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J. Christopher Stevens

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Chris Stevens
10th United States Ambassador to Libya
In office
June 7, 2012 – September 11, 2012
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byGene Cretz
Succeeded byLaurence Pope (Chargé d'affaires)Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
Personal details
Born
John Christopher Stevens

(1960-04-18)April 18, 1960[1]
Grass Valley, California, U.S.
DiedSeptember 11, 2012(2012-09-11) (aged 52)
Benghazi, Libya
Alma materUC Berkeley
UC Hastings College of Law
National War College
ProfessionDiplomat, lawyer

John Christopher "Chris" Stevens (April 18, 1960 – September 11, 2012) was an American diplomat and lawyer who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from May 22, 2012 to September 11, 2012.[2][3] Stevens was killed when the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya was attacked by militants on September 11–12, 2012.[2][4]

Early life and education

Stevens was born on April 18, 1960 in Grass Valley, California, the eldest of three siblings born to Jan S. Stevens, a California Assistant Attorney General,[5] and his wife Mary J. Stevens (née Floris),[6] from a West Coast family of French, Swedish and Chinook ancestry.[7] Stevens was raised in Northern California and had two younger siblings, Anne (b. 1962) and Thomas (b. 1965).[8]

Stevens' parents divorced in 1975, and both remarried. He had a half-sister, Hilary (b. 1980), from his father's second marriage.[5] His mother, a cellist, joined the Marin Symphony Orchestra (1969—2004),[9] and in 1976 married Robert Commanday, a music critic with the San Francisco Chronicle.[10][11]

Stevens was an AFS Intercultural Programs exchange student in Spain during summer of 1977, and graduated from Piedmont High School[12] in 1978. He earned a B.A. in history in 1982 at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. From 1983 to 1985, he taught English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. He graduated with a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1989, and received an M.S. degree from the National War College in 2010.

Career

Lawyer

Prior to joining the United States Foreign Service, Stevens was an international trade lawyer based in Washington, D.C.[3] He was admitted as an active member of the State Bar of California on January 26, 1990; he went on inactive status on August 1, 1991, and remained an inactive member for the remainder of his career.[13]

U.S. Foreign Service

Stevens joined the United States Foreign Service in 1991. His early overseas assignments included: deputy principal officer and political section chief in Jerusalem; political officer in Damascus; consular/political officer in Cairo and consular/economic officer in Riyadh. In Washington, Stevens served as Director of the Office of Multilateral Nuclear and Security Affairs; Pearson Fellow with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Richard Lugar; special assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs; Iran desk officer and staff assistant in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

He had served in Libya twice previously: as the Deputy Chief of Mission (from 2007 to 2009) and as Special Representative to the National Transitional Council (from March 2011 to November 2011) during the Libyan revolution. He arrived in Tripoli in May 2012 as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya.[3]

Stevens spoke English, French and some Arabic.[14]

Death

Main article: 2012 Benghazi attack

Stevens was the first U.S. ambassador to die in office since the 1988 airplane crash in Pakistan which killed Arnold Lewis Raphel. Stevens was the eighth U.S. Ambassador to be killed while in office.[15] Libyan officials suggested that it might have been a revenge attack mounted by loyalists (of deceased Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi) who were defeated in the Libyan Civil War the previous year.[16] Later reports suggested that the attack was coordinated and planned in advance, with any protests either coincidental or possibly diversionary.[17] Libyan president Muhammad Magariaf blamed elements of Ansar al-Sharia for the killing, linking them to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

During the attack a fire was set against the main consulate building with three Americans inside—Stevens, Sean Smith, and a security officer.[18] According to U.S. officials, the security officer escaped and the staff found Smith dead. However, the staff were unable to locate Stevens before being driven from the building under small-arms fire.[18] Stevens apparently became separated from his staff while trying to escape to the roof and was allegedly overcome by smoke inhalation.[19][20] Local civilians found Stevens and brought him to the Benghazi Medical Centre in a state of cardiac arrest. Medical personnel tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at about 2 a.m. local time on September 12, 2012.[18]

John Christopher Stevens gravestone in Grass Valley, California

The surviving Americans were taken to a safe house. A rescue squad consisting of eight U.S. military or former military was sent from Tripoli, the capital. They were ambushed and the safe house came under attack. Two more Americans died, including one sent from Tripoli; several were wounded.[18][21][22] Later reports identified the victims as Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty, both former Navy SEALs working as security and intelligence contractors.[23][24]

According to the Daily Mail, Ambassador Stevens had sent out a diplomatic cable expressing concerns that security at Benghazi was compromised on the day he was killed.[25] Stevens stated that two Libyan security groups were threatening to withdraw over a disagreement on U.S. policy whether centrist politician Mahmoud Jibril would become Libya's prime minister.

Stevens is buried in Forester's Cemetery in Grass Valley, California.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "California birth index search". FamilyTreeLegends. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "US ambassador 'killed in Libya'". BBC News. September 11, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Stevens, J. Christopher". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012.
  4. ^ Margaret Coker (September 11, 2012). "U.S. Ambassador to Libya Is Killed". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Stevens Remembered as a Man Who Cared Deeply for Libya". Salt Lake City Tribune. September 11, 2012.
  6. ^ Jenny Monnet (September 28, 2012). "Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens' Mother Spells Out Family Legacy". Indian Country Today. Retrieved August 18, 2013. Stevens was a 1/16th enrolled citizen of the Chinook Indian Nation
  7. ^ "Slain ambassador was member of local Chinook Tribe" Chinook Observer. September 13, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  8. ^ Matt Bewig (March 18, 2012). "Ambassador to Libya: Who Is Chris Stevens?". allgov. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  9. ^ The death of Chris Stevens, U.S. Ambassador to Libya, hits close to home.
  10. ^ California Marriage Index, 1960–1985, accessed on ancestry.com on September 17, 2012
  11. ^ "Slain Ambassador Chris Stevens was `A Very Smart, Very Funny Guy' says Cal Roommate Austin Tichenor". Napa Patch. September 11, 2012.
  12. ^ Anita Creamer; The Sacramento Bee. "Slain U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens had Northern California roots". McClatchydc. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  13. ^ State Bar of California, Attorney Profile for John Christopher Stevens. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  14. ^ Bradley Klapper (September 12, 2012). "Chris Stevens: US envoy to the Arab world". Associated Press. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  15. ^ "US ambassadors killed in the line of duty". Boston. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  16. ^ Hammond, Andrew (September 12, 2012). "Libya official says Gaddafi loyalists killed U.S. diplomats". Reuters. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  17. ^ CBS/AP. "U.S. officials: Deadly Libya attack likely planned". CBS News. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  18. ^ a b c d Hadeel Al Shalchi. "In Libya, deadly fury took U.S. envoys by surprise". Reuters. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
  19. ^ Ambassador, victims got separated trying to escape to roof during attack. CNN September 11, 2012
  20. ^ Kevin Dolak; Dean Schabner; Enjoli Francis; Anthony Castellano (September 11, 2012). "Ambassador to Libya Killed By 'Small and Savage Group'". ABC News. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  21. ^ Libya: Assault on U.S. consulate in Benghazi leaves 4 dead, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens CBS News September 11, 2012
  22. ^ US confirms ambassador killed in Benghazi Libya BBC News September 11, 2012
  23. ^ "Statement on the Deaths of Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty in Benghazi, Libya". U.S. Department of State. September 13, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  24. ^ "Two SEAL vets from SD killed in Libya". U-T San Diego. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  25. ^ Gye, Hugo (October 8, 2012). "Revealed: Ambassador to Libya told officials of security worries on day he died in consulate raid as special forces chief says he asked for 'more not less' back-up month before attack". Daily Mail (UK). Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  26. ^ Chris Stevens; Original name: John Christopher Stevens at Find a Grave
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