Sheldon Vance
American Ambassador to Zaire
In office
May 27, 1969 – March 26, 1974
Preceded byRobert McBride
Succeeded byDeane Hinton
American Ambassador to Chad
In office
May 10, 1967 – May 16, 1969
Preceded byBrewster Morris
Succeeded byTerence Todman
Personal details
Born(1917-01-18)January 18, 1917
Crookston, Minnesota, United States
DiedNovember 12, 1995(1995-11-12) (aged 78)
Bethesda, United States
SpouseJean Chambers
ChildrenRobert Vance
Stephen Vance
Alma materCarleton College
Harvard Law School

Sheldon Baird Vance (January 18, 1917 – November 12, 1995), born in Crookston, Minnesota, was the U.S. Ambassador to Zaire from May 27, 1969, through March 26, 1974. During his tenure, he developed a close relationship with President Mobutu Sese Seko, and became an ardent and vocal supporter of the President; he also supported Mobutu's aspirations for regional leadership and advocated foreign investment in Zaire[1] and "strongly recommended" that the U.S. sell M-16s to Mobutu.[2] According to diplomats stationed in Zaire at the time, Vance "would not permit negative analyses of the Mobutu regime to be transmitted to Washington."[3] Vance's support of Mobutu continued even after he left Zaire; shortly after retiring from the State Department, he joined a law firm representing the Zairian government.[3] He was also briefly sent back to Zaire after his successor, Deane Hinton (who did not get along with Mobutu) was declared persona non grata, to patch up the American-Zairian relationship, which had soured considerably during Hinton's tenure.[4]

Life after Zaire

Vance served as senior adviser to the secretary of state, coordinator for international narcotics matters, and executive director of the President's Cabinet Committee on International Narcotics Control (1974–1977). After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1977, he practiced international law in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Vance, Joyce, Carbaugh and Fields (1977–1989). In later years, the Vances lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Vance died in Bethesda, Maryland in 1995 at the age of 78.

Family life

His parents were Erskine Ward and Helen (Baird) Vance. He married Jean Chambers on December 28, 1939; they had two sons, Robert Clarke and Stephen Baird.

Education

High School: Austin High School, Austin, MN (1935)
University: BA, Carleton College (1939)
Law School: Harvard University (1942)

Notable assignments

  • US Official Cabinet Committee, International Narcotics Control (1974–77)
  • US Ambassador to Zaire (1969–74)
  • US Ambassador to Chad (1967–69)
  • US Official Senior Foreign Service Inspector (1966–67)
  • US Official Deputy Chief of Mission, US Embassy, Ethiopia (1962–66)
  • US Official Director, Office of Central African Affairs (1961–62)
  • US Official Bureau of Africa, Middle East, and South Asia (1958–60)
  • US Official First Secretary, US Embassy, Brussels (1954–58)
  • US Official Belgium-Luxembourg Desk Officer, Washington (1952–54)
  • US Official Desk Officer, Switzerland (1951–52)
  • US Official Consul, US Embassy, Martinique (1949–51)
  • US Official Vice Consul, Nice and Monaco (1946–49)
  • US Official Economic Analyst, US Embassy, Rio de Janeiro (1942–46)

Notes

  1. ↑ Young, Crawford and Thomas Turner, The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-10110-X p. 372
  2. ↑ Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, Volume E-6, Documents on Africa, 1973-1976
  3. 1 2 Kelly, Sean. America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire. American University Press. ISBN 1-879383-17-9 p. 200
  4. ↑ Young and Turner, p. 373

References

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