Introduction
Warren Minor Christopher
was nominated Secretary of State
by President
William Jefferson Clinton
in December 1992,
confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 20, 1993, and sworn in the next day. He
served in the position for four years and ended his service on January 17, 1997.
Rise to Prominence
Christopher was born on October 27, 1925, in Scranton, North Dakota. Upon his
father’s death at an early age, his mother moved the family to California. He
earned a B.S. with honors from the University of Southern California in 1945 and
entered Stanford University Law School in 1946 after completing service in the
U.S. Naval Reserve. He received the L.L.B. from Stanford in 1949 and clerked for
Supreme Court Justice
William O. Douglas
for a year.
As a lawyer between 1950 and 1967, he consulted on, and helped negotiate numerous
international treaties for the Department of State. In 1965 he served on
California Governor Edmund G. Brown’s Commission to investigate urban riots in
Watts, California.
In 1967, President
Lyndon Baines Johnson
appointed him
Deputy Attorney General of the United States, a position he held for two years.
In 1977, President
Jimmy Carter
appointed him Deputy
Secretary of State, a position he held for four years. He served as the
Department of State’s Chief Negotiator during the
Iran Hostage Crisis
from 1979 to 1980
. In 1992, after serving as head of the Commission
investigating the Los Angeles Police Department, he served as the Head of
President-elect Clinton’s Transition Team.
Influence on American Diplomacy
Christopher eschewed confrontation in favor of negotiation with friend and foe
alike. He encouraged Israel, the Palestinians, and Jordan to sign peace
treaties, resulting in the
Oslo
Accords
and the Israel-Jordan peace treaty in 1993 and 1994
respectively. He promoted the Partnership for Peace Program, which advocated the
expansion of NATO eastward into the former Soviet bloc nations, in 1994. In 1995
he convinced President Clinton to officially restore diplomatic relations with
Vietnam. Later that year, he successfully conducted negotiations between Serbia
and Bosnia that resulted in the Dayton Accords and the end of the Bosnian
War.