Richard N. Haass
Photo: BankingBum, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons14

Richard N. Haass

American diplomat (born 1951)

Richard Nathan Haass (born July 28, 1951) is an American diplomat. He was president of the Council on Foreign Relations from July 2003 to June 2023, prior to which he was director of policy planning for the United States Department of State and a close advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell in the George W. Bush administration.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Richard N. Haass (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jul 28, 1951.1

About

In October 2022, Haass announced he would be departing from his position at CFR in June 2023. He was succeeded by former U.S. trade representative Michael Froman.

The Senate approved Haass as a candidate for the position of ambassador and he has been U.S. coordinator for the future of Afghanistan. He succeeded George J. Mitchell as the United States special envoy for Northern Ireland to help the peace process in Northern Ireland, for which he received the State Department's Distinguished Service Award.

At the end of 2003, Mitchell Reiss succeeded him as special envoy. In late 2013, Haass returned to Northern Ireland to chair inter-party talks aimed at addressing some of the unresolved issues from the peace process such as parades, flags, and "the past" (now known as "the Troubles").

From Wikipedia’s article on Richard N. Haass, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedOberlin College3
  • Date not recordedRoslyn High School3
  • Date not recordedWadham College3

Haass was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, the son of Marcella (née Rosenthal) and Irving B. Haass. Haass graduated from Roslyn High School in 1969. His father was a securities analyst and partner at investment management firm David J. Greene & Co. He completed a bachelor's degree at Oberlin College in 1973, and was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, where he completed a master's degree and doctoral degree in 1978.

From Wikipedia’s article on Richard N. Haass (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: political scientist, diplomat, university teacher, politician.7

Haass served at the Department of Defense from 1979 to 1980, and at the Department of State from 1981 to 1985. From 1989 to 1993, he was special assistant to President George H. W. Bush and National Security Council senior director for Near East and South Asian Affairs. In 1991, Haass received the Presidential Citizens Medal for helping to develop and explain U.S. policy during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.

Richard Haass worked for Secretary of State Colin Powell in the Bush administration and was director of policy planning at the State Department from 2001 to 2003 during the lead-up to the Iraq War. Haass has said he was 60 percent against the Iraq War.

Haass's other postings include vice president and director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, the Sol M. Linowitz Visiting Professor of International Studies at Hamilton College, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, Haass advised several members of both the Republican Party and Democratic Party on issues regarding foreign policy, but did not publicly endorse a candidate due to the Council on Foreign Relations' non-partisan stance.

In September 2013, Haass returned to Northern Ireland, with Professor Meghan O'Sullivan, to chair all party talks on flags, parades and the legacy of The Troubles, after violence flared over the removal of the union flag at Belfast City Hall. The talks broke down on December 31, 2013.

Haass joined the investment banking firm Centerview Partners as a senior counselor in 2023. He is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.

From Wikipedia’s article on Richard N. Haass (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJul 28, 1951, Brooklyn8
  • CitizenshipUnited States9
  • Children210

Haass lives in New York City with his wife, Susan Mercandetti; they have two children.

According to Axios, Haass is a member of Dialog, a secret society founded by Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman.

From Wikipedia’s article on Richard N. Haass (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 1973Rhodes Scholarship11
  • Date not recordedDistinguished Service Award11
  • Date not recordedPresidential Citizens Medal11

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14