Chas W. Freeman Jr.

Charles W. Freeman
United States Assistant Secretary of Defense (Regional, then International Security Affairs)
In office
July 6, 1993 – September 14, 1994
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byJames R. Lilley
Succeeded byJoseph Nye
United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
In office
January 14, 1990 – August 13, 1992
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byWalter L. Cutler
Succeeded byDavid Welch (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1943-03-02) March 2, 1943 (age 81)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
EducationYale University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Charles "Chas" W. Freeman Jr. (Chinese: 傅立民, born March 2, 1943)[1] is an American retired diplomat and writer. He served in the United States Foreign Service, the State and Defense Departments in many different capacities over the course of thirty years.[2] Most notably, he worked as the main interpreter for Richard Nixon during his 1972 China visit and served as the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 1992, where he dealt with the Gulf War.[3]

He is a past president of the Middle East Policy Council, co-chair of the U.S. China Policy Foundation[4] and a Lifetime Director of the Atlantic Council.[5] In February 2009, it was reported that Freeman was then-Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair's choice to chair the National Intelligence Council in the Obama administration.[2] After several weeks of criticisms, he withdrew his name from consideration.

  1. ^ "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR CHAS W. FREEMAN, JR" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. April 14, 1995. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Schoenfeld was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Curtis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference global was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Board of Directors listing Archived August 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Atlantic Council, accessed January 29, 2013.