Smith Hempstone
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Smith Hempstone (February 1, 1929 – November 19, 2006) was a journalist, author, and the United States ambassador to Kenya in 1989–93. He was a vocal proponent of democracy, fighting for free elections in Kenya in 1991.
Hempstone graduated from University of the South and served as a Marine in the Korean War. He worked as the Africa correspondent for The Chicago Daily News, wrote several books, and wrote a synidicated column carried by 90 newspapers. In 1982, he began working as editor of The Washington Times, becoming editor-in-chief from 1984 to 1985.
He was appointed ambassador to Kenya by George H. W. Bush in 1989, a time when the United States was beginning to push African countries toward democracy and human rights. Hempstone worked toward these goals by fighting for multi-party elections in Kenya in 1991, nine years after Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi had banned all parties except his own. The administration derided him, saying he failed to understand that strong, unified government was necessary to keep Kenya's tribal groups from splitting the country. He aided dissidents and befriended opponents of the administration, causing the African press to describe his style as "bulldozer diplomacy". The Kenyan government isolated him, and according to Hempstone in his book Rogue Ambassador: An African Memoir, attempted to kill him twice. Multi-party elections were ultimately held in 1992, and were won by Moi with 36% of the vote.
Hempstone died in 2006 in Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland, from complications of diabetes.
[edit] Books
- Letters from Africa to the Institute of Current World Affairs, New York (1956)
- Africa, Angry Young Giant (1961)
- The New Africa (1961)
- Rebels, Mercenaries, and Dividends: The Katanga Story (1962)
- A Tract of Time (1966)
- In the Midst of Lions (1968)
- India in Focus: Six Articles (1964)
- United States Foreign Policy and the China Problem by Morton A. Kaplan, Douglas MacArthur, Smith Hempstone (1982)
- Chosin Marine: An Autobiography by Bill Davis, James H Webb, Smith Hempstone (1986)
- Rogue Ambassador: An African Memoir (1997)
[edit] References
- Douglas Martin. "Smith Hempstone, 77, Journalist Who Became Prominent Ambassador, Is Dead", New York Times, November 30, 2006, p. A27.
