Richard Holbrooke

Former United States representative to the United Nations and special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan; listed among the original co-founders of United Against Nuclear Iran

Richard Holbrooke
Image	Official State Department biography photograph as special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, 5 November 2009 (public domain).
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Diplomat
Known for	Former representative of the United States to the United Nations; official United States special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan; listed among the original co-founders and former advisory board members of United Against Nuclear Iran

Richard Holbrooke was a United States diplomat. An official United Against Nuclear Iran leadership listing, retrieved on 11 November 2026, places him among the organisation's "Original Co-Founders and Former Advisory Board Members", records him in memoriam, and describes him as a former U.S. ambassador to the UN and former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The same official listing states that UANI mourns the loss of founder Ambassador Richard Holbrooke (1941-2010). An official record of the Office of the Historian of the Department of State is headed Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (1941–2010), and records the United Nations and earlier departmental offices set out below. An official Department of State press statement, preserved on the department's archived 2009–2017 website, names Richard Holbrooke as special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in a document headed "U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Visits Kazakhstan". Those official name-forms and titles are all stated, and are not collapsed.

United Against Nuclear Iran

The official UANI leadership listing, retrieved on 11 November 2026, lists Richard Holbrooke under the heading "Original Co-Founders and Former Advisory Board Members", as "In Memoriam", and with the official description "Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN and Former U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan". The official UANI people page on the same date uses the same title wording and has no longer biographical body text. The official listing also uses the founder wording quoted above.

United States government service

The official Historian record describes four posts: assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, appointed on 23 March 1977, entry on duty on 31 March 1977, with termination of appointment on 13 January 1981; ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary (Germany), appointed on 16 September 1993, with presentation of credentials on 19 October 1993 and termination of mission, having left post, on 12 September 1994; assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, appointed on 26 August 1994, entry on duty on 13 September 1994, with termination of appointment on 21 February 1996; and representative of the U.S.A. to the United Nations, appointed on 10 August 1999, with presentation of credentials on 7 September 1999 and termination of mission on 19 January 2001.

The official 21 February 2010 Department of State press statement is headed "U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Visits Kazakhstan", and is issued over the name Richard Holbrooke, special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Its body refers to "the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke". An official biographical note on the same page uses the name-form Richard C. Holbrooke, records that he served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations, where he was also a member of President Bill Clinton's cabinet (1999–2001), and describes the European post as assistant secretary of state for Europe (1994–1996). Those official title wordings are all stated. The same official note records that, as assistant secretary of state for Europe, he was the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement; that he later served as President Clinton's special envoy to Bosnia and Kosovo and special envoy to Cyprus, on a pro-bono basis while a private citizen; and that from 1993 to 1994 he was the U.S. ambassador to Germany. An official Department of State photograph page, also preserved on the 2009–2017 archive and dated 15 December 2010, is captioned as an official State Department biography photograph of Special Representative Holbrooke, and is dated 5 November 2009.

The official biographical note on the 21 February 2010 press statement further records that, after joining the Foreign Service in 1962, he served in Vietnam (1963–66), including a tour of duty in the Mekong Delta for USAID; that he worked on Vietnam issues at the Johnson White House (1966–68); that he wrote one volume of the Pentagon Papers; and that he was a member of the American delegation to the Vietnam Peace Talks in Paris (1968–69). It records that he was Peace Corps director in Morocco (1970–72) and managing editor of Foreign Policy (1972–77).

Later career

The official biographical note on the 21 February 2010 press statement records that he held senior positions at Credit Suisse First Boston, as vice chairman, and at Lehman Brothers, as managing director, and that he was the author of To End a War, a memoir of the Dayton negotiations, and co-author of Counsel to the President, Clark Clifford's memoir.

External links

• United Against Nuclear Iran, official biography
• United Against Nuclear Iran, leadership
• Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, official record
• U.S. Department of State, official press statement, 21 February 2010 (Wayback Machine, 2 December 2021)