Harvey Leifert's
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The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project HARVEY LEIFERT Interviewed by: Mark Tauber Initial interview date: June 18, 2018 Copyright 2021 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born in Manhattan, New York, 1938 Graduated from Bronx High School of Science 1955 BA in Political Science, Columbia University 1955–1959 MA in International Relations, Columbia University 1959–1961 Internship with Voice of America (Worldwide English Division) 1962 Teacher at San Francisco State College 1962–1965 Entered the Foreign Service 1965 A-100 Training United States Information Agency (USIA) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia—USIA, Junior Officer (in training) 1966–1967 USIA in Ethiopia—rotating through the sections Escort Officer for Langston Hughes Haile Selassie—Emperor in Ethiopia, God in Jamaica Introduction to Ethiopian Food Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso—USIA, Information Officer 1967–1968 Acting Public Affairs Officer Inspection Ouagadougou—isolated, but not unpleasant The saga of the swimming pool Travels to Europe Washington D.C., United States—Consultations 1968–1968 Port-au-Prince, Haiti—USIA, Cultural Affairs Officer 1968–1970 USIA Haiti A moon rock for Papa Doc Duvalier Personal highlight—married in Haiti 1 “Resignation” Washington D.C., United States—Voice of America 1970–1973 “Independent” news Not allowed to broadcast in the U.S. Fast tracked to citizenship (wife) Copenhagen, Denmark—USIA, Information Officer 1973–1975 Language training: Danish Two superpowers and a cemetery Outreach about Vietnam—Danish newspapers Comments on Claudine’s career Paris, France—Africa Regional Services, 1975–1980 Information Officer (Student Affairs) USIA Paris Airplanes (NATO)—Paris Air Show Apartheid—Travels to South Africa Responsibilities Washington D.C., United States—Voice of America (VOA), 1980–1982 Writer/Editor Smith Mundt Restrictions Washington D.C., United States—School of Foreign Service, 1982–1983 Mid-career program at Georgetown University Washington D.C., United States—USIA Headquarters 1983–1985 Johannesburg, South Africa—USIA, Branch Public Affairs Officer 1985–1989 USIA Johannesburg Antisemitism in South Africa Helen Suzman—Opposition to the National Party Barbara Ludman—Hero of the Anti-Apartheid Struggle Apartheid's people Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (CAAA) Boycotts Foreign national staff Congressional delegations Very vibrant art Travels Luncheons at the consul general's residence—black and white women Windhoek, Namibia—Liaison Office/Embassy, Director USIA 1989-1991 General information on Namibia Establishing USIA Namibia 2 Independence on March 21st, 1990 Economy and tourism Walvis Bay More on independence When the Finger of God fell—archaeological activities Time in class—unfair procedures in the promotion process Sweet honey in the rock Meeting the first president of Zambia Retirement January 1991 Post retirement activities Washington D.C., United States—VOA 1991–1993 Head of African Affiliate Relations Improve satellite usage Threats in working for VOA Washington D.C., United States—Medical Education for South 1993–1997 African Blacks (MESAB) Washington D.C., United States—American Geophysical Union (AGU), 1998–2007 Public Information Manager “The most surprising turn of my career” First official statement on climate change Washington D.C., United States—Freelance science writing 2008– U.S. Geological Survey's Astrobiology Center Other noteworthy articles Career Comments Changes within the State Department U.S.-Africa relations Final thoughts INTERVIEW Q: So, today is Monday, June 18th [2018], and we're beginning our first session with Harvey Leifert. And I pronounced that right? LEIFERT: Yes, you did. Q: Very good. And Harvey, where and when were you born? 3 LEIFERT: I was born in Manhattan, New York. February 28th, 1938. Q: And is that where you grew up? LEIFERT: Yes. Q: Okay. So, whereabouts in Manhattan? Because obviously there's lots of little neighborhoods. LEIFERT: When I was born, my parents lived in Washington Heights, but they moved when I was a baby, and I don't even remember that area, although I've seen photos. Most of my childhood and up through high school, even through college, we lived on East 70th Street, or just around the corner on Second Avenue and 70th. Q: Okay. So, were you the only child in your family? Brothers and sisters? LEIFERT: I had a younger brother who died in 2006. Q: Oh, I'm sorry. Wow. But, now, a lot of people have seen the ads on TV all the time now, have looked into their ancestry. Were your parents’ first generation, second? Do you, have you looked into where your family came from? LEIFERT: Well, I know they all came from Russia or parts of what was later the Soviet Union. My grandparents all arrived in New York in the very early 20th century and stayed in New York, and my parents were born there, and I was. Q: Okay. So, your parents met each other in New York City? LEIFERT: Yes. Q: Now, when your grandparents arrived and your parents, what sort of work did they do? LEIFERT: I don't know all the things my grandparents may have done, but what I remember is my paternal grandfather had a dry cleaning store in the Bronx, and my maternal grandfather had a laundry in Manhattan. Q: Okay. Did either of your parents work in the family business? LEIFERT: I don't think so. I don't know about earlier businesses when they were younger, but not that I ever knew about. Q: Okay. So then in that case, what, what kind of professional—what sort of work did your parents do? 4 LEIFERT: Well, my father did the same thing as his father. He also opened a dry cleaning store in Manhattan. My mother was mostly a stay at home mom, but she had a number of jobs in her youth or pre-Harvey. The earliest one was typing—the earliest one I know about—typing tombstone inscriptions on a Hebrew typewriter for a monument company. Q: Wonderful! LEIFERT: And, much later after my brother and I were both out of the house, she went back to work and worked for Parrish Hadley, one of the leading interior decorating companies in New York, as a bookkeeper. So, she kept their books, and Mr. Hadley, who was one of the partners, kept her on as his personal bookkeeper, even after my mother retired from the company as such. Q: Marvelous. So, now you went to school, you went to public school in New York? LEIFERT: I went to PS [Public School] 6 in Manhattan and the Bronx High School of Science, Columbia College, and Columbia University—what they now call—Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. And, the only other formal education I had was a year at Georgetown University, much later in my career. Q: Okay. So, now to go back for a little while, to the neighborhoods you grew up in, what sort of neighborhood was it? LEIFERT: It was an all white neighborhood. Midtown, east midtown, Yorkville was what it was called. It was mixed in terms of ethnic origins. They were kids who had Irish ancestry and other European ancestry, Italian and so on. Most of the ones I knew, mostly Catholic. I was the only Jew on the block as far as I knew, and that's really about it. Q: Was your family at all religious; did they belong to a synagogue at any point? LEIFERT: Yes, they did, and I went to it also until I left home: Kehilath Jeshurun it was called on East 85th Street in Manhattan. Q: And, what, stream of Judaism or what—? LEIFERT: Orthodox. Q: It was Orthodox. LEIFERT: Yes. Q: So you must've had quite an education in Hebrew and, and sort of Jewish liturgy, and so on? 5 LEIFERT: The latter, yes. In terms of actually learning Hebrew? Not very well. I mean enough to pray in the synagogue and follow a prayer book, but to have a conversation in Hebrew, no. Q: Okay. LEIFERT: Not to this day. Q: And, your parents remained with the synagogue for a while? LEIFERT: Oh, forever. Q: Oh, okay. Yeah. Now, let's turn to your school. About how large was it? LEIFERT: PS 6? It's in a new location now. It moved a few years after I graduated. The building I was in dated from the late 19th century. It had five stories. The top floor, the fifth floor, was just a gymnasium. Q: Interesting that the top floor was the gym. LEIFERT: Yeah. And, the ground floor was all open area that we used for indoor recess and fire drills. So, the second, third and fourth floor were classrooms. I'm just trying to estimate how many kids there may have been, but, I would say probably in the neighborhood of 600 or so. ballpark. Q: So, a graduating class would be something in the neighborhood of—? Well, PS6 was both elementary and high [school]? LEIFERT: Yeah, it was kindergarten through eighth. Q: Okay. LEIFERT: It was pre-junior high, pre-middle school; they hadn’t been invented yet. Q: So, a graduating class would be relatively small, perhaps a hundred kids? LEIFERT: More than that. But, yes, still relatively small by today's standards. Q: Now, while you were in school, were you also involved with any extracurricular activities, either in school or scouting or sport or anything? LEIFERT: In elementary school, not really. I was in a Boy Scout troop. I considered it was probably the worst troop in the world. We didn't do very much, and we never went on overnight hikes and that sort of thing. If we once in a year had a day hike somewhere, that was it, you know? Yeah. I don't remember what we did at our monthly meetings.