Cyrus Vance

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Cyrus Vance
57th United States Secretary of State
In office
January 20, 1977 – April 28, 1980
PresidentJimmy Carter
DeputyWarren Christopher
Preceded byHenry Kissinger
Succeeded byEdmund Muskie
11th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
In office
January 28, 1964 – June 30, 1967
PresidentLyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byRoswell Gilpatric
Succeeded byPaul Nitze
7th United States Secretary of the Army
In office
July 5, 1962 – January 21, 1964
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byElvis Jacob Stahr Jr.
Succeeded byStephen Ailes
General Counsel of the Department of Defense
In office
January 29, 1961 – June 30, 1962
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy
Preceded byVincent Burke
Succeeded byJohn McNaughton
Personal details
Born
Cyrus Roberts Vance

(1917-03-27)March 27, 1917
Clarksburg, West Virginia, U.S.
DiedJanuary 12, 2002(2002-01-12) (aged 84)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting placeArlington National Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Gay Sloane
(m. 1947; her death 2002)
Children5, including Cyrus Jr.
RelativesJohn W. Davis (Adoptive father)
EducationYale University (BA, LLB)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Navy
Years of service1942–1946
Rank Lieutenant
UnitUSS Hale (DD-642)
Battles/warsWorld War II

Cyrus Roberts Vance (March 27, 1917 – January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat.

Early life[change | change source]

Vance was born on March 27, 1917 in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vance studied at Kent School, Yale University, and at Yale Law School.

Career[change | change source]

Vance was United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980.[1] Before that, he was the Secretary of the Army[2] and the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

As Secretary of State, Vance approached foreign policy with an emphasis on negotiation over conflict. He was very interested in arms reduction. In April 1980, Vance resigned in protest of Operation Eagle Claw, the secret mission to rescue American hostages in Iran. Edmund Muskie replaced him.

Personal life[change | change source]

Vance married Grace Elsie Sloane in 1947. They had four daughters and a son. Vance lived in New York City during his final years. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1995.

Death[change | change source]

Vance died at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City on January 12, 2002 of pneumonia. His death was a complication from Alzheimer's disease.[1] He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Cyrus R. Vance, a Confidant Of Presidents, Is Dead at 84". New York Times. 13 January 2002. Retrieved 13 October 2012. Cyrus R. Vance, who after two decades in public service was appointed secretary of state, and who then took the rare step of resigning from the nation's highest cabinet post on a matter of principle, died yesterday afternoon at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He was 84. The cause was pneumonia and other complications, said Elva Murphy, his longtime secretary.
  2. Bell, William Gardner (1992). ""Cyrus Roberts Vance"". Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army: Portraits and Biographical Sketches. United States Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2007.

Other websites[change | change source]

Media related to Cyrus Vance at Wikimedia Commons