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]
In Chad, he was posted during the tensions with Libya. When George H.W. Bush came for a three day visit, they created a relationship that remained, he became "a very good friend".[1]
In Guinea, he told how because "they were hosting the Portuguese Guineans, Amilcar Cabral and company, against the Portuguese, they accepted the word of others that we were working against Guinea, to overthrow Sekou Toure", and there were "demonstrations after demonstrations against the United States." Gradually, Sekou Toure began to support some of the positions the United States was holding, including in the Organization of African States.[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]
As Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, he played a great role in the Panama Canal negotiations. When it was time for ratification in the US Senate, he developed, together with Peter Johnson, a plan "for making sure that the American people got to know what this was all about". They organized a massive campaign of public information, public speaking. "And the votes changed. We got enough votes changed and we got the treaty ratified."[1]
Also as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, in early September 1977, President Carter met with Junta President Videla in Washington and initiated secret negotiations on the human rights issue. "Videla would release most of the 4000 prisoners held under executive order by Christmas 1977, but it is not known what the U.S. would give the Argentines in return. The minutes of the meeting are still classified. A few days later, this heavily excised memo written by Assistant Secretary Todman recommendrd supporting Videla and scribbled on the side has the words "File Arms Transfers" and the acronym for the Defense Attaché, "DAO" suggesting that the U.S. was considering supplying Argentina with military equipment. At about this time, the U.S. quietly approved "export licenses for submarine periscopes and advisory opinions for the sale of three Chinook helicopters and two Lockheed KC-130 tanker aircraft" to the Argentine military".[7][8]
He was ambassador to Spain in the years after the Franco and the transition to democracy. He was chief negotiator for the 1982 renewal of the US military bases[9], and also pushing for Spain to join NATO formally.[1][10]
Just before he got to Denmark, the Danish Parliament had voted 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, accept continued US bases on Greenland and accept 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.[11] He was also a director of Exxcel Group.[3] The cafeteria at the Harry S Truman Building was named after Todman in 2022.[12]
In 1990, he was awarded the rank of Career Ambassador.[13]
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.[14] 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.[15]
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i 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
- ↑ https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB85/771103%200000A57C.pdf
- ↑ https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB85/index2.htm
- ↑ https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85M00364R000400530060-7.pdf
- ↑ https://en.yabiladi.com/articles/details/53468/when-juan-carlos-wanted-cede.html
- ↑ 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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