Vernon Walters
| Vernon Walters | |
|---|---|
 |
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| United States Ambassador to Germany | |
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In office October 3, 1990 – August 18, 1991 |
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| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by |
Richard Barkley (East Germany) Himself (West Germany) |
| Succeeded by | Robert M. Kimmitt |
| United States Ambassador to West Germany | |
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In office April 24, 1989 – October 3, 1990 |
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| President | George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Richard Burt |
| Succeeded by | Himself (Germany) |
| 17th United States Ambassador to the United Nations | |
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In office May 22, 1985 – March 15, 1989 |
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| President |
Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Jeane Kirkpatrick |
| Succeeded by | Thomas R. Pickering |
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Director of Central Intelligence Acting |
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In office July 2, 1973 – September 4, 1973 |
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| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | James R. Schlesinger |
| Succeeded by | William Colby |
| Deputy Director of Central Intelligence | |
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In office May 2, 1972 – July 2, 1976 |
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| President |
Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Robert E. Cushman Jr. |
| Succeeded by | E. Henry Knoche |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 8, 1917 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 10, 2002 (aged 84) West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
Vernon A. Walters (January 3, 1917 – February 10, 2002) was a United States Army officer and a diplomat. Most notably, he served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and from 1989 to 1991 as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany during the decisive phase of German Reunification. Walters rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.
Walters was born in New York City. His father was a British immigrant and insurance salesman. From age 6, Walters lived in Britain and France with his family. His formal education beyond elementary school consisted entirely of boarding school instruction at Stonyhurst College, a 400-year-old Jesuit school in Lancashire, England. He did not attend a university. At the age of sixteen, he left school and returned to the United States, to work for his father as an insurance claims adjuster and investigator.
In later years, he seemed to enjoy reflecting on the fact that he had risen high and accomplished much despite a near-total lack of formal academic training.
He was fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese as well as his native English. He also spoke German fluently but, as he joked, inaccurately, and knew the basics of several other languages. His simultaneous translation of a speech by United States President Richard Nixon in France prompted French President Charles de Gaulle to say to Nixon, "You gave a magnificent speech, but your interpreter was eloquent."
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Wikipedia