Richard Armitage (government official)
Richard Lee Armitage (born April 26, 1945) is an American former diplomat and government official. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Armitage served as a U.S. Navy officer in three combat tours of duty in the Vietnam War as a riverine warfare advisor. After leaving active duty, he served in a number of civil-service roles under Republican administrations. He worked as an aide to Senator Bob Dole before serving in various posts in the Defense Department and State Department.[1]
For other people with the same name, see Richard Armitage.
Richard Armitage
During the Reagan administration, Armitage was deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and Pacific affairs (1981–1983) and assistant secretary of defense for International security affairs (1983–1989). He served in the George H. W. Bush administration in various diplomatic posts, including presidential special negotiator for the Philippines Military Bases Agreement, special mediator for water in the Middle East, special emissary to King Hussein of Jordan during the Persian Gulf War, and director of U.S. aid to the post-Soviet states.[1] He then worked in the private sector before joining the George W. Bush administration as deputy secretary of state,[1] holding the post from March 2001 to February 2005.[2]
Armitage's tenure at the State Department under Secretary Colin Powell became overshadowed by the Plame affair. Armitage acknowledged in 2006 that he leaked Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as a CIA operative to columnist Robert Novak, who revealed her identity in a July 2003 column; Armitage claimed that the leak was inadvertent, said that this was a "terrible error on my part," and issued an apology.[3][4]
Early life and military career[edit]
Armitage was born in Boston, the son of Ruth H. and Leo Holmes Armitage. He graduated from St. Pius X Catholic High School, in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1963. In 1967, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy.
He served on a destroyer stationed off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War before volunteering to serve what would eventually become three combat tours with the riverine/advisory forces for the Republic of Vietnam Navy.[5] According to Captain Kiem Do, a Republic of Vietnam Navy officer who served with him in Vietnam, Armitage "seemed drawn like a moth to flame to the hotspots of the naval war: bedding down on the ground with Vietnamese commandos, sharing their rations and hot sauce, telling jokes in flawless Vietnamese".[6] Instead of a Naval uniform, Armitage often dressed in native garb. He adopted a Vietnamese pseudonym, "Tran Phu", which loosely translated meant "rich Navy guy".[6]
Several associates who fought alongside Armitage and other politicians (including Ted Shackley)[7] have since claimed that Armitage was associated with the CIA's clandestine Phoenix Program.[7] Armitage has denied a role in Phoenix and has stated that at most, CIA officers would occasionally ask him for intelligence reports.[8]
In 1973, Armitage left active duty and joined the Defense Attaché Office, Saigon. Immediately prior to the fall of Saigon, he organized and led the removal of South Vietnamese naval assets and personnel from the country and out of the hands of the approaching North Vietnamese. Armitage told South Vietnamese naval officers to take their ships to a designated place in the ocean where they would be rescued by U.S. forces and their ships destroyed. When Armitage arrived at the designated location he found 30 South Vietnamese Navy ships and dozens of fishing boats and cargo ships with as many as 30,000 Vietnamese refugees.[9][10] With transportation options limited for removing the floating city, Armitage, aboard the destroyer escort USS Kirk, personally decided to lead the flotilla of ships over 1000 miles to shelter in Subic Bay, Philippines. This went against the wishes of both the Philippine and American governments. Nevertheless, Armitage personally arranged for food and water to be delivered by the U.S. Defense Department before negotiating with both governments for permission to dock in Subic Bay.[5][9]
Armitage is the recipient of several military decorations, including a Bronze Star with Combat V, Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V and Navy Achievement Medal with Combat V.
Public service career[edit]
Armitage served as an aide to Republican Senator Bob Dole.[11] During the Reagan administration, he served from 1981 to 1983 as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security Affairs for East Asia and the Pacific and became Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs on June 9, 1983, serving in that position for the next eight and a half years.[11][1] Armitage was nominated by President George H. W. Bush in April 1989 to serve as Secretary of the Army under Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, but the nomination was withdrawn the following month at Armitage's request, who cited a desire to spend more time with his large family.[11]
During the Persian Gulf War, Bush appointed Armitage as a special emissary to King Hussein of Jordan.[1] From March 1992 to May 1993, Armitage was posted to Europe to lead U.S. foreign aid efforts to the newly independent post-Soviet states, and held the personal rank of ambassador.[1]
After leaving the government, Armitage joined the private sector as director of US data aggregation firm ChoicePoint.
Christic Institute and Khun Sa allegations[edit]
In 1986, Armitage was named in an affidavit filed in a civil lawsuit by the Christic Institute as part of a conspiracy responsible for the La Penca bombing, and a number of other covert operations.[12] The affidavit, by Christic's lead attorney Daniel Sheehan, alleged that Armitage was involved with heroin smuggling from southeast Asia to fund covert activities in South America. He and Ted Shackley were reported to be directly responsible for the Iran Contra Scandal.[13]
Similar charges were made in a 1987 letter from the Burmese warlord Khun Sa to the U.S. Justice Department. The letter, which was transmitted by James "Bo" Gritz, accused Armitage of organizing heroin smuggling from the Golden Triangle in the 1960s and 70s. Upon returning to the United States with this information, a key witness was held by the CIA in Oklahoma for a period of time.[14]
Armitage rebutted the charges from Sheehan and Khun Sa, observing that at dates he was said to be in Thailand, he was living in Washington D.C., working as an assistant to Senator Robert Dole.[13]
In 1988, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed the Christic suit, after finding it to be frivolous and ordered the Institute to pay $955,000 in attorneys fees and $79,500 in court costs.[12][15] The ruling was subsequently upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.[15]
Pakistan and the fight against terrorism[edit]
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, in an interview with CBS News 60 Minutes on September 21, 2006,[31] alleged that Armitage called an Inter-Services Intelligence general immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks and threatened to "bomb the country [Pakistan] back to the Stone Age" unless they supported the U.S.-led fight against Islamic terrorism. Presently, Musharraf has refused to provide details, commenting that he is unable to provide details due to restrictions by the publisher (Simon & Schuster) of his book In the Line of Fire: A Memoir. President Bush, on the other hand, has mentioned that he only became aware of these comments as late as September 2006, when he read them in the newspapers. Armitage confirmed he had held a conversation with the Pakistani general to whom Musharraf had sourced the comments, but stated he had not used a threat of military action couched in such terms, as he was not authorized to do so.[32]
Life after government service[edit]
In October 2006, Armitage lobbied—on behalf of the L-3 Communications Corporation, a company providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance products—some key people in Taiwanese political circles regarding the possible sale of P-3C marine patrol aircraft to the ROC military. Those who received his personal letter included Premier Su Tseng-chang, President of the Legislative Yuan Wang Jin-pyng, and opposition People First Party leader James Soong.
Armitage stated in the letter that he wished the Taiwan government would reconsider the purchase from Lockheed Martin, the dealer the United States government had designated. Instead, he hoped that the right to negotiate the purchase should be made through an open and fair bidding process.[33]
The letter was made public by PFP Legislators on October 24, 2006, in a Legislative Yuan session discussing the military purchases.[34]
In a 2009 interview, Armitage said that waterboarding, a tactic used by the CIA during the George W. Bush administration on suspected terrorists in 2002 and 2003, was torture, but that he did not believe CIA officials should be prosecuted for ordering its use. Armitage said that he did not know about the CIA torture program while he was Deputy Secretary of State, and that "I hope, had I known about it at the time I was serving, I would've had the courage to resign."[35][36]
Armitage has served on a number of boards for corporations and nonprofits. Since January 1, 2010, Armitage has been a Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the American-Turkish Council, a Washington-based association dedicated to the promotion of business, military and foreign policy relationship between Turkey and the United States.[37] Armitage was a member of the America Abroad Media advisory board until 2014,[38] and the board of ConocoPhillips until May 2018. He also was the chairman of the Project 2049 Institute until January 2020.[39]
In the 2016 presidential election, Armitage was one of many Republicans who endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and opposed Republican Donald Trump.[40][41]
In 2020, Armitage, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."[42]
: Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) (December 15, 2005)[43]
United Kingdom
: Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) (July 1, 2010). The citation for the honor reads as follows: "for eminent service to strengthening the Australia-United States bilateral relationship".
Australia
: Honorary Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) (June 6, 2011). He was appointed in recognition of his services to New Zealand–U.S. relations.
New Zealand
: The Presidential Citizens Medal; Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award; the Department of State Distinguished Honor Award; the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service with three stars (four awards); the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service; and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Award for Outstanding Public Service.
United States
Armitage received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2013.[44]
Armitage received an Honorary Doctorate from Keio University in 2017. The program is the Richard Lee Armitage Commemorative Program: Building New Foundations for the Robust Japan-United States Relationship.[45]
Personal life[edit]
Armitage and his wife Laura have eight children. He is fluent in Vietnamese and well versed in many other languages. He is an avid powerlifter and loves to play basketball.[46] He was also a football linebacker at the United States Naval Academy and a teammate of Roger Staubach. He graduated in 1967. His grandson is actor Iain Armitage, from his daughter Lee.