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Subject: WARREN M. CHRISTOPHER=Former U.S. Diplomat, Carter's 'Secret Weapon'<By
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 08:40:52 EST
Message-ID: <12.1992Nov7.084053@AmeriCast.com>

WARREN M. CHRISTOPHER=Former U.S. Diplomat, Carter's 'Secret
Weapon'<By William Claiborne=

Warren M. Christopher, President-elect Clinton's choice to run
the day-to-day transition operation, was said by President Jimmy
Carter at the end of the last Democratic administration to be the
government servant who impressed him more than any other - an as-
sessment that belies Christopher's somewhat forgettable demeanor
when he speaks in public.  Christopher, at the time, was known by
Democratic insiders as "Carter's secret weapon."

Despite his colorless, corporate lawyer appearance, Christopher,
67, enjoyed a steady rise in public service over three decades,
starting as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
in 1950 and ending as deputy secretary of state and a key U.S.
negotiator during several world crises.

In between, he quietly but effectively saved the Panama Canal
treaties in 1978, oversaw Carter's human rights crusade - the
president's principal foreign policy innovation - and helped win
the release of the hostages held in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Since leaving government service in 1981, Christopher has applied
himself to his private law practice in Los Angeles. But he also
has made a virtual career of heading public service panels, most
recently the Christopher Commission that investigated the Los
Angeles Police Department after the videotaped beating of black
motorist Rodney King.

Christopher grew up in South Dakota, the son of a banker who went
under during the Depression and moved his family to California.
Christopher had a brilliant career as a Stanford University law
student, finishing as editor-in-chief of the law review. After
clerking for Douglas at the Supreme Court, Christopher went to
work for one of Los Angeles's biggest law firms, O'Melveny &
Myers. He started there as a young lawyer in the 1950s and now
heads the firm.

Mainstay clients of the firm include giants of the entertainment
and aerospace industries, and Christopher has presided over a ma-
jor expansion in recent years in which the number of lawyers
under him now total more than 225.

One member of the firm said, "He's generated the total confidence
of everybody in the firm. He's not flashy and flamboyant, but
he's a very solid guy."

Christopher served as special counsel to California Gov.  Edmund
"Pat" Brown in 1959 and as deputy attorney general under
President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1967-69 before returning to his
law firm once again and remaining largely out of public life for
the next seven years.

Christopher's selection as Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance's
deputy in 1976 raised some eyebrows in Washington, but he gained
a reputation as a quick student of foreign affairs and, two years
later, played a crucial role as the administration's chief Panama
Canal negotiator in the Senate.

At the State Department, his responsibilities increased, and he
was given overall supervision of Carter's human rights policy
abroad, as well as the chairmanship of an interagency commission
that assessed country-by-country human rights records.

He also oversaw U.S. policy in Central America at a time when
that region began to unravel politically.

In late 1980, he engaged in intensive shuttle diplomacy, flying
to Algeria to negotiate the release of the U.S. Embassy hostages
in Iran. The hostages were not freed until Ronald Reagan's inau-
guration in January 1981.

Earlier, in May, when Vance left the State Department and was re-
placed by former senator Edmund Muskie (D-Maine), it was said by
those closest to Carter that the president's list of replacements
had, from the outset, just two names - Muskie and Christo-
pher.<02:10 11-07C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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