55 Years in the Service

About the Book

This oral history interview, conducted by Charles Stuart Kennedy, covers Marshall Adair’s family background and his lifetime experience with the U.S. Foreign Service, in which his father served from 1937 to1972 and he served from 1972 to 2007. It describes his own entry into the service, his overseas postings, and his work in the Bureaus of Economic Affairs and European Affairs. Among other things, Adair was involved with international commodity negotiations (1970s), with China and Burma (1980s), with Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus, ending the war in the Balkans, and strengthening democracy and national independence in Eastern Europe (1990s), and with NATO peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and the Special Operations “War on Terror” (2000s).

About the Author

Marshall P. Adair was born to a Foreign Service family and grew up at overseas posts in Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, and Panama. He entered the Foreign Service in his own right in 1972 and was posted to Europe, Africa, and then Asia after studying Chinese in Taiwan. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Deputy Assistant Inspector General, Political Advisor to two military commands, and as President of the American Foreign Service Association. He is married to Ginger Chen Adair. They have a son, Charles, and daughter-in-law, Sarah Kate. Adair has also published “Watching Flowers from Horseback,” a more extensive account of diplomacy and life at his overseas posts.