Winston Lord

Winston Lord (born in New York City on August 14, 1937) is a United States diplomat and administrator. He served as the president of the Council on Foreign Relations between 1977 and 1985.

[edit] Biography

Lord, who speaks some Chinese^[1], was a key figure in the restoration of relations between the United States and China in 1972. From 1969–73, as a member of the National Security Council’s planning staff, he was an aide to National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, accompanying him on his secret trip to Beijing in 1971. The following year, he was part of the U.S. delegation during President Nixon’s historic visit to China. Later, Lord became the State Department’s top policy adviser on China (1973–77), the United States Ambassador to China (1985–1989), and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs during President Clinton’s first term.

His mother was Mary Pillsbury Lord, served for eight years as United States Delegate to the United Nations and U.S. Representative to the U.N. Human Rights Commission and recipient of the International Rescue Committee’s Freedom Award. He is married to author Bette Bao Lord.

After preparing at Hotchkiss School, Lord graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1959 and obtained an M.A. at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1960. He has received Honorary Doctorate degrees from Williams College, Tufts University, Dominican College, and Bryant College. He is a member of the Yale secret society Skull and Bones.^[2]^[3]

^ Conrad Black, Nixon, The Invicible Quest, McClelland & Stewart, 2007, p780
^ Alexandra Robbins, Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power, Little, Brown and Company, 2002, page 174-5, 189
^ David W. Dunlap, "Yale Society Resists Peeks Into Its Crypt", New York Times, November 4, 1988