24 Facts About Robert Blackwill

Robert Blackwill served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi from 1964 to 1966.

Robert Blackwill served as a training officer in the Bureau of Personnel of the US State Department from 1968 to 1969 and as an associate watch officer in the State Department's Operations Center from 1969 to 1970.

Robert Blackwill took Swahili language training in 1970 at the Foreign Service Institute.

Robert Blackwill served as a political officer in Nairobi, Kenya from 1970 to 1972 and as a staff officer in the Executive Secretariat of the State Department from 1972 to 1973.

In 1974, Robert Blackwill was a special assistant to State Department counselor Helmut Sonnenfeldt.

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From 1975 to 1978, Robert Blackwill served as a political-military officer in London, England.

Robert Blackwill served as political counselor in Tel Aviv, Israel from 1978 to 1979.

Robert Blackwill became the Director of Western European Affairs on the National Security Council staff at the White House in 1979.

Robert Blackwill served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs in the State Department in 1981.

Robert Blackwill served as principal deputy assistant secretary for European Affairs from 1982 to 1983.

Robert Blackwill served in this position with the rank of Ambassador.

From 1983 to 1985, Blackwill took a sabbatical from the State Department and served as associate dean and faculty member at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Robert Blackwill was faculty chair for executive training programs for business and government leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, and Kazakhstan, as well as military General Officers from Russia and the People's Republic of China.

Robert Blackwill had never been to India before his appointment as ambassador, but he sought the assignment because of President Bush's designation of India as a "rising great power of the 21st century".

Robert Blackwill was committed to taking India seriously as an American ally as a counterweight to China's growing power.

Robert Blackwill promoted perhaps the closest ties between India and the United States since India's independence in 1947.

Robert Blackwill said that before he arrived, India was considered "a nuclear renegade whose policies threatened the entire nonproliferation regime".

Robert Blackwill had a very high-profile tenure as ambassador to India and displayed a strong appreciation for Indian civilization.

Robert Blackwill's assignment was to help develop and coordinate the direction of America's foreign policy.

Robert Blackwill was given free rein to track global trends and predict unintended consequences of US foreign policy decisions anywhere in the world by providing long-range planning for a foreign policy team under stress from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Robert Blackwill had been mentioned as a possible successor to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in Bush's second term, but he told associates that he had spent six years working for Bush—two years as a foreign policy adviser to his first presidential campaign, two years as ambassador to India and two years at the White House—and that the presidential election seemed like a natural end to this cycle in his life.

The incident took place when Robert Blackwill was returning from a visit to Baghdad and arrived at the Air France counter at the Kuwait airport to learn he was not on the flight manifest.

Robert Blackwill turned in fury to an embassy secretary and demanded that he be given a seat on the flight, grabbing her arm at one point, an official said.

Robert Blackwill is married to Wera Hildebrand and has five grown children.