James Goodby

James Goodby
1984
Born	(1929-12-20) December 20, 1929 (age 87) Providence, Rhode Island
Alma mater	Harvard University University of Michigan
Occupation	Author

James Eugene Goodby (born December 20, 1929) is an author and former American diplomat.

Goodby was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in 1951 and served as a second lieutenant in the Air Force during the Korean War from 1952–53. He attended the University of Michigan (1951–52) and Harvard University (1953–54).

Goodby served with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Boston in 1951. After the war he became a Foreign Service Officer and remained in the Foreign Service until his retirement in 1989.

He was foreign affairs specialist with the United States Atomic Energy Commission in 1954–59, foreign affairs officer in the Office of Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Atomic Energy in 1960, Officer in Charge of Nuclear Test Ban Negotiations at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1961–63; member of the Policy Planning Council at the Department of State in 1963–67; political officer at the United States Mission to the European Communities in Brussels in 1967–69; Officer in Charge of Defense Policy Affairs at the Bureau of European Affairs of the Department of State, in 1969–71; Counselor for Political Affairs at the United States Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels in 1971–74; Deputy Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs in 1974–77 (negotiating with NATO alliance partners as part of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to create the Helsinki Accords); and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs in 1977–80.