Joseph Verner Reed Jr. Explained

Joseph Verner Reed Jr.
Office:24th Chief of Protocol of the United States
Term Start:May 21, 1989
Term End:October 21, 1991
President:George H. W. Bush
Predecessor:Selwa Roosevelt
Successor:John Giffen Weinmann
Office1:United States Ambassador to Morocco
President1:Ronald Reagan
Term Start1:1981
Term End1:1985
Predecessor1:Angier Biddle Duke
Successor1:Thomas Anthony Nassif
Birth Date:17 December 1937
Birth Place:New York City, U.S.
Death Place:Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation:Banker, diplomat
Education:Deerfield Academy
Alma Mater:Yale University
Party:Republican
Spouse:Marie Maude Byers
Children:2
Relatives:Nathaniel Reed (brother)
Verner Z. Reed (grandfather)
Edward Doty (ancestor)

Joseph Verner Reed Jr. (December 17, 1937  - September 29, 2016) was an American banker and diplomat. He served as United States Ambassador to Morocco from 1981 to 1985, and as Chief of Protocol of the United States from 1989 to 1991.

Early life

Joseph Verner Reed Jr. was born on December 17, 1937, in New York City.[1] [2] [3] [4] He was named after his father, Joseph Verner Reed (1902 - 1973).[5] [4] [6] [7] His paternal grandfather was Verner Zevola Reed (1863-1919).[7] His mother was Permelia Pryor.[4] [6] He had a brother, Nathaniel Reed.[4] and another brother Samuel Pryor Reed (1934-2005), manager at Engelhard Industries.[8] He is also a descendant of Edward Doty (1599-1655), who emigrated to the United States on the Mayflower.[7]

He grew up at Denbigh Farm in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Corsair in Hobe Sound, Florida.[6] [7] He was educated at the Deerfield Academy, a private boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and graduated from Yale University, a private university in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1961.[1] [2] [3] [4] [6]

Career

He started his career as private secretary to the president of the World Bank, Eugene "Gene" Robert Black, Sr. (1898-1992).[1] [3] [9] He then was vice president and assistant to the chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank, David Rockefeller, from 1963 to 1981.[2] [3] [9]

In 1980 he ran "Project Alpha", a secret operation backed by David Rockefeller intended to give sanctuary in the US to the exiled Shah of Iran, and later to discouraging the new Iranian regime from releasing the American hostages before the 1980 election to help Ronald Reagan's chances of defeating President Carter. After the election Reed wrote to family that “I had given my all” to thwarting Carter’s efforts “to pull off the long-suspected ‘October Surprise,’” a reference to his activities in discouraging the Iranians from turning over the hostages to Carter.[10]

In 1985, he became United States Deputy Permanent Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.[3] Two years later, in 1987, he became Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political and General Assembly Affairs.[3]

He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as United States Ambassador to Morocco from 1981 to 1985.[2] [3] [11] He was then appointed by President George H. W. Bush to serve as the Chief of Protocol of the United States from 1989 to 1991.[3] [7] [9] [11]

He returned to the UN, serving as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Representative for Public Affairs from 1992 to 1997.[3] From 1997 to 2004, he served as President of the Staff-Management Coordination Committee of the UN.[3] In January 2005, he was appointed as Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser.[3] He was re-appointed as such in 2009.[3] He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[2] He was the recipient of the Legion of Honour.[3] He also received The Yale Medal from his alma mater, Yale University.[3]

Personal life

He married Marie Maude Byers, daughter of J. Frederic Byers (1939–1977) of Philadelphia, with whom they had two daughters, Serena (Reed) Kusserow and Electra Reed.[9]

Reed died at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut, on September 29, 2016.[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://drs.library.yale.edu/HLTransformer/HLTransServlet?stylename=yul.ead2002.xhtml.xsl&pid=mssa:ms.1964&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes Yale University Library
  2. Web site: The American Presidency Project. 2014-03-22. 2014-03-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20140323031622/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=44196. dead.
  3. http://ambassadorreed.com/Curriculum%20Vitae.htm Official website biography
  4. Web site: Joseph Verner Reed. www.nndb.com.
  5. News: Joseph Verner Reed, Patron of the Stage, Is Dead. Steven R.. Weisman. The New York Times . November 26, 1973.
  6. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19590705&id=IJ1jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AMwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2649,683362 Marie Maude Byers To Wed Joseph Verner Reed, Jr.
  7. Elaine Sciolino, Washington at Work; Making a President's Planes, Trains (and Diplomatic Matters) Run on Time, The New York Times, October 30, 1989
  8. Book: MRS. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach . 9780547348278 . Gordon . Meryl . 22 October 2009 . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt .
  9. William Plummer, Linda Kramer, On the Eve of Another Summit, Joseph Reed Is the Man of Every Hour, People, 06/04/1990
  10. Jonathan Alter, Gary Sick, Kai Bird, Stuart Eizenstat, It’s All but Settled: The Reagan Campaign Delayed the Release of the Iranian Hostages, New Republic (magazine), 05/03/2023
  11. Brittany Lyte, More than 20 years later, remembering a brief walk with a giant, The Advocate, July 12, 2013
  12. News: Lederer. Edith M.. Joseph Verner Reed, Jr., UN official and ex-US envoy dies. October 1, 2016. Washington Post. Associated Press. ABC News. September 30, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161001083448/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/joseph-verner-reed-jr-un-official-and-ex-us-envoy-dies/2016/09/30/ba7a90ae-8753-11e6-b57d-dd49277af02f_story.html. October 1, 2016. Alt URL