Cook, Frances D
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The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Women Ambassadors Series AMBASSADOR FRANCES COOK Interviewed by: Ann Miller Morin Initial interview date: December 9, 1986 Copyright 2 2 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Bac ground Early Years in West Virginia and Florida Very Early Interest in the Foreign Service High School Interest in Politics Mary Washington College of (niversity of Virginia )unior Year Abroad * Aix en Provence Summer )ob in Washington Foreign Service Written and Oral Entrance Exam Vietnam Opposition Within Beginning Class Paris ,(SIS- Staff Assistant to Ambassador Shriver.s Wife Close to /ennedy Family Press Officer at Vietnam Peace Tal s (S 0epresentative at North Vietnamese Press Conference POW2MIA Officer on Peace Tal Delegation Sydney ,(SIS- Cultural Affairs Officer Political 0eporter Contacts 3ith Aborigines Opposition to Proposed Transfer From (SIS to State Da ar ,(SIS- (niversity 4ecturer in American History Private English Tutor to President Senghor Travels in Africa 4iving Arrangements 4ifelong 4ove of Africa 4oneliness of 4iving Abroad for Women Washington (SIS Personnel Officer for Africa Year at Harvard Transfer to Department of State Director of Public Affairs in Bureau of African Affairs Mohammed Ali.s Visit to Africa Travels in Africa 3ith Andre3 Young Andre3 Young in Texas Burundi * Ambassador Surprise Notification Confirmation Hearings S3earing2in 0eception Consultations in 4ondon and Paris Principal Mission Burundi * Country Operation European Opposition to American Activities Peace Program 0ole of Missionaries Aid Program Burundi * First Days Arrival at Post Selection of DCM Presentation of Credentials Permission to Travel in Country 0estrictions on invitations to 0esidence 0evie3 of Troops 0eaction to a Woman Ambassador Burundi * Ambassador.s Self Help Fund Burundi * Embassy and Other Personnel (SIS IMET AID 1on2governmental Agencies C0S Missionaries Burundi (se of Pool 0elations 3ith 5overnment Officials INTERVIEW Q: Why don%t we just start right at the beginning with your birth and where you were born and where you grew up) COO/6 I 3as born in West Virginia in Charleston. My family moved to Florida 3hen I 3as, I guess, in the beginning of my fourth grade year, so I gre3 up in Florida, but of West Virginia stoc . Q: That was in Charleston, West Virginia in 19...) COO/6 945. Q: ,ou were there until the fourth grade so that%s .uite a good start. ,ou must have gotten a good flavor of West Virginia) COO/6 Oh I did and 3e al3ays 3ent bac for vacations 3hen 3e 3ere living in Florida. It9s still a very special place to me. I still have a fe3 relatives up there, but quite a fe3 family groups of my family moved to Florida, as a lot of people do. There9s a lot of emigration out of West Virginia. Q: ,es, of course. What was growing up li/e) Do you have sisters and brothers) COO/6 No, I9m an only child. Q: Mother and father%s names) COO/6 Mother9s name is Vivian. My father9s name 3as Nash. Q: 01A1S12) COO/6 Yes. Q: What was mother%s maiden name) COO/6 Ballard. Q: Were they from West Virginia of long1time old stoc/) COO/6 They 3ere both 3ell2 no3n settler families in West Virginia from the early days. Q: What period is that, that West Virginia was settled) COO/6 They 3ere there before the Civil War. I no3 mother9s family 3as. West Virginia 3as born at the time of the Civil War over the slavery question. She9s told me that my great2great I don9t no3 ho3 many great2grandfathers had about 200 slaves and that they 3ere released at the time that West Virginia... Q: Is that so) COO/6 Yes. West Virginia joined the north and abolished slavery. I could have my West Virginia history a little mixed up, but I thin that.s... Q: What sort of farming did they do) COO/6 It 3asn9t so much farming, they 3ere merchants 2 my grandfather o3ned the local general store. They did some general farming that 3as basically just to eep up their o3n lands and feed the family. They had ?large“ farms. It 3asn9t farming in the sense it is today. Q: ,ou were an only child, but did you grow up with any cousins) COO/6 I had cousins on my mother9s side of the family, but each of her brothers and sisters, 3ith one exception, also only had one child. Q: Is that so) COO/6 And a lot of us 3ere close together in age so 3e 3ere sort of raised together as brothers and sisters. On my father9s side, he only had one brother 3ho never married. So it9s a family that had very fe3 grandchildren. Q: ,es. 2ow about grandmother and grandfather) COO/6 My grandfather on my father9s side died before I 3as born. My grandmother died, I thin , after I came into the Foreign Service. My grandmother on my mother9s side did li e3ise, and so did my grandfather. I ne3 them 3hen I 3as younger, but not as close as some people do because 3e moved a3ay. Q: Not to any of them. COO/6 Well, I 3as 3hen I 3as very young, but 3hen 3e moved a3ay... I 3as in third gradeA I didn.t see them. Q: Did they have much of an influence on you) COO/6 I thin my grandmother on my mother9s side. I9m cited as being her true descendant. Q: Do you thin/ that%s true) COO/6 In some 3ays it is. I thin for her outspo enness and for her independent spirit. In some 3ays it9s not, because she didn9t believe in education for 3omen and she 3as also very fundamentalist in her religious vie3s. Q: Was she) She didn%t believe in women getting above themselves) COO/6 Yes. Q: What about your mother, what /ind of a person is she) Were you pretty close to your mother) COO/6 Yes, I am close to my mother. We still spend vacations together. My father died last September, September before last, no3. Mother came on out very bravely to Egypt BCoo 3as then the American consul general in Alexandria, Egypt.C to spend last Christmas 3ith me. This 3as right in the middle of all the hijac ing scares, as you no3, and she9d never traveled alone anyplace before. She came right through, even did the transit in Athens and all that time that 3as going on, and 3e spent Christmas together trying to comfort each other. We 3ere a very, very close family. It9s very hard for us being alone. I9ll be going do3n to spend Christmas 3ith her no3 and she came up to help me get in the house 3hen I arrived bac from Egypt. We9re spending a lot of time together no3. Q: 3ood. Is your mother a career person, too) COO/6 No, she9s not. Q: She was a typical homema/er) COO/6 Yes she 3as. I thin I resemble my father more physically and in terms of... Q: What sort of business was your father in) COO/6 He 3as a schoolteacher. Q: And school was pretty important in your life) COO/6 School 3as extremely important in my life. I al3ays had my home3or done, and they al3ays expected me to be top in the class. Q: They did, and you were) Tell me, when you were little, who did you play with) COO/6 0eally 3ith my cousins, generally. I9d had some cousins in Florida also, sort of the same age. So basically my cousins and friends in the neighborhood. When 3e moved to Florida 3e lived more out in the countryside than in to3n for the first fe3 years 3e 3ere there, so it 3asn9t as if I gre3 up in an urban neighborhood. I really had to get in a car to go someone else9s house. I 3as in the 5irl Scouts and 3e did all of those things ids do. Q: What /ind of games did you play) COO/6 I thin I 2 I haven9t thought about that. When I 3as very young I 3ent through the 3hole doll phase. I remember that. Mother still has some of the things. 4ater it seemed to me I 3as ind of an office 2 I played games about 3or ing in an office or... Q: Did you) COO/6 Yes. Q: Play school or library) That /ind of thing) COO/6 I thin there 3as so much in my family I didn9t need to. BlaughsC There 3ere a lot of school teachers. Q: Sure. Did you play physical games) COO/6 I 3as never, unfortunately never 3as and still am not, much into sports. I didn9t climb trees. I have never been a good s3immer. I 3ent through 5irl Scouts and got all the sports badges you need to get, including horsebac riding. I9m still scared of horses but I managed to get my badge in it. I9ve never been bac on a horse since the day I got my badgeD Q: Sports aren%t a big part of your life) COO/6 It9s not. I 3ish I had more time for exercise. I don9t no3 if I9d do it, fran ly, if I had the time. It9s just not an interest of mine. It9s bad. At my age I should be doing more. Q: Did you play more with boys or more with girls) Of course it would depend on who you lived near. I understand that. COO/6 I thin it 3as about equal. One of my best friends, I no3, in West Virginia, 3as a young boy 3ho 3as born about the same time and his parents 3ere friends of my mother.