Craig Roberts Stapleton (born 1945) is an American diplomat and businessman. He served as Ambassador to France and the Czech Republic during the administrations of President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
.
Biography
Early life
Craig Stapleton was born in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...
, the son of Katherine Histed Hall and Benjamin Franklin Stapleton Jr. His grandfather,
Benjamin F. Stapleton, was a politician who served five terms as mayor of
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
.
He received his secondary school education at
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...
and a B.A. (magna cum laude) from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. He received his M.B.A. from
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
.
His wife, Dorothy Walker Stapleton, is a
first cousin
A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle.
More generally, in the lineal kinship, kinship system used in the English-s ...
of former
U.S. president
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
.
Career
Stapleton served as President of
Marsh and McLennan Real Estate Advisors of New York from 1982 until 2001. From 1989 to 1998 Stapleton co-owned the
Texas Rangers baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
team with
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
.
He has served on the
board of directors
A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency.
The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
for several companies including
Allegheny Properties,
Metro PCS,
TB Woods,
Winston Partners and Abercrombie & Fitch.
In July 2009, he became a co-owner of the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
.
Under George H.W. Bush, Stapleton sat on the Board of the
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...
. During the first administration of George W. Bush he served as Ambassador to the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. In 2004, he was the
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
State Chairman for the
Bush-
Cheney reelection campaign. From 2005-2009 he was Ambassador to France.
Stapleton is a Senior Advisor to Stone Point Capital and a Director of Tenax Aerospace.
He serves on the boards of the Vaclav Havel Foundation, the American Friends of Compiegne, the United Way Tocqueville of France, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the World War I Centennial Commission, and the Trust for the National Mall. He is a Trustee of the American University in Paris, the CERGE-EI Foundation, and the Fishback Foundation. He has served on the Visiting Committee for Harvard College Athletics and the Committee on University Resources and Athletics.
Personal life
He and his wife live in North Palm Beach, Florida and have two adult children; his son
Walker Stapleton was elected
Colorado State Treasurer in
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Craig Roberts
Living people
1945 births
Ambassadors of the United States to the Czech Republic
Ambassadors of the United States to France
Ambassadors of the United States to Monaco
American businesspeople in real estate
Bush family
Connecticut Republicans
Harvard Business School alumni
People from Greenwich, Connecticut
Phillips Exeter Academy alumni
21st-century American diplomats