William vanden Heuvel
Encyclopedia
William Jacobus vanden Heuvel (born April 14, 1930) is an attorney
, businessman and author
, as well as a former diplomat
.
He is the father of Katrina vanden Heuvel
, longtime editor of The Nation
magazine, and Wendy vanden Heuvel, children from his marriage to author/editor Jean Stein
, the well-to-do daughter of Jules C. Stein, founder of MCA.
and attended public schools in New York
. He attended Deep Springs College
(Deep Springs does not "graduate" attendees.) and graduated from Cornell University
, where he was a member of the Telluride Association
. At Cornell Law School
, he was editor-in-chief of Cornell's law review
. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1952, and then joined the law firm of Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine
as an Associate.
founder William Joseph Donovan
, vanden Heuvel served at the U.S. embassy (1953–1954) in Bangkok
, Thailand
as Donovan's Executive Assistant. In 1958, vanden Heuvel served as Counsel to New York State Governor W. Averell Harriman
.
In 1962, he became U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's
assistant, and was involved in Kennedy's 1964 and 1968 political campaigns. As special assistant to Attorney General Kennedy, vanden Heuvel played the key role in court, orchestrating the desegregation of the Prince Edward County
school system, which expanded the scope of the landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education
.
In 1965, he joined Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
as Senior Partner where he practiced international and corporate law. He is currently Senior Counsel to the firm.
In the 1970s, vanden Heuvel, as Chairman of the New York City Board of Corrections, led a campaign to investigate conditions in the city’s prison system. He has had a lifelong involvement in the reform of the criminal justice system.
He served as U.S. Ambassador to the European office of the United Nations
in Geneva
(1977–79) and United States
Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations
(1979–1981) during the Jimmy Carter
Administration.
Vanden Heuvel has held directorships in a number of public companies. They include: the U.S. Banknote Corporation, Time Warner
, Inc., and the North Aegean Petroleum company, and others. Since 1984, he has been a Senior Advisor to the investment banking firm Allen & Company
.
Currently he is Chairman of the American Austrian Foundation and Co-chairman of the Council of American Ambassadors. Since 1984, vanden Heuvel has been Chairman of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
. He is a Governor and former Chairman of the United Nations Association, and has written extensively on the United Nations and American foreign policy. He is also a member of Collegium International
, an organization of leaders with political, scientific, and ethical expertise whose goal is to provide new approaches in overcoming the obstacles in the way of a peaceful, socially just and an economically sustainable world. He served as an honorary chairman of The OSS Society.
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, businessman and author
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, as well as a former diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
.
He is the father of Katrina vanden Heuvel
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor, publisher, and part-owner of the magazine The Nation. She has been the magazine's editor since 1995. She is a frequent guest on numerous television programs...
, longtime editor of The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
magazine, and Wendy vanden Heuvel, children from his marriage to author/editor Jean Stein
Jean Stein
-Biography:Jean Stein grew up in Los Angeles, the daughter of Dr. Jules Stein and his wife, Doris. She authored of two books and a pioneer of the narrative form of oral history. She is presently at work on a cultural and political history of Los Angeles, to be published by Farrar, Straus and...
, the well-to-do daughter of Jules C. Stein, founder of MCA.
Education
William vanden Heuvel was born in Rochester, New YorkRochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
and attended public schools in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He attended Deep Springs College
Deep Springs College
Deep Springs is a private, all-male , alternative college in Deep Springs, California, in the United States. A two-year college, the institution currently aims for a student body size of 26, though the number is occasionally lower...
(Deep Springs does not "graduate" attendees.) and graduated from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, where he was a member of the Telluride Association
Telluride Association
The Telluride Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that provides young people with free educational programs emphasizing intellectual curiosity, democratic self-governance, and social responsibility. Students are invited to apply based on academic criteria, such as high...
. At Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University and one of the five Ivy League law schools. The school confers three law degrees...
, he was editor-in-chief of Cornell's law review
Law review
A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...
. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1952, and then joined the law firm of Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine
Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine
Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine was a white-shoe New York law firm. It was founded in 1929 by General William "Wild Bill" Donovan, often called the Father of the CIA. The firm dissolved in 1998. Its notable antitrust cases include a series of lawsuits involving American Cyanamid in the 1960s...
as an Associate.
Career
An early protégé of Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
founder William Joseph Donovan
William Joseph Donovan
William Joseph Donovan was a United States soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered as the wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services...
, vanden Heuvel served at the U.S. embassy (1953–1954) in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
as Donovan's Executive Assistant. In 1958, vanden Heuvel served as Counsel to New York State Governor W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
.
In 1962, he became U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
assistant, and was involved in Kennedy's 1964 and 1968 political campaigns. As special assistant to Attorney General Kennedy, vanden Heuvel played the key role in court, orchestrating the desegregation of the Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County, Virginia
Prince Edward County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,368. Its county seat is Farmville.-Formation and County Seats:...
school system, which expanded the scope of the landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
.
In 1965, he joined Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP is an American law firm based in New York City with approximately 350 lawyers in three offices, the other two being Miami and Los Angeles...
as Senior Partner where he practiced international and corporate law. He is currently Senior Counsel to the firm.
In the 1970s, vanden Heuvel, as Chairman of the New York City Board of Corrections, led a campaign to investigate conditions in the city’s prison system. He has had a lifelong involvement in the reform of the criminal justice system.
He served as U.S. Ambassador to the European office of the United Nations
Representative of the United States to the European Office of the United Nations
The Representative of the United States to the European Office of the United Nations is the chief of mission of the United States Mission to the European Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations at the United Nations Office at Geneva...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
(1977–79) and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
(1979–1981) during the 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...
Administration.
Vanden Heuvel has held directorships in a number of public companies. They include: the U.S. Banknote Corporation, Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, Inc., and the North Aegean Petroleum company, and others. Since 1984, he has been a Senior Advisor to the investment banking firm Allen & Company
Allen & Company
Allen & Company is a boutique investment bank based at 711 Fifth Avenue, New York City.-History:Founded in 1922 by Charles Robert Allen, Jr., he was soon joined by his brother, Herbert A. Allen, Sr...
.
Currently he is Chairman of the American Austrian Foundation and Co-chairman of the Council of American Ambassadors. Since 1984, vanden Heuvel has been Chairman of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
The Roosevelt Institute is a progressive non-profit organization devoted to carrying forward the legacy and values of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt by developing progressive ideas and bold leadership in the service of restoring America's health and security...
and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
. He is a Governor and former Chairman of the United Nations Association, and has written extensively on the United Nations and American foreign policy. He is also a member of Collegium International
Collegium International
International Ethical, Scientific and Political Collegium, also called Collegium International is a high-level group created in 2002.-Origin:...
, an organization of leaders with political, scientific, and ethical expertise whose goal is to provide new approaches in overcoming the obstacles in the way of a peaceful, socially just and an economically sustainable world. He served as an honorary chairman of The OSS Society.
Books
- vanden Heuvel, William, editor. The Future of Freedom in Russia, Templeton Foundation Press (2000), ISBN 1890151432.
- vanden Heuvel, William. On his own: Robert F. Kennedy, 1964–1968, Doubleday (1970), ASIN B0006DXOGI.
External links
- The Roosevelt Institute.
- History News Network, debating FDR and World War II.
- FERI, "America, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Holocaust," speech (1996).