10 Facts About Smith Hempstone

Smith Hempstone was a journalist, author, and the United States ambassador to Kenya from 1989 to 1993.

Smith Hempstone was a vocal proponent of democracy, advocating free elections for Kenya.

Smith Hempstone then did radio rewrite for the Associated Press in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1952.

Smith Hempstone was a reporter for the Louisville Times in Louisville, Kentucky in 1953, a rewrite editor at National Geographic in Washington, DC in 1954, and then a reporter at The Washington Star from 1955 to 1956.

Smith Hempstone was a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs in Africa from 1956 to 1960.

In 1961, Smith Hempstone became a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Daily News in Africa, where he served until 1964, and then in Latin America in 1965.

Smith Hempstone was associate editor and editorial page director of The Star from 1970 to 1975.

In 1982, Hempstone was named executive editor of the newly founded Washington Times and, following the resignation of editor and publisher James R Whelan in 1984, briefly served as editor of the paper before being replaced by Arnaud de Borchgrave.

Smith Hempstone worked toward these goals by advocating for multiparty elections in Kenya in 1991, nine years after Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi banned all parties except his own.

On November 19,2006, Smith Hempstone died from complications of diabetes in Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.