Allan Gotlieb
Encyclopedia
Allan Ezra Gotlieb, is a Canadian
public servant and author.
from the University of California at Berkeley
, his MA
from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and his LL.B
degree from Harvard University
, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review
. In 1957 he joined the Department of External Affairs. From 1967 to 1968 he was assistant undersecretary and legal adviser. From 1968 to 1973 he was deputy minister of the Department of Communications, and from 1973 to 1976 deputy minister of Manpower and Immigration. From 1977 to 1981 he was an undersecretary at External Affairs.
Most notably, Gotlieb was Canadian ambassador to the United States
from 1981 to 1989. During his high-profile years in Washington, D.C.
, he got to know then-U.S. President
Ronald Reagan
, Vice-President George H. W. Bush
, and many senior officials in the Reagan White House
, such as Caspar Weinberger
, Michael Deaver
, James Baker III, and George P. Shultz
. An advocate of realism in international relations, Gotlieb became known as a skillful and respected player in the complex world of Washington power politics.
He and his wife Sondra Gotlieb
were known for their dazzling parties attended by powerful figures in Washington. Sondra's book Washington Rollercoaster recounted the Gotliebs' high-powered years as glamorous hosts in Washington, when she also wrote a column for the Washington Post. Sondra attracted a blaze of international publicity in 1986, when she slapped her social secretary at an official dinner she and her husband were hosting in honour of the Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney
and U.S. Vice-President George H. W. Bush
.
After he and Sondra returned to Canada in the early 1990s, they moved to Toronto and became the centre of establishment society in that city. Sondra began writing newspaper columns for The Globe and Mail
and the National Post
. After his return to Canada, Allan Gotlieb became an influential figure and was well-connected in both the Canadian and American corporate elites. This marked a shift from his earlier career as a senior mandarin
in Ottawa
, where he had been a powerful figure and architect of many of Liberal prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's interventionist policies.
From 1989 to 1994 Gotlieb was chairman of the Canada Council
. He was also publisher of Saturday Night
magazine when it was owned by Conrad Black
, and a senior counsel at the law firm, Stikeman Elliott
. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
in 1982 and was promoted to Companion in 1987. In 1992, Gotlieb was the Canadian representative on the arbitration panel that decided the Canada–France Maritime Boundary Case
; Gotlieb dissented from the panel's decision in the case and wrote a dissent.
Gotlieb was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Toronto
in 2002 and by Concordia University in 2005. Gotlieb is an honorary and former fellow of Wadham College, Oxford
and was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford
.
Hollinger Inc.
was among his numerous corporate directorships. He is a member of the Carlyle Group
's Canadian advisory board and a member of the Trilateral Commission. He is also chairman of Sotheby's
Canada, former chairman of the Ontario Heritage Foundation, and serves as chairman of the board of governors
of the Donner Canadian Foundation
, known for its annual literary prize. He is also a senior advisor in the law office of Bennett Jones
.
Gotlieb is a prodigious art collector, notably of the work of 19th-century painter James Tissot
. He and his wife donated their Tissot collection to the Art Gallery of Ontario
.
He is a strong proponent of a North American Union
between Canada, the US and Mexico authoring a new article titled "Why not a grand bargain with the U.S.?" which popularized the phrase "Grand Bargain".
When Ronald Reagan
died in 2004, Gotlieb provided expert help in the commentary for CBC Newsworld
's coverage of the state funeral
, helping the CBC's senior parliamentary editor, Don Newman, who anchored the coverage, drawing from his experiences as Canadian ambassador to Washington when Reagan was president.
On the art of diplomacy in Washington, he recently said, "You have to get the power shakers, including the media, into your dining room. When an ambassador makes a phone call to a powerful congressman, he’ll return the call once, but after that you have to make a personal relationship." Gotlieb published his diplomatic memoirs, The Washington Diaries, in 2006.
(née Kaufman) in December 1955. The Gotliebs had three children: Rebecca (born in 1958), Marc (born in 1959), and Rachel (born in 1962).
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
public servant and author.
Life and career
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Gotlieb received his BABachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from the University of California at Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, his MA
Master of Arts (Oxbridge)
In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts of these universities are admitted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university .There is no examination or study required for the degree...
from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and his LL.B
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
degree from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review
Harvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...
. In 1957 he joined the Department of External Affairs. From 1967 to 1968 he was assistant undersecretary and legal adviser. From 1968 to 1973 he was deputy minister of the Department of Communications, and from 1973 to 1976 deputy minister of Manpower and Immigration. From 1977 to 1981 he was an undersecretary at External Affairs.
Most notably, Gotlieb was Canadian ambassador to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1981 to 1989. During his high-profile years in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, he got to know then-U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, Vice-President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, and many senior officials in the Reagan White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, such as Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
, Michael Deaver
Michael Deaver
Michael Keith Deaver was a member of President Ronald Reagan's White House staff serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James Baker III and Donald Regan from January 1981 until May 1985.-Early life:...
, James Baker III, and George P. Shultz
George P. Shultz
George Pratt Shultz is an American economist, statesman, and businessman. He served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1969 to 1970, as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974, and as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989...
. An advocate of realism in international relations, Gotlieb became known as a skillful and respected player in the complex world of Washington power politics.
He and his wife Sondra Gotlieb
Sondra Gotlieb
Sondra Gotlieb is a Canadian journalist and novelist who lives in Toronto, Ontario.She is married to Allan Gotlieb, former Canadian ambassador to the United States during the presidency of Ronald Reagan...
were known for their dazzling parties attended by powerful figures in Washington. Sondra's book Washington Rollercoaster recounted the Gotliebs' high-powered years as glamorous hosts in Washington, when she also wrote a column for the Washington Post. Sondra attracted a blaze of international publicity in 1986, when she slapped her social secretary at an official dinner she and her husband were hosting in honour of the Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
and U.S. Vice-President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
.
After he and Sondra returned to Canada in the early 1990s, they moved to Toronto and became the centre of establishment society in that city. Sondra began writing newspaper columns for The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
and the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
. After his return to Canada, Allan Gotlieb became an influential figure and was well-connected in both the Canadian and American corporate elites. This marked a shift from his earlier career as a senior mandarin
Mandarin (bureaucrat)
A mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence.-History and use of the term:...
in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, where he had been a powerful figure and architect of many of Liberal prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's interventionist policies.
From 1989 to 1994 Gotlieb was chairman of the Canada Council
Canada Council
The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...
. He was also publisher of Saturday Night
Saturday Night (magazine)
Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...
magazine when it was owned by Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
, and a senior counsel at the law firm, Stikeman Elliott
Stikeman Elliott
Stikeman Elliott LLP is a Canadian corporate law firm. It is known as one of the "seven sisters" in Toronto and has approximately 500 lawyers in five Canadian offices as well as offices in New York, London , and Sydney. It was founded in 1952 by H...
. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
in 1982 and was promoted to Companion in 1987. In 1992, Gotlieb was the Canadian representative on the arbitration panel that decided the Canada–France Maritime Boundary Case
Canada–France Maritime Boundary Case
The Canada–France Maritime Boundary Case was a 1992 dispute between Canada and France that was decided by a court of arbitration which was created by the parties to resolve the dispute...
; Gotlieb dissented from the panel's decision in the case and wrote a dissent.
Gotlieb was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in 2002 and by Concordia University in 2005. Gotlieb is an honorary and former fellow of Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
and was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College, Oxford
The Warden and the College of the Souls of all Faithful People deceased in the University of Oxford or All Souls College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England....
.
Hollinger Inc.
Hollinger Inc.
Hollinger Inc. was a Canadian media company based in Toronto. It was created by the Canadian businessman Conrad Black as a holding company for his media interests after he acquired control of The Daily Telegraph in 1986. It was the parent company of Chicago-based Hollinger International, whose...
was among his numerous corporate directorships. He is a member of the Carlyle Group
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary...
's Canadian advisory board and a member of the Trilateral Commission. He is also chairman of Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
Canada, former chairman of the Ontario Heritage Foundation, and serves as chairman of the board of governors
Board of governors
Board of governors is a term sometimes applied to the board of directors of a public entity or non-profit organization.Many public institutions, such as public universities, are government-owned corporations. The British Broadcasting Corporation was managed by a board of governors, though this role...
of the Donner Canadian Foundation
Donner Prize
The Donner Prize is an award given annually by the Donner Canadian Foundation for books considered excellent in regard to the writing of Canadian public policy. The prize was established in 1998. The grand prize is $35,000; short-listed finalists receive $5,000 each...
, known for its annual literary prize. He is also a senior advisor in the law office of Bennett Jones
Bennett Jones
Bennett Jones LLP is an international law firm with four offices in Canada and one each in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with a representative office in Beijing...
.
Gotlieb is a prodigious art collector, notably of the work of 19th-century painter James Tissot
James Tissot
James Jacques Joseph Tissot was a French painter, who spent much of his career in Britain.-Biography:Tissot was born in Nantes, France. In about 1856, he began study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Hippolyte Flandrin and Lamothe, and became friendly with Edgar Degas and James Abbott...
. He and his wife donated their Tissot collection to the Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario
Under the direction of its CEO Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO embarked on a $254 million redevelopment plan by architect Frank Gehry in 2004, called Transformation AGO. The new addition would require demolition of the 1992 Post-Modernist wing by Barton Myers and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg...
.
He is a strong proponent of a North American Union
North American Union
The North American Union is a theoretical economic union, in some instances also a political union, of Canada, Mexico, and the United States...
between Canada, the US and Mexico authoring a new article titled "Why not a grand bargain with the U.S.?" which popularized the phrase "Grand Bargain".
When Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
died in 2004, Gotlieb provided expert help in the commentary for CBC Newsworld
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...
's coverage of the state funeral
Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. His seven-day state funeral followed, spanning June 5–11...
, helping the CBC's senior parliamentary editor, Don Newman, who anchored the coverage, drawing from his experiences as Canadian ambassador to Washington when Reagan was president.
On the art of diplomacy in Washington, he recently said, "You have to get the power shakers, including the media, into your dining room. When an ambassador makes a phone call to a powerful congressman, he’ll return the call once, but after that you have to make a personal relationship." Gotlieb published his diplomatic memoirs, The Washington Diaries, in 2006.
Family
He married Sondra GotliebSondra Gotlieb
Sondra Gotlieb is a Canadian journalist and novelist who lives in Toronto, Ontario.She is married to Allan Gotlieb, former Canadian ambassador to the United States during the presidency of Ronald Reagan...
(née Kaufman) in December 1955. The Gotliebs had three children: Rebecca (born in 1958), Marc (born in 1959), and Rachel (born in 1962).
Publications
- Disarmament and International Law (1965)
- Canadian Treaty-Making (1968)
- Impact of Technology on International Law (1982)
- Canada and the Economic Summits: Power and Responsibility. Bissell Paper No. 1. Toronto: University of Toronto, Centre for International Studies, 1987.
- I'll Be With You in a Minute, Mr. Ambassador (1989)
- The Washington Diaries (Random House, 2006)