Richard David Vine
Encyclopedia
Richard David Vine was a career diplomat, US Ambassador to Switzerland
from 1979 to 1981, and later Director General of the Atlantic Institute for International Affairs.
. After serving in the US Army from 1943 to 1946, Vine graduated from Georgetown University
in 1949 and later earned an M.A. at Yale University
.
In the 1950s, as a Foreign Service officer, he was posted to Bonn
, Tel Aviv
and Paris
.
In the early 1960s, he served as officer in charge of European integration affairs at the State Department in Washington D.C. before taking up a second posting in Bonn in 1963.
Vine went on from there to Brussels
, where he was USEC counselor for political affairs from 1965 to 1969, and then to Berne
, Switzerland, as Deputy Chief of Mission from 1969 to 1972.
He served as Jimmy Carter
’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Switzerland from 1979 to the end of the Carter administration in 1981.
In 1984, soon after he had resigned from the Foreign Service and taken up the function, the French left-wing guerilla group Action Directe bombed the Institute’s empty premises which were almost completely demolished by the blast.
Although Institute activities resumed at a new location, Vine was later informed by French police that he personally was on the group’s hit list. Georges Besse, head of the Renault car manufacturing company, was gunned down on a Paris street by two members of the group in 1986.
Vine resigned his post, and returned to the United States, spending the last 20 years of his life in active retirement in Millington, and then Chestertown, Maryland.
He remained on the Atlantic Institute’s Board of Governors, and was also a member of the Council on Foreign Affairs. He died in 2008 in Chestertown, Maryland
.
, "The Class of 1945", in Prelude to Nuremberg. World War II Chronicles. A Quarterly Publication of the World War II Veterans Committee, Washington D.C. Issue XXXI, Autumn, 2005, pp. 7-16.
Linda Scarbrough, "Washington Bird Watch", in The Washington Post Potomac, Washington D.C. April 10, 1977, pp. 12-13, 23-24.
In the context of the hijackings, hostages and civil war in Jordan in September 1970, one of the major issues during Vine's 1969-1972 tour of duty in Switzerland
David Raab, Terror in Black September: The First Eyewitness Account of the Infamous 1970 Hijackings, New York and Houndmills, UK, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
In the context of the Robert Vesco affair, another of the major issues during Vine’s 1969-1972 tour of duty in Switzerland
Jim Hougan, Spooks: The Haunting of America – The Private Use of Secret Agents, New York, Bantam Books, 1979.
Robert A. Hutchinson, Vesco, New York, Avon Books, 1976.
In the context of US/Canada relations
Jack Lawrence Granatstein, Robert Bothwell, Pirouette: Pierre Trudeau and Canadian Foreign Policy, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1991.
Jean-François Lisée, In the Eye of the Eagle, Toronto, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1990.
In the context of Vine's directorship of the Bureau for Refugee Programs
Refugee Report, "In Profile: Richard D. Vine, Bureau of Refugee Programs", Volume III, Number 4, January 29 1982.
Refugee Report, "U.S. to Process Cambodian Refugees", Volume III, Number 12, May 21 1982, p. 4.
In the context of American foreign policy during the Carter administration
The Rodney Kennedy-Minott Papers 1967-1990, Folder 12, Richard D. Vine Esquire, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, California, Register of the Papers
John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The online American Presidency Project
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
from 1979 to 1981, and later Director General of the Atlantic Institute for International Affairs.
Education and diplomatic career
He was born in 1925 New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. After serving in the US Army from 1943 to 1946, Vine graduated from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in 1949 and later earned an M.A. at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
In the 1950s, as a Foreign Service officer, he was posted to Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
In the early 1960s, he served as officer in charge of European integration affairs at the State Department in Washington D.C. before taking up a second posting in Bonn in 1963.
Vine went on from there to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, where he was USEC counselor for political affairs from 1965 to 1969, and then to Berne
Berne
The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...
, Switzerland, as Deputy Chief of Mission from 1969 to 1972.
US Ambassador to Switzerland
Back in Washington, between 1972 and 1979, Vine’s State Department functions included Director of Western European Affairs, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Canadian Affairs.He served as Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Switzerland from 1979 to the end of the Carter administration in 1981.
Director General of the Atlantic Institute
Ambassador Vine had started a new position as Director of the State Department’s Bureau of Refugee Programs in 1982 when he was asked by the Paris-based Atlantic Institute for International Affairs to become its Director General.In 1984, soon after he had resigned from the Foreign Service and taken up the function, the French left-wing guerilla group Action Directe bombed the Institute’s empty premises which were almost completely demolished by the blast.
Although Institute activities resumed at a new location, Vine was later informed by French police that he personally was on the group’s hit list. Georges Besse, head of the Renault car manufacturing company, was gunned down on a Paris street by two members of the group in 1986.
Vine resigned his post, and returned to the United States, spending the last 20 years of his life in active retirement in Millington, and then Chestertown, Maryland.
He remained on the Atlantic Institute’s Board of Governors, and was also a member of the Council on Foreign Affairs. He died in 2008 in Chestertown, Maryland
Chestertown, Maryland
Chestertown is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,746 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kent County. The ZIP code is 21620 and the area codes are 410 and 443...
.
As author/editor
Richard D. Vine, Editor, Soviet-East European Relations As a Problem for the West, London, New York, Croom Helm, 1987.Additional biographical information
Ambassador John E. DoliboisJohn E. Dolibois
John Ernest Dolibois is a retired United States Ambassador to Luxembourg and college administrator.A native of Luxembourg, Dolibois emigrated to the United States with his father in 1931...
, "The Class of 1945", in Prelude to Nuremberg. World War II Chronicles. A Quarterly Publication of the World War II Veterans Committee, Washington D.C. Issue XXXI, Autumn, 2005, pp. 7-16.
Linda Scarbrough, "Washington Bird Watch", in The Washington Post Potomac, Washington D.C. April 10, 1977, pp. 12-13, 23-24.
In the context of the hijackings, hostages and civil war in Jordan in September 1970, one of the major issues during Vine's 1969-1972 tour of duty in Switzerland
David Raab, Terror in Black September: The First Eyewitness Account of the Infamous 1970 Hijackings, New York and Houndmills, UK, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
In the context of the Robert Vesco affair, another of the major issues during Vine’s 1969-1972 tour of duty in Switzerland
Jim Hougan, Spooks: The Haunting of America – The Private Use of Secret Agents, New York, Bantam Books, 1979.
Robert A. Hutchinson, Vesco, New York, Avon Books, 1976.
In the context of US/Canada relations
Jack Lawrence Granatstein, Robert Bothwell, Pirouette: Pierre Trudeau and Canadian Foreign Policy, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1991.
Jean-François Lisée, In the Eye of the Eagle, Toronto, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1990.
In the context of Vine's directorship of the Bureau for Refugee Programs
Refugee Report, "In Profile: Richard D. Vine, Bureau of Refugee Programs", Volume III, Number 4, January 29 1982.
Refugee Report, "U.S. to Process Cambodian Refugees", Volume III, Number 12, May 21 1982, p. 4.
In the context of American foreign policy during the Carter administration
The Rodney Kennedy-Minott Papers 1967-1990, Folder 12, Richard D. Vine Esquire, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, California, Register of the Papers
John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The online American Presidency Project