Anderson, Michael G
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The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project MICHAEL G. ANDERSON Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: April 22, 2005 Copyright 2005 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born and raised in llinois University of llinois; University of Chicago Teaching inner-city Vietnam War France 1970-1971 Entered the Foreign Service 197, State Department; FS , talian language studies 197,-197. Rome, taly; Consular; Staff Assistant to Am0assador 197.-1971 American tourists Visas Am0assador Volpe Communists State Department; sraeli Ara0 Affairs 2NEA4 1971-1978 Ara0 scholarship programs 2A D4 Begin election Palestinians 6ewish lo00yists 8arriage State Department; FS , Polish language training 1978-1979 Warsaw, Poland; Consular9Political Officer 1979-1981 Edward :ierek Visas Strikes Corruption Political unrest Solidarity Catholic Church Security Contacts Anti-Semitism Communist Party 1 Human Rights State Department; Office of Population Affairs 1981 State Department; Polish Desk Officer 1981-198. Refugees 8artial Law AFL-C O assistance Solidarity movement Soviet Union Detention camps State Department; Bureau of Refugee Programs 198.-1981 Policy and Program World Refugee Report Refugees 0y region :rowth of intolerance :enoa, taly; Political9Economic Officer 1981-1987 Achille Lauro hijackers trial Environment La0or issues Rome, taly; Political Officer 1987-1990 Christian Democratic Party Politics Communists European Union Vatican Environment Contacts Am0assador Ra00 Warsaw, Poland; Political Officer 1990-199, Changes in government Lech Walesa Economic condition Political Parties Foreign Aid :overnment NATO Soviet Union changes The :ulf War European Union Borders Russian =threat“ Ukraine Contacts Family 2 Coast :uard Academy, New London, CN 199,-1995 nstructor of History and Foreign Affairs Environment State Department; FS , Urdu language training 1995 slama0ad, Pakistan; Political Officer 1995-1998 Benazir Bhutto Relations Nawaz Sherif slama0ad to Lahore highway slam Tali0an Aashmir nfrastructure 8ilitary Parliament Saudi money Security ndia State Department; Board of EBaminers 1998-2000 Applicants 8inorities nformation technology State and C A nterns State Department; Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Operation 2000-2002 Retirement 2002 INTERVIEW : Let"s start at the beginning. When and where were you born% ANDERSONC was 0orn in Berwyn, llinois in 19.,, Decem0er 1.. : You say Berwyn. For a minute I thought I was hearing an Illinois pronunciation of Berlin. You were born, what year was it% ANDERSONC 19.,. : Can you tell me a bit about the Anderson side of the family. ANDERSONC The Anderson side. Well, they are all 0uried in Draper Cemetery in 6ackson County, 8ichigan. Rives 6unction itEs really called and the oldest grave there is from my ancestor, guess my great, great, great grandfather who came from Northern reland. His , name was Ro0ert Anderson. He immigrated to the United States in the early 1800Fs and homesteaded in 6ackson County in a0out 18,0 and his descendants down to my father were 0orn and lived in 6ackson County on the farm until my father left the farm. The farm was sold in 1921. So the Andersons then moved into 6ackson and eventually ended up in Chicago. : What about your father. I ta,e it your grandfather was the farmer. ANDERSONC Ges. 8y grandfather was a farmer. : What about an account of your father"s bac,ground. Did he go to college% ANDERSONC No, he didnFt. He was a farm 0oy 0orn in 1909 on the farm and in 1921, guess it would 0e in the depression or the downturn after the First World War, the farm was sold 0ecause they werenFt making any money and the money was then used to 0uy a restaurant and rooming house, may0e not immediately, 0ut they moved into 6ackson where they 0y the end of the 1920s they 0ecame the owners of this esta0lishment, which was located in the factory district of the city and catered to men who were working there. 8y father went to school in 6ackson. know he never graduated from high school. Fm not even sure if he attended high school very long. think a0out the age of siBteen he went to work. : What was he doing% ANDERSONC As it turns out he was recruited 0y his 0rother-in-law, his older sisterFs hus0and, to work as a photo engraver in a photo engraving shop that this man operated or worked in. think he may have 0een the owner in 6ackson and was a guy named Al0ert Rump. He came originally from :ermany. The :ermans were famous for their graphic arts. So my father got this jo0 as an apprentice in the photo engraving shop in 6ackson and he learned the trade. : And did he continue in that% ANDERSONC He did, until 1911 when he lost his jo0 at the age 52 and never really had a steady jo0 after that 0ecause of the automation of the photo engraving 0usiness. : -ow about on your mother"s side. Where did they come from% ANDERSONC 8y motherFs family emigrated, pro0a0ly from :ermany, in the 1700s, 17,0s. Her maiden name was :rove. 8otherFs fatherFs name was Harper :rove and my great grandfather was named 8artin Luther :rove. t is really not too clear where they came from in :ermany 0ut they lived around Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 8y motherFs mother was of :erman descent too. Her maiden name was originally Ham0right, an Anglicized version of Ham0recht. Her ancestors came from the Rhineland area of :ermany in the 17,0s, would guess. So we have Huite a 0it of genealogical information a0out that side of the family. : Did they become ,nown as the .ennsylvania Dutch% ANDERSONC Ges, they were what was known as IPennsylvania DutchI. : Where did your mother grow up% . ANDERSONC 8y grandfather, that is her father, was a civil engineer. think he was kind of self trained or o0tained his engineering degree from a correspondence school. He never went to a regular university 0ut he worked for a large civil engineering firm which did construction all over the eastern United States and so she was 0orn in the town of Boonton, New 6ersey which is outside of New Gork. At an early age they moved to Chicago or Whiting, ndiana or someplace like that and he was involved in the construction of steel mills. When she met my father in 1928 or so, her father was supervising the construction of the 6ackson State Penitentiary in 6ackson, 8ichigan. She moved around a lot. : -ow about her education% ANDERSONC She completed high school 0ut that was all. She tried going to college, to Wayne State University, 0ut actually the family didnFt seem to 0e a0le to support her. She is one of eight children and the only girl. She had seven 0rothers. Fm afraid girls at that time were not eBpected to go to college and if she wanted to do it she had to do it on her own and she didnFt have the money. : What was home life li,e% Do you have brothers and sisters% ANDERSONC have siB 0rothers, 0ut no sisters. : So I ta,e it, at least from your mother"s side, boys ran in the family. ANDERSONC ThatFs right. think she had siB or seven 0rothers, canFt remem0er. There were eight in the family so guess she had seven 0rothers. : Where did you ran, brother wise% ANDERSONC am the penultimate. have one younger 0rother who is a0out 5 years younger than am and five older. : Did you grow up in Berwyn% ANDERSONC No. A0out the age of five, in 19.8 we moved to Wheaton, llinois. t was a0out 25 miles west of Chicago. : Is that more or less where you went to school% ANDERSONC Ges. went through high school there and actually my mother remained there until 1998 when she died and lived there off and on until was almost ,0 0ecause was going to graduate school and didnFt have an income. : What was Wheaton li,e% ANDERSONC n the 1950s when was growing up it was pro0a0ly, you know, one of the finest childhood homes of any place in the country. used to deliver papers there. : What was family life li,e% All these brothers and all this/ I imagine it was sort of a busy household. 5 ANDERSONC Ges. All of my 0rothers are still living. The oldest will 0e 71 this year and he was out of the house 0y the time was conscious of things. Fm 11 so heFs 15 years older than am. But the older ones were fascinating for me when was growing up. They were romantic figures. : Did you ,ind of have family gatherings at dinnertime and tal, about events% ANDERSONC Geah. Well my father actually worked at the Chicago Daily News as a photo engraver for a long time and he was a frustrated man Fll have to say. He should have gone on to college and done other things with his life. He could have 0een a perfectly good lawyer think. He had a very good mind. He was interesting, my mother was very, very engaged and the other parts of the family were always mentally aware. So, every so often we would have an intellectual discussion or talk a0out current events. : I was wondering whether the world intruded much on you there or not/ the paper, the news, that sort of thing. ANDERSONC 8y Dad 0rought the paper home every day and we read the newspaper Huite religiously. Coming home he always had the Daily News tucked under his arm and read it voraciously and on Saturday we got the Triple Streak, read that. never read the New Gork Times. never knew it eBisted. didnFt read the Washington Post or anything. Actually in those days the Daily News was pro0a0ly the eHuivalent of the Washington Post today. t was a fine newspaper.