Obituaries

Richard Menifee Moose

On September 25, 2015, Richard Menifee Moose, a diplomat, banker, and political and community activist, died in his home in Alexandria, Virginia at age 83. His superiors and colleagues credited him during his more than 50 year career with being one of America's leaders in bringing about the end of apartheid in South Africa and Rhodesia, uncovering facts and developing arguments that led Americans toward new ideas for ending the Vietnam war, and for being a courageous contributor to America's foreign policy debates throughout his public service. Mr. Moose was born on February 27, 1932 in Little Rock, Arkansas, but spent many of his early years in Heber Springs, Arkansas. He graduated from Little Rock Senior High School in l949, and from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas in 1953. He received his masters from Columbia University in International Relations. He served in the United States Army for two years before joining the United States Foreign Service in 1956. He was first posted to Mexico City in the Foreign Service where he served as the Ambassador's assistant. He was then posted to Yaounde, Cameroun where he recognized the need for the continuing independence of African nations, and the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa and Rhodesia. Upon his return to the United States, he was posted to the first Executive Secretariat at the State Department, during which time he was posted to the Pentagon during the Cuban Missile Crisis to serve as a liaison with the State Department. In 1966 to 1968 during the Lyndon Johnson Administration, he served as special assistant to National Security Advisor, Walt Rostow. It was in this position that Mr. Moose became an early skeptic of the Vietnam War. He remained at the National Security Council into the Nixon administration. Mr. Moose's views clashed with those of the new National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, and he resigned in late 1969. Mr. Moose then resigned from the Foreign Service and served with Congressman, Morris K. Udall, followed by a tenure working for then Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator William J. Fulbright. Mr. Moose co-authored, with colleague James Lowenstein, a series of reports exposing, among other things, the United States' secret bombings in Cambodia. He accompanied Senator Fulbright to meet with President Lyndon Johnson at the White House in an unsuccessful effort to present the case for ending the war. Upon the election of Jimmy Carter, Mr. Moose was appointed Under Secretary of Management at the State Department, and then as Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. Mr. Moose's appointment to run African policy coincided with a period of intense American engagement across the continent and also returned him to a longstanding interest in integration stemming from his ties to Little Rock Central High School where the desegregation crisis of l957 took place. As Assistant Secretary for Africa at the State Department, Mr. Moose was in the forefront of U.S. policy initiatives, none more important than fostering a peaceful transition in South Africa from apartheid to a democratic government which opened the door to the election of Nelson Mandela as President. Mr. Moose also took the lead in formulating the strategy to secure Zimbabwe's independence in that same region. He worked tirelessly to ensure that the settlement was based on democratic elections, not on a power-sharing arrangement imposed from the outside. At the end of the Carter administration, Mr. Moose joined the international banking division of Kuhn Loeb & Co., which merged with Lehman Brothers. While residing in London as a Managing Director of Lehman Brothers, he led the international financial advisory activities of the company. In 1988, Mr. Moose moved to work for American Express in New York City. He then moved to the Washington D.C. area where he served as Senior Vice President of International and Government Affairs, from 1988 to 1993. With the election of President Bill Clinton, he returned to government as Under Secretary of State for Management. While Under Secretary, he was designated Chief Operating Officer of the Department and represented all foreign affairs agencies on the President's Management Council. Mr. Moose resigned from the State Department in 1997 and became President of the Institute for Public Research at the Center for Naval Analysis where he worked on a variety of issues designed to make government more efficient and responsive in an age of diminishing resources. After his retirement, he became an ardent campaigner for Democratic candidates and civic issues, including as a key activist and liaison between environmental groups and city leaders to close the Mirant coal plant, the last coal-fired power plant in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. His ultimate accomplishment was co-founder of At Home in Alexandria, in Alexandria, Virginia, an organization that enables older people to stay longer in their homes. Mr. Moose is survived by his wife of 58 years, Margaret Davis Moose, originally of Little Rock, Arkansas, his son Jeffrey Menifee Moose, his daughter, Amanda Moose, and his grandchildren, Elias Menifee Moose, Lea Grover, Samuel Henry Lazarus, and Lily Mae Lazarus. A memorial service will be held for Mr. Moose at St. Paul's Church in Alexandria, Virginia on October 17 at 11 a.m. Contributions may be sent to At Home in Alexandria, Doctors Without Borders, and the International Rescue Committee.

Published October 13, 2015

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