Joseph J. Sisco

Joseph John Sisco (October 31, 1919 – November 23, 2004) was a diplomat who played a major role in then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East and whose career in the State Department spanned five presidential administrations and numerous foreign-policy crises.

A Chicago native, Dr. Sisco was the son of Italian immigrants. His mother died when he was 9, and his father, a tailor, raised the five Sisco children in modest circumstances. He graduated from high school in 1937, briefly attended junior college and then transferred to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1941. He worked for a short time as a high school teacher and then joined the Army, where he served as a first lieutenant with the 41st Infantry Division in the Pacific. He was discharged in 1945. At the University of Chicago, he received a master's degree in 1947 and a doctorate in 1950, specializing in Soviet affairs. He became a Central Intelligence Agency officer in 1950 and joined the State Department the next year.

As a State Department negotiator, Sisco was involved in diplomatic hot spots that included Syria's invasion of Jordan in 1970, the India-Pakistan war in 1971, and Egypt and Israel's peace negotiations in 1974.

From 1951 to 1965, he served as a foreign affairs officer, specializing in issues involving the United Nations and other international organizations. In 1965, Secretary of State Dean Rusk appointed Sisco assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs.

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