United States Navy as a junior naval officer,1952 - 1954.
After serving in the Navy, he attended “
Cornell Univer as a candidate in the graduate school in cultural anthropology and Asian Studies.”
Rich joined the Foreign Service in 1957 after working as a junior research engineer at
Sperry Corporation. He had also worked as a graduate research assistant in physics. After the Korean War he also worked as a graduate teaching assistant in academia.
Rich would take on the following assignments:
*State Department - Department Secretariat 1957-1959
*
South Korea - Political Officer 1959-1962
*
Indonesia - Principal Officer 1962-1963
*State Department - Deputy Director, Operations Center 1967-1971
*
Trinidad - Deputy Chief of Mission 1971-1977
*State Department - Korea Desk 1977-1981
*State Department - Senior Seminar 1981-1982
*
Philippines - Deputy Chief of Mission 1982-1986
*
Belize - Ambassador 1987-1990
*
Atlanta University Center - Ambassador-in-Residence 1990-1991
When Philippine President
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
was
deposed in 1986 after a 20-year dictatorship, he and 90 other members of his entourage found themselves in exile in
Hawaii. Robert Rich was assigned by the State Department as the minder of the Marcoses, as the deposed leader demanded a direct line with Pres.
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 ...
.
References
1930 births
Living people
Ambassadors of the United States to Belize
Cornell University alumni
Military personnel from Florida
People from Gainesville, Florida
University of Florida alumni
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