John R. Bolton

John Robert Bolton, (born November 20, 1948, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American political figure and diplomat. He is the current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Nominee for Ambassador to the UN

On March 7, 2005 Bolton was nominated to the post of US Ambassador to the United Nations by President George W. Bush, but he was never confirmed by the Senate. Bolton's nomination initially received strong support from Republicans but faced heavy opposition from Democrats due initially to concerns about his strongly expressed views on the United Nations, and later, alleged actions while at the State Department.

Related Topics:
United Nations - George W. Bush - Republicans - Democrats

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Holding a 10-8 majority in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (tasked with vetting ambassadorial nominees), the Republican leadership hoped to send Mr. Bolton's nomination to the full Senate with a positive recommendation. Concern among some Republicans on the committee however prompted the leadership to not risk losing such a motion and to instead send the nomination forward with no recommendation. In the full Senate, Republican support for the nomination remained uncertain, with the most vocal Republican critic, Ohio Senator George V. Voinovich, circulating a letter urging his Republican colleagues to oppose the nomination http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/25/news/bolton.php. Democrats insisted that a vote on the nomination was premature, given the resistance of the White House to share classified documents related to Bolton's alleged actions. The Republican leadership moved on two occasions to end debate, but because 60 votes are needed to end debate, they were unable to muster the necessary votes with only a 55-44 majority in the body. (An earlier agreement between moderates in both parties to prevent filibustering of nominees related only to judicial nominees, not ambassadorships.)

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View of the United Nations

Bolton has been a strong critic of the United Nations for much of his political career. In a 1994 Global Structures Convocation hosted by the World Federalist Association (now Citizens for Global Solutions), he stated, "There is no such thing as the United Nations. There is only the international community, which can only be led by the only remaining superpower, which is the United States."http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1515816,00.html He also stated that "The Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If it lost ten stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18706-2005Mar8.html Interestingly enough, both Bolton's opponents and supporters use the same video of his remarks at the 1994 event in support of their efforts.

Related Topics:
1994 - World Federalist Association - Citizens for Global Solutions - Secretariat building

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When pressed on the statement during the confirmation process, he responded "There's not a bureaucracy in the world that couldn't be made leaner." http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2005/04/11/ap/headlines/d89ddcug0.txtDespite these comments, in a paper on US participation in the UN, John Bolton stated "the United Nations can be a useful instrument in the conduct of American foreign policy" http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itps/0597/ijpe/pj2bolt.htm

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A member of the Project for the New American Century, Bolton was also one of the signers of the January 26, 1998 PNAC Letter sent to President Clinton urging him to remove Saddam Hussein from power using US diplomatic, political and military power. The letter also stated "American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council." http://www.theindyvoice.com/index.blog?entry_id=417960

Related Topics:
Project for the New American Century - January 26 - 1998 - Clinton

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Senate confirmation hearing

Day 1

On April 11, 2005, The Senate Foreign Relations Committee reviewed Bolton's qualifications. Bolton said that he and his colleagues "view the U.N. as an important component of our diplomacy" and will work to solve its problems and enhance its strengths.

Related Topics:
April 11 - 2005 - Senate Foreign Relations Committee

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Republican committee chairman Richard Lugar of Indiana criticized Bolton for ignoring the "policy consequences" of his statements, threatening diplomacy "simply to score international debating points to appeal to segments of the U.S. public opinion or to validate a personal point of view." The committee's top Democrat, Joe Biden of Delaware compared sending Bolton to the UN to sending a "bull into a china shop," and expressed "grave concern" about Bolton's "diplomatic temperament" and his record: "In my judgment," Biden said, "your judgment about how to deal with the emerging threats have not been particularly useful."

Related Topics:
Richard Lugar - Indiana - Joe Biden - Delaware

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Meanwhile, the Republican George Allen of Virginia said that Bolton had the "experience," "knowledge," "background," "and the right principles to come into the United Nations at this time," calling him "the absolute perfect person for the job."

Related Topics:
George Allen - Virginia

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Russ Feingold, a Democrat on the committee from Wisconsin, asked Bolton about what he would have done had the Rwandan genocide occurred while he was ambassador to the United Nations, and criticized his answer – which focused on logistics – as "amazingly passive."

Related Topics:
Russ Feingold - Wisconsin - Rwandan genocide

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According to Newsday, Lincoln Chafee a Republican from Rhode Island "may be pivotal for Bolton's nomination."http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-bush-un-ambassador-quotes,0,3383126.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines His initial remarks were cautiously favorable: "You said all the right things in your opening statement," he said. Chafee has stated that he will probably support Bolton "unless something surprising shows up."

Related Topics:
Newsday - Lincoln Chafee - Rhode Island

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According to an Associated Press story on the hearing, "hree protesters briefly interrupted the proceedings, standing up in succession with pink T-shirts and banners, one reading: 'Diplomat for hire. No bully please.'"

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On the whole, Bolton "displayed not the slightest bit of energy, one way or the other, when discussing the challenges facing international organizations," according to Fred Kaplan of Slate Magazine.http://slate.msn.com/id/2116567/

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Day 2

On April 12, 2005, the Senate panel focused on allegations discussed above that Bolton pressured intelligence analysts. "I've never seen anybody quite like Secretary Bolton. ... I don't have a second, third or fourth in terms of the way that he abuses his power and authority with little people," former State Department intelligence chief Carl W. Ford Jr., said, calling Bolton a "serial abuser." Ford contradicted Bolton's earlier testimony, saying: "I had been asked for the first time to fire an intelligence analyst for what he had said and done."

Related Topics:
April 12 - 2005 - Carl W. Ford Jr.

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Lugar, who criticized Bolton at his April 11 hearing, said that the "paramount issue" was supporting the president's nominee. He conceded that "luntness may be required," even though it is not "very good diplomacy."

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Chafee, the key member for Bolton's approval, said that "the bar is very high" for rejecting the president's nominees, suggesting that Bolton would make it to the Senate.

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Erosion of Republican support

On April 19, Democrats, with the unexpected support of Senator George V. Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, forced Senator Lugar to delay the committee vote on Mr. Bolton's nomination until May. The debate concerning his nomination raged in the Senate prior to the Memorial Day recess. Two other Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee, Senators Lincoln Chafee and Chuck Hagel, also expressed serious concerns about the Bolton nomination.

Related Topics:
April 19 - George V. Voinovich - Memorial Day - Lincoln Chafee - Chuck Hagel

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Asked on April 20 if he was now less inclined to support the nomination, Mr. Chafee said, "That would be accurate." He further elaborated that Mr. Bolton's prospects were "hard to predict" but said he expected that "the administration is really going to put some pressure on Senator Voinovich. Then it comes to the rest of us that have had some reservations."

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On April 22 the New York Times and other media reported that Bolton's former boss, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, is personally opposed to the nomination and had been in personal contact with Republican Senators Chafee and Hagel. This development was interpreted as a further rift between Powell and the Bush Administration. Reuters reported, also on April 22, that a spokesman for Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said that the Senator felt the committee "did the right thing delaying the vote on Bolton in light of the recent information presented to the committee." http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8270328

Related Topics:
April 22 - Colin Powell - Lisa Murkowski - Alaska

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On 28 April The Guardian reported that Powell was "conducting a campaign" against Bolton because of the acrimonious battles they had had whilst working together, which among other things had resulted in Powell cutting Bolton out of talks with Iran and Libya after complaints about Bolton's involvement from the British. It added that "The foreign relations committee has discovered that Bolton made a highly unusual request and gained access to 10 intercepts by the National Security Agency... Staff members on the committee believe that Bolton was probably spying on Powell, his senior advisers and other officials reporting to him on diplomatic initiatives that Bolton opposed." http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1471879,00.html However Rich Lowry points out that "During the same four-year period, other State Department officials made roughly 400 similar requests." http://www.townhall.com/columnists/richlowry/rl20050422.shtml

Related Topics:
The Guardian - National Security Agency

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On May 11 Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, who once offered a considerable reward for any dirt on Bob Barr, published allegations that Bolton had forced his first wife, Christina Bolton, to engage in group sex at Plato's Retreat, a New York sex club popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Related Topics:
May 11 - Hustler - Larry Flynt - Plato's Retreat

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http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/larry_flynt_bolton_511

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Also on May 11 Newsweek reported allegations that the American position at the 7th Review Conference in May 2005 of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty had been undercut by Bolton's "absence without leave"

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during the nomination fight, quoting anonymous sources "close to the negotiations".

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The Democrats' filibuster

On Thursday, May 26, 2005, the Senate Democrats postponed the vote on John Bolton's UN nomination. The Republican leadership failed to gain enough Republican or Democratic support to pass a cloture motion on the floor debate over Bolton, and minority leader Harry Reid conceded the move signalled the "first filibuster of the year." The Democrats claim key documents regarding Bolton and his career at the Department of Defense are being withheld by the Bush administration. Scott McClellan, White House press secretary, responded by saying, "Just 72 hours after all the good will and bipartisanship (over a deal on judicial nominees), it's disappointing to see the Democratic leadership resort back to such a partisan approach." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/politics/27bolton.html?hp&ex=1117252800&en=13e283b4538d3c0f&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Related Topics:
May 26 - 2005 - Harry Reid

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The failure of the Senate to end debate on Bolton's nomination provided one surprise for some: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) voted against cloture for procedural reasons. http://sayanythingblog.com/2005/05/26/bolton-nomination-stalled-2/ (Although Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) has spoken out against confirming Bolton, calling him "the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be", he voted for cloture.) Senator John Thune (R-SD) voted to end debate but announced that he would vote against Bolton in the up-or-down vote as a protest against the government's plans to close a vital military base (Ellsworth) in South Dakota.

Related Topics:
John Thune - Ellsworth

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On June 20, 2005 the Senate voted again to pass cloture. The vote failed 54-38, six votes short of ending debate. That marked an increase of two "no" votes, including the defection of Republican Voinovich, who switched his previous "yes" vote and urged President Bush to pick another nominee (Democrats Mark Pryor, Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson voted to end debate both times). Some speculated that Bush would install Bolton via recess appointment; the appointment would expire in 2007. On June 21, Frist expressed his view that attempting another vote would be pointless, but later that day, following a lunch at the White House, changed his position, saying that he would continue to push for an up-or-down vote.

Related Topics:
June 20 - 2005 - Mark Pryor - Mary Landrieu - Ben Nelson - Recess appointment - 2007

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Accusations of perjury

On July 28, 2005 it was revealed that a statement made by Bolton on forms submitted to the Senate was false. Bolton indicated that in the prior five years he had not been questioned in any investigation, but in fact he had been interviewed by the State Department Inspector General on July 18, 2003 as part of an investigation into the sources of pre-war claims of weapons of mass destruction evidence in Iraq. After insisting for weeks that Bolton had testified truthfully on the form, the State Department reversed itself stating that Bolton had simply forgotten about the investigation.

Related Topics:
July 28 - 2005 - July 18 - 2003

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Recess appointment

On August 1, 2005, President Bush officially made a recess appointment of Bolton, installing him as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations on a temporary basis. The Bolton recess appointment will last until 2007. During the announcement, Bush said, "This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform." Democrats criticized the appointment and Republican Sen. George Voinovich, whose opposition originally stalled a vote on the nominee, said Bolton would lack credibility in the U.N. because he lacked Senate confirmation. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "We look forward to working with him as I do with the other 190 ambassadors and we will welcome him at a time when we are in the midst of major reform. I think it is the president's prerogative, and the president has decided to appoint him through this process."

Related Topics:
August 1 - 2005 - Recess appointment - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations - 2007 - Kofi Annan

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Bolton began his term by laying out a list of wanted amendments to details of the 2005 World Summit to be held in New York City in September 2005. These included stopping the UN use of the term "Millennium Development Goals".

Related Topics:
2005 World Summit - New York City - Millennium Development Goals

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