Robert R. "Bob" King (born June 8, 1942) is an American diplomat. He was nominated in September 2009 by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and confirmed by the United States Senate in November 2009, to serve as United States special envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, an ambassadorial ranked position.

Life and career

King is a native of Wyoming. King holds a bachelor's degree from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

and a Ph.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

. He worked for 24 years as the chief of staff to congressman Tom Lantos (along with his wife Kay) and at the same time Democratic Staff Director of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (2001–2009). Earlier he was Assistant Director of Research at Radio Free Europe in Munich, Germany, and as a White House Fellow (National Security staff), a member of the National Security Council Staff in the

Carter Administration Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican President ...

. While working for Radio Free Europe in Germany, he proposed returning the Holy Crown of Hungary to Hungary to help improve relations with that nation in a mock memo as part of his application to work in a White House Fellow for the Carter Administration. Upon being accepted, doing so became part of his responsibilities.Of Crown and Country
by Brittany Karford Rogers, '' BYU Magazine'', Spring 2012. Accessed May 3, 2012. King is the author of five books and some 40 articles on international relations topics. King received the Knight’s Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. He is a

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

and served from 1961 to 1963 as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

in the New England Mission of the LDS Church. King and his wife Kay are the parents of three children. He is also a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

References

External links

White House Press Release, Sep 24, 2009

"Washington DC member nominated as ambassador"
'' Church News'', October 17, 2009
Friedman, Lisa. ''The Almanac of the Unelected''. 2008. p. 190
* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Robert R. 1942 births 20th-century Mormon missionaries Latter Day Saints from Wyoming American Mormon missionaries in the United States Brigham Young University alumni Experts on North Korea Knight's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Living people The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni United States Special Envoys

Life and career

See also

References

External links