Harvard Mafia : Ambassadors

George Bush may have been an Eli as an undergrad, but when it comes to ambassadorships, he sets the rivalry aside.

September / October 2007, Page 24

• Ireland Thomas C. Foley A.B. '75, MBA '79 Brother-in-law of Bush's HBS classmate April H. Foley (the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary), this GOP fundrasing heavyweight served in Iraq as the Coalition Provisional Authority's direcor of private sector development. After working for McKinsey & Company and then Citigroup, Foley founded NTC Group, a private equity investment company.
• France Craig Roberts Stapleton A.B. ’67, MBA ’70 Stapleton co-owned the Texas Rangers with Bush and is married to Bush’s cousin, Dorothy Walker Stapleton. He’s also a “Ranger,” a fundraiser who bundled at least $200,000 in contributions for Bush’s 2004 campaign. For almost two decades, Stapleton was president of Marsh & McLennan, an insurance and consulting conglomerate.
• Germany William R. Timkin Jr. MBA ’62 Timken doesn’t actually speak German, nor have much diplomatic experience, but he did raise more than $200,000 for Bush’s re-election campaign in 2004 and another $250,000 for the 2005 inauguration celebration. Former president and CEO of the Timken Company, a multi-billion-dollar manufacturing firm headquartered in Canton, Ohio, Timken ran the business his great-grandfather started in 1899.
• Austria Susan McCaw MBA ’88 When she became ambassador in November 2005, Susan McCaw was more fluent in business than she was in German. She was, however,the second wife of telecommunications billionaire (and Bush supporter) Craig McCaw, finance co-chair for Bush’s 2004 campaign in Washington State, a Ranger ($200,000-level fundraiser), and a member of the “W Stands for Women” coalition. McCaw has resigned the ambassadorship effective the end of this year.

• Friends in High Places

  George W. Bush may have been an Eli as an undergrad, but when it comes to ambassadorships, he sets the rivalry aside. Bush has appointed at least 22 Harvard alums, including nine of his fellow HBSers, to plum gigs in capitals around the world. A quick look at some of the most prominent shows that if you want a cushy job in a foreign locale, the old rule holds true: Follow the money.
• Portugal Alfred Hoffman Jr. MBA ’62 Two-time Republican National Committee finance chair, Hoffman bundled more than $200,000 for Bush’s campaign and even lent a hand to Governor Jeb Bush’s gubernatorial campaigns. Hoffman is the founder of WCI Communities, Inc., one of Florida’s largest developers and homebuilders.
• Morocco Thomas Riley MBA '75 Riley was known as “T-Bone” during the years he and Bush went on double dates and played football together at HBS. He’s also a “Pioneer” who raised at least $100,000 for Bush’s 2004 campaign. Co-founder of General Resources Corporation, a distribution company in California, Riley spent 20 years in Silicon Valley running technology companies.
• Italy Ronald P. Spogli MBA '75 Spogli overlapped with Bush at HBS, and more recently raised over $100,000 for the President’s re-election campaign. Before becoming an ambassador, Spogli co-founded the private equity investment fi rm Freeman Spogli & Co. The Institute for International Studies at Standford—Spogli’s other alma mater—was renamed the Freeman Spogli Institute after he and his business partner donated $50 million to the school.
• Hungary April H. Foley MBA '75 After dating Bush while they were both at HBS, Foley, a former PepsiCo executive, and the president remain on good terms. He appointed her vice president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States in 2003; three years later, she replaced Bush’s father’s cousin, GEORGE HERBERT WALKER III, in Hungary. Foley is the sister-in-law of Thomas C. Foley, the ambassador to Ireland.

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• 
  Win Min
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  Ban Ki-Moon
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  Popcorn Diplomacy
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  A Rebel's Road Home
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  Still Standing In Iraq

Keywords:

• Harvard Mafia,
• International

Mentioned:

• 
  Thomas Foley : College Class of 1975 : HBS Class of 1979
• 
  Susan McCaw : HBS Class of 1988
• 
  William Timken : HBS Class of 1962
• 
  April Foley : HBS Class of 1975
• 
  Alfred Hoffman : HBS Class of 1962
• 
  Thomas Riley : HBS Class of 1975
• 
  Craig Stapleton : College Class of 1967 : HBS Class of 1970
• 
  Ronald Spogli : HBS Class of 1975