AUTHOR ENJOYS REUNION WITH "THE BOSS," FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE P. SHULTZ

JIM PURCELL AND FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE P. SHULTZ

Hope of the Phoenix
The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit 
from the Ashes of Vietnam

"The work of people in this Department has saved countless lives. Your dedication to the refugees of Indochina marks one of the shining moments of the Foreign Service." 

Secretary of State George Shultz spoke those words to State Department officers in a speech, the "Meaning of Vietnam." All gathered in and around State's front entrance hall on April 25, 1985, five days prior to the 10th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. 

Jim met with George P. Shultz in California on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in the Secretary's office at the Hoover Institution, on the Stanford University campus. Jim briefed Mr. Shultz about Hope of the Phoenix, and they reminisced about that crucial era - "the refugee decade."

The two men noted that their meeting about Jim's book coincided almost to the day with the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975, when cries for help for thousands, then millions, of Southeast Asia refugees began. 

As Secretary of State for President Reagan, Mr.Shultz spoke up for refugee haven, aid, and assistance. He spoke before Congress on behalf of humanitarian immigration for Amerasian children. He participated in foreign policy negotiations with governments needing U.S. insistence on changes (e.g., the USSR and Soviet Jews and other religious minorities) as part of negotiations on other vital global interests.   

Refugee issues were an integral part of U.S. foreign policy decisions during three presidential administrations: Ford, Carter, and Reagan, each of whom recognized and acted upon humanitarian elements of foreign policy.      

Hope of the Phoenix: The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit from the Ashes of Vietnam, 1975-1986 brings to life a remarkable slice of U.S. history regarding refugees. The insider's view of the interim and then appointed director of the new Bureau for Refugee Programs, 1979-1986, is full of region-wide accounts.

From Southeast Asia, an array of global crises erupted: the Middle East,USSR (as mentioned), Africa, Eastern Europe, Central America, the Mediterranean, and South Asia. Their plight needed the organization and convincing outreach of the United States.

The State Department and its Refugee Program led the way with its in-house team, foreign embassy teams, other U.S. agencies at home and abroad, the U.S. Congress, the UN and its affected agencies, including the Red Cross, International Red Cross, UNHCR, World Food Program, and many others.

What highly recommends the book is its thorough research: recorded interviews of others on-the-scene, peer reviews from the same, and an array of news and other reports of the time.

Five Books (parts/sections) include chapters according to regions. The fifth and briefest of all the books is being written and is under peer review and comments.

All of this and more Jim and George P. Shultz, whom Jim has considered a mentor since 1970, experienced up close to strategic and tactical decisions and actions. 

Jim appreciated Mr. Shultz's recent encouragement for the book.   

AUTHOR RECALLS HOW PRESIDENT REAGAN BUILT UPON PRESIDENT CARTER'S CRITICAL CHANGES FOR REFUGEES

Hope of the Phoenix

The Reawakening and Rise oF America's Humanitarian Spirit 
from the Ashes of Vietnam
1975-1986

Presidents Carter and Reagan (photo credit: History.com)

Author Jim (James N., Jr.) Purcell remembers when President Reagan took the torch and heartily supported the new Bureau for Refugee Programs at the State Department.  George P. Shultz was President Reagan's Secretary of State after Alexander Haig.

In 1979, President Carter's State Department geared up to establish a new bureau for refugee programs to deal with the continuing and increasingly critical flow of refugees from Southeast Asia after the Fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975--40 years ago. 

Incoming in 1981, President Reagan gave full support to State's growing Bureau for Refugee Programs, today known as Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration.  

The author has considered Secretary Shultz to be a professional mentor since 1976, when President Nixon appointed Mr. Shultz to be director of the Bureau of the Budget, now known as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the author, a young budget analyst, met him at the outset and told his own staff, "This time, we got a good one."  

In 1982, President Reagan appointed Mr. Shultz to the State Department, and he was the author's boss in the Refugee program, where the author served from 1979 to 1986.

April 28, 2015, in the finishing stages of writing Hope of the Phoenix, Jim Purcell is scheduled to visit at the Hoover Institution, not far from San Francisco, to meet with former Secretary of State George P. Shultz .

The meeting with "the boss" will set a cherished milestone for the author.

Book Progress Update April 2015

Hope of the Phoenix

The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit 
from the Ashes of Vietnam
1975-1986

James N. Purcell, Jr.

Genres: Memoir; Refugees; Public Policy; History (U.S.State Department refugee program, 1975-1986) 

UPDATE-April 2015 

Travel

Calendar -Jim is scheduled to meet with former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz at the Hoover Institution, not far from San Francisco, CA, at the end of April 2015. This will be a milestone for the author for whom Secretary Shultz has been a professional mentor. In 1976, President Nixon appointed Mr. Shultz to be director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) where Jim was an analyst. Later, Secretary Shultz was Jim's boss when Jim served in the U.S. Refugee Program at State.

Travel under discussion- Jim's wife Jean is discussing with him her possible visit to the Truman Library in Independence, MO, while Jim is in California, end of April. Of special interest to them are archived papers of George Warren, whose unpublished manuscript is a resource noted in Hope of the Phoenix.  George Warren assisted at the Evian Conference, Evian-les-Bains, France, 1938, a disappointing yet important initiative of President Roosevelt to discuss with European leaders their rising refugee crisis, early World War II. (The conference failure led to better work at a London meeting the next month-covered in Hope of the Phoenix). Mr. Warren also assisted Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt's work to obtain approval for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Mr. Warren serrved in other refugee-related capacities, including the post-WWII Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration.

Peer Reviews

Incorporation of selected peer review input is 99 % finished. Reviewers' comments and questions have lent clarification and correction overall.    

Book Proposal

The proposal draft for Hope of the Phoenix has been agreed with a book proposal expert.

What is the time-line for completion of the book/manuscript?

Completion date amended: The author does not want to publish an estimated completion date yet.
 

Comments on this blog are welcome.

About Jim Purcell's Forthcoming Book 2015

"To the front press row I said in a low voice, “Believe me, folks, if the President and national security adviser have a secret plan, they wouldn’t use me to unveil it.  I just work here.” From Harbinger, Chapter 1, Hope of the Phoenix

James N Purcell, Jr. is Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Association for International Migration (USAIM). He is a member of the board of the Council for a Community of Democracies (CCD). His forthcoming book (2015), subtitled "The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit from the Ashes of Vietnam," is the history of the U. S. Refugee Program (RP), 1979 to 1986, the author's personal narrative.

The U.S. Department of State tasked Jim Purcell with setting up the new Bureau for Refugee Programs (now Population, Refugees, and Migration) in 1979. President Reagan appointed Mr. Purcell as Assistant Secretary of State for the Refugee Program in 1983, where Mr. Purcell served until 1986, as the longest-serving director for the Refugee Program.

Through the State Department's Refugee Program, the U.S. put into place protocols and policies relied upon today around the world.

The early U.S. post-Vietnam refugee efforts involved U. S. Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan; U. S. congressional committees and subcommittees, U. S. communities and churches, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), helping governments, and international organizations, among them: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and others.

The U. S. Refugee Program team worked to strengthen American responses to humanitarian crises around the world.

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Book Subtitle The Reawakening and Rise of America's Humanitarian Spirit from the Ashes of Vietnam - 1979 to 1986 -by James N. Purcell, Jr., former Assistant Secretary of State, U. S. State Department, Bureau for Refugee Programs; former Director General, International Organization for Migration


The Distinguished Honor Award from Secretary of State George P. Shultz

The Senior Executive Service Meritorious Executive Award from President Ronald R. Reagan

Forthcoming Book Genres: Refugees, Humanitarian crises, Policy, Government, International

Copyright (c) 2014 James N. Purcell, Jr. All rights reserved.