In Eye on the World, volume #72 in the Diplomats and Diplomacy Series, Ambassador Anthony “Tony” Quainton offers an engaging account of the competing visions, dilemmas, and messiness of the diplomatic process, along with the candid, often self-critical story of his long and storied career in eleven countries on six continents in a diversity of top posts. He served in seven presidential appointments under presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton––four ambassadorships in distinct parts of the world and three assistant secretary–level posts in Washington. This range of geographic and functional assignments was unique in his generation of Foreign Service officers.
“One of the most respected and versatile diplomats of his generation, four-time ambassador Anthony Quainton provides a detailed and colorful account of a career spanning four decades and eleven countries. Quainton offers candid commentary on U.S. policy towards India and Pakistan in the 1970s, the Reagan administration’s covert wars in Latin America in the 1980s, and U.S. counter-drug policies in Peru in the 1990s, as well as the significant changes in the Foreign Service he experienced while serving under eight presidents, from Eisenhower to Clinton.” – John Bellinger, former legal adviser of the State Department
Tony Quainton here reflects on his interactions with the events of those times, from George VI’s historic visit to North America in 1939, through the years of the Cold War, the efforts to contain and then defeat the Soviet Union, to the two decades of uneasy peace following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Spanning his upbringing and education through two post-retirement decades, the book recounts the expanding horizons of a middle-class boy from the northwest corner of North America as he encountered the complexity of the world in which he spent his professional life.
Anthony C. E. Quainton, emeritus Distinguished Diplomat in Residence at American University, retired from the United States Foreign Service after a 38-year career. Following his appointment by President Gerald Ford as ambassador to the Central African Republic (1976–78), he assumed the directorship of the State Department’s Office for Combating Terrorism, a post he held until 1981, when President Ronald Reagan named him U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua (1982–84). Reagan later appointed him ambassador to Kuwait (1984–87), and President George H. W. Bush named him ambassador to Peru (1989–92). In Washington he served as assistant secretary for Diplomatic Security (1992–95) and, finally, as director general of the Foreign Service (1995–97).
Publisher: Potomac Books