NEW MAN AT THE U.N.: GLOBAL TROUBLE-SHOOTER AND SKILLED LINGUIST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00901R000700060032-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 17, 2005
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: February 9, 1985
• Content Type: NSPR

STAT
^ Approved.F Release 2005/07/01 : CIA-RDP91-00901R000
ON PkIkL$ NEW YORK TIMES
9 February 1985
gene Agency. After 35 years in the
service, he retired as a three-star gen-
eral.
Although he may nqt have made his-
tory himself, he has certainly seen it
firsthand. He serves} as W. Avereil
Harriman's aide in the early years of
the cold war, accom iied President
Truman on his histo.- c mee_ting with a
defiant Gen. Dougla4 MacArthur and
shuttled with President Eisenhower tal
a series of summit' meetings from
Geneva to White Sulphur Springs,
W. Va.
As translator for. Vice President
Nixon during his gooc -will tour of Latin
America in 1958, Ger eral Walters was
cut in the mouth by roken glass when
a mob stoned their (ar in Caracas.
Later, as military attache in Pe ris,
General Walters is remembered for
smuggling Henry A.! Kissinger in and
out of France for cla ,destine meetings,
with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam.
"He was great as our James Bond,
getting us in and out ecretly, even giv
ing us code name*," said :. Winston
Lord, president of the Council on For-
eign Relatiors, who accompanied Mr.
Kissinger to the secret talks with the
New I lan at the U.N.: Global Trouble-Shooter
and Sk-Ned Linguist
Global Trouble-Shooter
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Spedal to The ?;ew York Times
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., Feb. 8 -
In "Silent Missions," his memoir, Gen.
Vernon A. Walters relates a conversa-
tion he had at a reception in 1954 with
the Soviet Ambassador to Brazil.
Man
in the
News
The Ambassador com-
plalned to General Wal-
ten . then the United
States military attache in
Brazil, that Americans al-
ways wanted to speak English. Even
when they try to learn a foreign tongue,
he continued, they suffer because they
do not have the Slavs' ear for lan-
guages.
General Walters, a gifted linguist,
bluntly switched to Russian, asking
him if he would like to speak Portu-
guese instead. The Ambassador, insult-
ed, replied, "Walters, you may be good
soldier, but diplomat you are not."
Interpreter to Presidents
Now Vernon Anthony Walters, 68
years old, the 6-foot-3-inch former sol-
dier and Ambassador at Large, will
have the opportunity to prove his diplo-
matic skills as . successor to Jeane J.
Kirkpatrick as chief American dele-
gate to the United Nations.
The highly visible, Cabinet-level job
will mean a new challenge for the man
who has made his reputation as a
global trouble-shooter who does not call
attention to himself. General Walters
speaks seven foreign languages, five of
them fluently, and has served part.
time as interpreter to five Presidents.
Of his outspoken predecessor, the
general said in a recent telephone in-
terview: "She's done a terrific job of
restoring the position of the United
States in the U.N. Everyone has a dif-
ferent style, but it's the same President
and basically the same policy."
Supporters of General Walters say
they are confident he will bring both
candor and loyalty to the United Na-,
tions job.
"He's been everywhere in the world,
speaks all the languages and can de-
bate very effectively, " said William E.
Colby, former Director of Central In-
telligence. "When he worked for me, he
was fearless in expressing his views
and totally loyal once a decision was
made. I used him as a total alter ego."
But critics assert that although he
has been effective when acting under
instructions, he has never been called
upon to craft policy or make major
policy judgments.
A practicing Roman Catholic and
fervent anti-Communist, he is also an
unabashed American. flag-waver who
has called the Vietnam War "one of the
noblest and most unselfish wars" in
American history. He says his world
view is determined by what he calls his'
"certain idea about the United States
- that it is the last best hope for man-
kind."
Human rights advocates, like Law-
rence Birns of the Council on Hemi-
spheric Affairs,. a private study group,
have criticized what they characterize
as his lack of concern for human rights
abuses and his long history of warm
relations with extreme right-wing mill
tary governments, such as the Pino-
chet Government in Chile and Argenti-
na's former military junta.
Some rights advocates say they re-
call his response to a reporter's ques-
tion in 1981 on Guatemala's poor
human rights record. He said: "There
are some problems that are never re-
solved. One has to define a solution that
respects a being's right to live without
fear. But as I see it, the best way to d
that is not to impose the ideas of one na
tion on top of another."
Born in New York on Jan. 3,1917, the
youngest of three children, he attended
French and English Catholic schools
but dropped out at the age of 16 to won
in his British-born father's insurance,
company.
He enlisted in the Army in 1941 and is
fond of telling friends: "Adolf Hitler,
did at least one good deed in his life. Hey
got me out of my father's insurance
company - with my father's bless-
ing. ?
Within a year he was a second lieu-
tenant. As a bright aide who used his
linguistic abilities to befriend foreign
generals and diplomats, he rose rap.
idly through the ranks. In World War
II, he was assigned to be a liaison offi-
cer with the Brazilian forces fighting in
the United States Fifth Army in Italy
under Gen. Mark Clark. His language
abilities brought him to General
Clark's attention, and ultimately to the
attention of Gen. Alfred M. Gunther,
the Fifth Array's chief of staff. He was
aide-de-camp to General Clark during
the liberation of Rome.
From military
atttache in Rio de
1
Approved For Relea T W6o S'tha gi mo
Just weeks after b4coming deputy di-
structions from the te House c of
of staff, H. R. man, to warn e
F.B.I. that the Watergate ion.
could co romise t hgence opera.
tions in Mexico. "it simply did not
occur to me that the chief of staff to the
President milt be as ' me -to do
so that was ille al or wrong,' e
wro to in his memos .
He sat out the a er years, becom-
ing a private co uitant, including
among his clients American com-
pany interested in s )ling arms to Mo-
rocco. He gave up a lucrative work
when President R gan offered him
the job of roving Am sador in 1981. i
Since then, Gene Walters has vis.'
ited 100 countries acrd logged an aver-
age of 10,000 miles a, week as the Rea.
gan Administrations s chief trouble- !
shooter.
A lifelong bachelor who does not'
smoke, drinks little, and has an ac-
knowledged weaknes for good choco-
lates, General Walters combines
straight talk with a *onteur's charm.
"I've always felt I could. get more done'
with no publicity," he said in the inter-
view.
"This is further then I ever expected
to get," General W lters said of his
new job. "Maybe I'n not so much of an
amateur as the Soviet Ambassador
thought I was."
 STAT
Approved For Release 2005/07/01 : CIA-RDP91-0090
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PP E-1_
NEW YORK TIMES
9 February 1985
Falters, Longtime Diplomat,
Gets Kirkpatrick Post at U.N.
To Hold Cabinet Rank
By BERNARD WEINRAUB
SpeoaJ to The New Ymt Throes
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 - Gen. Ver-
non A. Walters, an experienced envoy
and former' Central Intelligence
Agency official, was nominated by
President Reagan today to succeed '
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick as chief United
.States delegate to the United Nations.
After the announcement, the 68-year-
old retired Army general told reporters
at the State Department, "I will do my
best to continue the superb work that
Ambassador Kirkpatrick has done in
the United Nations to restore and en-
hance the position of the United
States."
Speaks Seven Languages
In accepting the post, General Wal-
ters made it clear that he would hold
Cabinet rank, as had Dr. Kirkpatrick.
In recent weeks, Administration offi-
cials' have said Secretary of State
George P.. Shultz was seeking to re-
move the post from Cabinet status.
The general said, in response to a
question, "My understanding is the
position is the same as it was in the.i
case of my predecessor."
Since 1981, General Walters, who
speaks seven foreign languages, has
served Mr. Reagan as an Ambassador
at Large. He has visited about 100 coun-
tries, the State Department said, usu-
ally on secret missions.
A diplomat who shuns personal pub-
licity, he has worked for five Adminis-
trations in the last 40 years and has
been involved in missions in Europe,
the Middle East, Africa, Asia, South
America and Central America.
He said today that he considered his
appointment to be the pinnacle of his
long career. "It is a great honor to have
received this mark of confidence," he
said.
In response to a question, he said: "I
think the United Nations is necessary
for the world. 'Otherwise, 1 wouldn't
consider accepting this job."
Discussing Dr. Kirkpatrick, one of
the most oromninent conservatives in
the Administration, he said: "I think
she's done a fantastic job. I think the
position of the United States today in
the United Nations is quite different
from what is was four years ago.
"If I can do half as well," he said, "I
will be quite pleased."
Kirkpatrick Leaves in March .
Dr. Kirkpatrick is planning to leave
the United Nations post in March and
return to Washington to resume her
academic career. Although she had
sought a high-level foreign policy job in
the Administration, she apparently
was not offered a post she wanted.
Although General Walters undertook
many confidential journeys in recent
years, he said today that "none of these.
missions have really been secret per:
se."
He added: "I've never traveled
under false names or under disguise. I
haven't sought any publicity. I have
come to the conclusion that there's no
amount of good that you can't do if you
don't care who gets the credit for it.
"It's sometimes frustrating because
I am not a modest man," he said, re-
marking that his travels in the last four
years have totaled about a million
miles.
Was Deputy Chief of C.I.A.
The White House statement on his
Wment said, "Hisspecial assi -
u serving directly under
Presidents Truman. Eisenhower and
Nixon."
General Walters was Dept Direo-_ !
Me of the Central Intelligence Aizency.
r Presidents Nixon ord
p a a minor
part in e secret di o- 1
ma ending and American Vietnam. he also took part in ne-
gotiations leading to the renewal of
United States ties to China. He was an
aide to W. Averell Harriman at the
Marshall Plan headquarters in Paris,
and served as an assistant to President
Eisenhower on his foreign trips.
The three-star general, who retired
from the Army in 1976 after 35 years'
service, has published memoirs, "Si-
lent Missions," on his dealings and ex-
periences with many world leaders.
In recent years, he went to Cuba to
explore the possibility of improvin
relations with Fidel Castro, and in 1982
he visited Argentina to explain why the
United States supported Britain in the
conflict over the Falkland Islands.
Voiced Concern to l 'Aubuisson
Last year his missior~ took him, in-
sofar as is known, to 1 Salvador, Sri
Lanka and several Af 'can countries.
The secret mission to l Savador was
to voice concern to the rightist leader,
Roberto d'Aubuisson, ~t rumors of,
an assassination attempt against the
United States Ambassador, Thomas R.
Pickering. The general apparently
asked Mr. D'Aubuisson!to use his influ-
ence to halt any such ttempt.
General Walters is pecially known
for his linguistic s Is. He speaks
French, Spanish, Po geese, Italian,
German, Dutch and R issian.
It has been reportthat he pre-
ferred to slip into a! country unan-
nounced before diplomatic discussions
so he could ride buses and brush up on
local slang.
He had told the Whi a House that he
would decline the United Nations post
unless it held Cabinet rank, Adminis-
tration officials said. The White House
announcement said h , like Dr. Kirk-
patrick, would serve on the National
Security Council as well as hold "Cabi-
net rank."
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 STAT
By John M. Goshko
Washington Post Staff Writer
d For-Release 2005/07/01 : CIA-RDP91-00901 R00
WASHINGTON POST
9 February 1985
Reagan 1VoYninates Walters
To Be Ambassador to U.N.
President Reagan yesterday
named retired lieutenant general
Vernon A. Walters, a former deputy
director of the Central Intelligence
Agency and the State Department's
chief diplomatic troubleshooter
since 1981, to succeed Jeane J.
Kirkpatrick as ambassador to the
United Nations.
The nomination had been expect-
ed since last week when Kirkpatrick
announced her resignation. If con-
firmed by the Senate, Walters
would emerge from the shadowy
world of intelligence and secret dip-
lomatic missions, into the limelight
of public diplomacy for the first
time in his 44 years of intermittent
government service. Walters, 68,
has undertaken missions for pres-
idents of both parties. But his
strong anticommunist views and
wide-ranging contacts with foreign
military leaders, 'particularly in
Latin America and Africa, have
made him a favorite of conservative
Republican administrations.
Thus, his outlook on global affairs
strongly resembles that of Kirkpa-
trick, who was well-liked by conser-
vatives for seeking a tough U.S. re-
sponse to leftist insurgency in Third
World areas such as Latin America.
Kirkpatrick is known to have en-
dorsed Walters' selection. And,
when reporters yesterday asked his
opinion of her performance at the
United Nations, Walters replied, "I
think she's done a fantastic job .... If I could do
,half as well, I would be well-pleased."
However, administration sources said it is un-
likely that Walters will function like Kirkpatrick,
who had considerable influence with Reagan and
who seemed at times to be an independent in the
Cabinet, frequently at odds with moderates such
as Secretary of State George P. Shultz.
Shultz was the leading advocate of giving the
U.N. post to Walters, who, as ambassador-at-
large, has been a Shultz subordinate and is re-
garded as loyal to the secretary's policies. Shultz
also had argued for dropping the U.N. ambassa-
dor's Cabinet status so as to bring the post under
State Department control. But even though the
secretary lost that battle, Walters hinted yester-
dcv that he expects to take his lead from Shultz.
"I do not intend to be just a messenger boy,"
he said in a brief appearance before reporters,
"But I do not intend to make difficulties for the
policymakers of the United States."
Walters first drew attention as a gifted linguist
whose mastery of eight languages caused five
presidents and many other important officials to
use him as an interpreter in meetings with for-
eign leaders. One of his closest relationships was
with Richard M. Nixon, whom he accompanied to
Caracas in 1958, when the then-vice president
was besieged by a mob.
Nixon appointed Walters deputy CIA director
in May 1972, and a month later Walters became
embroiled in the Watergate controversy. At the
request of H.R. (Bob) Haldeman, Nixon's chief of
staff, Walters tried to wave the Federal Bureau
of Investigation off the Watergate case by telling
FBI Director L. Patrick Gray that continued in-
vestigation might expose CIA operations in Mex-
ico.
A few days later, after looking into the matter,
Walters told White House counsel John W. Dean,
III that the Watergate investigation posed no
danger to CIA activities. Walters later wrote in
his memoirs, "Silent Missions": "It simply did not
occur to me that the chief of staff to the presi-
dent might be asking me to do something that
was illegal or wr "
.is. In 1964, when the B
--
r
az>
an army overthrew
the civilian government, leftists in Brazil charged
that Walters, then the military attache at the
a
U.S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, had encouraged
the coup. Walters denied the charge, and no ev-
idence has been offered to support it.
Later, while military attache in Paris in the
late 1960s and early 1970s, he arranged secret
negotiations between then-national security af-
'fairs adviser Henry A. Kissinger and North Viet-
namese diplomats.
Early in the Reagan administration, Walters
made a secret trip to Cuba to explore the pos-
sibility of improved relations with President
Fidel Castro. Last year, after rumors that sup-
porters of the rightist Salvadoran political leader
Roberto D'Aubuisson were plotting to murder
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