Terence Todman
 Terence Todman    (diplomat, polyglot) | |
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| Born | March 13, 1926 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, USA |
| Died | August 13, 2014 (Age 88) St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, USA |
| Nationality | US |
| Alma mater | Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Syracuse University |
| Member of | Council on Foreign Relations/Historical Members |
U.S. Ambassador to Chad, Guinea, Costa Rica, Spain, Denmark, and Argentina.
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Terence Alphonso Todman was an American diplomat who was U.S. Ambassador to Chad, Guinea, Costa Rica, Spain, Denmark, and Argentina.
Contents
Early life
Todman was born on Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, on March 13, 1926. His mother worked as a house maid and laundress, and his father was a grocery clerk. His childhood in St. Thomas would prove influential in his decision to become a diplomat. He later spoke of his school years as such: "...we found ourselves doing studies on different countries, obviously at a high school level, but nevertheless you got exposed to the fact that there were other places, other people, other things happening. So, with the movement of people in and out and with that kind of intellectual academic preparation, it made for a consciousness of a world outside and of the need to deal with other people."[1] He graduated Charlotte Amalie High School second in his class.
Todman graduated from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico summa cum laude.
Military career
He was drafted by the United States Army while in college and worked in Japan from 1945 to 1949.[2]
Diplomatic career
Todman received an M.P.A. degree from the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1952; the top-ranked and most prestigious graduate school of public administration.[3] After passing the Federal Entry Exam, Todman received offers from the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the State Department. He joined the State Department and, the following year, passed the Foreign Service Examination.[4]
He started in the Office of South Asian Affairs, were he learned Hindustani, handled India, Ceylon and Nepal, and became the assistant desk officer for India.[1]
He learned Arabic, and was posted in Tunisia around 1963, helping establishing the Peace Corps there[1]
During his Ambassadorship in Guinea, his embassy was under eavesdropping of the Soviet Union's KGB.[5] His appointment as ambassador to Costa Rica in 1974 represented the first African American to be given the title in a Spanish-speaking country.[6]
He was ambassador to Spain in the years after the Franco and the transition to democracy. He was part of the negotiations for the renewal of the US military bases, and for Spain to join NATO formally.[1]
Just before he got to Denmark, the Parliament had vote to not contribute to the deployment of new nuclear missiles in Western Europe for NATO forces. One of Todman's missions was to get Denmark back on the NATO bandwagon and increase military budgets, to accept continued US bases on Greenland and accept US the possibility of US naval vessels with nuclear weapons in Danish waters.[1]
Spooky labor friends
In Tunisia he was head of labor activities. He dealt with the leading Tunisian labor leaders. From his time in India, he had extremely good ties with the AFL-CIO, with George Meany personally, Irving Brown, and Lane Kirkland - these people were CIA operatives handling labor unions around the world. Todman dealt with the leadership of the Tunisian labor movement Habib Ashour, Mohammed Benazzedine, which he saw on a regular basis.[1]
Personal life and death
Todman was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[7] He was also a director of Exxcel Group.[3] The cafeteria at the Harry S Truman Building was named after Todman in 2022.[8]
In 1990, he was awarded the rank of Career Ambassador.[9]
After retiring, Todman became involved with the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the National Endowment for Democracy.
Todman was fluent in Spanish, French, Arabic, Hindi, and Japanese.[10] He married Doris Weston; they had four children.[2] On August 13, 2014, Todman died at the age of 88, at a hospital in Saint Thomas.[11]
References
- ↑ a b c d e f https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/mss/mfdip/2004/2004tod01/2004tod01.pdf
- ↑ a b https://archive.today/20130217003252/http://virginislandsdailynews.com/op-ed/virgin-islander-terence-todman-ambassador-extraordinaire-1.1117112
- ↑ a b https://archive.today/20130215164242/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=22501904&privcapId=23371
- ↑ https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/mss/mfdip/2004/2004tod01/2004tod01.pdf
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/swordshieldmitro00andr/page/342
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/terence-a-todman-us-ambassador-to-six-nations-dies-at-88/2014/08/16/cccc09e4-2487-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html?noredirect=on
- ↑ Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc
- ↑ https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-a-ceremony-renaming-the-harry-s-truman-cafeteria-after-ambassador-terence-a-todman/
- ↑ https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73703440.html?dids=73703440:73703440&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+15,+1990&author=Ann+Devroy;+John+E.+Yang;+Kenneth+J.+Cooper&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Two+Named+Career+Ambassadors&pqatl=google
- ↑ https://diplomacy.state.gov/stories/diplomatic-skills-of-ambassador-terence-a-todman/
- ↑ Terence A. Todman, U.S ambassador to six nations, dies at 88
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