Frank Wisner died at 86 – American diplomat
Biography and cause of death of Frank Wisner
American businessman and diplomat Frank George Wisner II (July 2, 1938 – February 24, 2025) Frank Wisner was the acting US Secretary of State from the resignation of Arnold Kanter at noon on January 20, 1993, until Warren Christopher was confirmed by the US Senate and sworn in as US Secretary of State later that day. Frank Wisner (1909–1965) was a CIA officer, and he was his son.
He was sent to Egypt by President Obama on January 31, 2011, to mediate a settlement to the widespread uprisings against the dictatorship that had swept the nation. According to a White House spokesperson, Wisner has extensive knowledge of the area and had strong connections with several Egyptians, both inside and outside the government. According to the New York Times, he was close with Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s previous president.
Wisner was an adviser on foreign affairs in the Washington, D.C., firm of Squire Patton Boggs.
Frank Wisner Professional and personal life
New York City was the site of Wisner’s birth on July 2, 1938. on page 7 In December 1961, he became a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State.
The American Consulate General in Tangier, Morocco, appointed him vice consul. While stationed in Algeria, he was the third secretary in the United States Embassy. He started working with the Agency for International Development in 1964 as a rural development officer at the United States Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam.
Frank Wisner was an official in charge of Tunisian relations when he returned to the State Department in 1969 after serving in South Vietnam. He served as first secretary in the United States Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, from 1971 to 1973, and then at the United States Embassy in Dacca, Bangladesh, from 1973 to 1974. He oversaw the Bureau of Public Affairs’ Office of Plans and Management from 1974 to 1975 before transitioning to the position of Deputy Director of the President’s Indo-China Task Force at the Department of State in late 1975.
He was the Department of State’s Deputy Executive Secretary under Cyrus Vance in 1976, when Carter’s term began. As an American diplomat, Wisner held many posts abroad, including that of ambassador to Zambia (1979–1982), Egypt (1986–1991), the Philippines (1991–1992), and India (1994–1997).
Frank Wisner was the primary contact for Chester Crocker’s (the assistant secretary of state for African affairs) Constructive Engagement policy while he was in Lusaka. Following a spy incident at the U.S. embassy in Lusaka in 1980, Wisner assisted in mending ties between the two countries and got along well with Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda. The February 1984 Lusaka Conference on the Angolan and Namibian wars was organized and successfully attended in part by Crocker.
In 1997, Wisner retired from public service and went on to serve on the boards of American International Group (AIG) and a subsidiary of the defunct energy corporation Enron.
As a model for the United States’ post-conflict involvement in Iraq, should an invasion take place, Wisner co-chaired an independent working group in late 2002. Among their published suggestions were the following: retraining the Iraqi army to establish law and order; distributing humanitarian aid and restoring essential services; and avoiding the appointment of prominent exiled Iraqi opposition figures to powerful positions in the new administration.
Frank Wisner was on the advisory board of the nonprofit Partnership for a Secure America, which aimed to restore bipartisan harmony to U.S. foreign and national security policy. International House is a program and residency facility for cultural interaction in New York City. He replaced Paul A. Volcker as head of the board of trustees in 2012.
In addition to his roles at Refugees International and the National Security Network, he was a member of their advisory boards. Later in life, he joined the EOG Resources board of directors. Ergo is a worldwide intelligence and advising business that Wisner became a member of in June 2013. At the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, Wisner presided over the board of directors.
Christine de Ganay was the stepmother of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president from 2007 to 2012, and Frank Wisner was married to her.
The Metropolitan Club of Washington, DC was an organization to which he belonged.
At the age of 86, Wisner passed away on February 24, 2025, in Mill Neck, New York, due to lung cancer.
Frank Wisner Protests in Egypt in 2011
Among Wisner’s requests from the Obama administration in early 2011 was to convey viewpoints to Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, including the recommendation that Mubarak step down in order to alleviate the situation. Mubarak was not persuaded by Wisner to do what he said. Wisner appeared at a European security conference and deemed it “crucial” that Mubarak remain in power for the sake of “stability.”
This was four days after a day when supporters of Mubarak resorted violently against those fighting for democracy. Right after Wisner made his remarks, the State Department denied them, saying that Wisner was only acting as a mouthpiece for the administration’s policies.