Habib later became known for his work as Ronald Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East from 1981 to 1983. In that role, he negotiated numerous cease-fire agreements between the various parties involved in the Lebanese Civil War.
He came out of retirement to take two assignments as U.S. special envoy; one to the Philippines in 1986, and another to Central America in 1986–87. In the latter assignment, he helped Costa Rican president Oscar Arias propose a peace plan to end the region's civil wars.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Habib was the son of LebaneseMaronite Catholic parents and was raised in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood of the Bensonhurst section.[8] His father ran a grocery store.[9] Habib graduated from New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn[10] and worked as a shipping clerk before starting his undergraduate study in forestry at the University of Idaho.[7][10] Habib remained connected to the University of Idaho throughout his life. He co-chaired the university's centennial fund-raising campaign several years earlier, as well as several class reunions.[11]
In 1947, recruiters for the United States Foreign Service visited the Berkeley campus. They were particularly interested in candidates who did not fit the then-current mold of Ivy League blueblood WASPs. Habib says he had never given diplomacy a moment's thought, and that he just enjoyed taking tests for intellectual challenge. He took the Foreign Service exam and scored in the top 10% nationally.[14]
Foreign service career
President Ronald Reagan walking with Ambassador Philip Habib in 1982
When South Korean opposition leader Kim Dae-jung was kidnapped in 1973 while Habib was U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Habib credits his intervention for saving Kim's life,[17][18] a sentiment shared by William H. Gleysteen.[19] The CIA station chief in Korea at the time, Donald P. Gregg, remembered that Habib forcefully emphasized to the Park Chung-hee regime that keeping Kim in captivity would damage U.S.–Korean relations. Habib called the kidnapping "stupid governmental thuggery."[20] Kim later became the first opposition leader in South Korea to become president and also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his reconciliation efforts with North Korea. Even after returning to Washington, Habib was a powerful advocate for human rights in South Korea. In 1974, Habib was chastised by Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger for his continued calls for the end of political repression.[20]
In 1978, Habib helped negotiate the Camp David accords.[22] That same year, a massive heart attack forced Habib to resign as Under Secretary, the top post possible for a career Foreign Service Officer.[15] In 1981, President Ronald Reagan called him out of retirement to serve as special envoy to the Middle East.[2][23] Habib oversaw the negotiations of a peace deal that allowed the PLO to evacuate from the besieged city of Beirut. In 1982, for his efforts he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the highest official honor given to a U.S. citizen by the U.S. government.[3]
Early in 1986, Reagan sent Habib to the Philippines to convince President Ferdinand Marcos to step down.[citation needed] In March 1986, Reagan appointed him as a special envoy to Central America with the intention of furthering U.S. interests in the conflict in Nicaragua.[24] Administration hard-liners intended to use his fame and stature to advance a military solution, namely further funding of the Contras.[25]
Deciding that the Contadora Plan had run its course, Óscar Arias, the newly elected president of Costa Rica, drew up a plan that focused on democratization. While he viewed the Arias plan as riddled with loopholes, Habib worked to help revise it, and promoted it to other Central American governments.[citation needed]
On August 7, 1987, the five Central American presidents, much to the shock of the rest of the world, agreed in principle to the Arias plan. Because further negotiating would require Habib to meet directly with Nicaragua's president, Daniel Ortega, President Reagan forbade him to travel. Believing he no longer had the confidence of the president, Habib resigned.[26][27][28]
Death and legacy
Habib and grand nephew Gregory Cohen in his offices at the State Department in 1976
In 2006, Habib was featured on a United Statespostage stamp, one of a block of six featuring prominent diplomats.[32] In 2013, the city of Junieh, Lebanon, unveiled a bust of Habib among other "national heroes" in Friendship Square.[33]
Habib is the subject of the 1982 Warren Zevon song "The Envoy".[34]
^ abSnyder, Sarah B. (2018). From Selma to Moscow: how human rights activists transformed U.S. foreign policy. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 95–96, 102. ISBN978-0-231-16946-2.
^"SIX DISTINGUISHED DIPLOMATS HONORED ON U.S. POSTAGE STAMPS" (Press release). United States Postal Service. May 30, 2006. Retrieved May 8, 2015. Philip C. Habib (1920–1992) was renowned for his diplomacy in some of the world's most dangerous flashpoints. An authority on Southeast Asia, a peace negotiator in the Middle East, and a special envoy to Central America, Habib was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1982. and William J. Gicker, ed. (2006). "Distinguished American Diplomats 39¢". USA Philatelic (print). 11 (3): 14.
