Defense Of An Embattled Nominee

In an op-ed column, one Fletcher student says that John Bolton, President Bush's nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is the right man for the job.

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [05.04.05] John Bolton, President Bush's nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has come under heavy fire following accusations by some government leaders that he has abused authority and mistreated subordinates. But in an op-ed published in the Providence Journal, a Fletcher student and former employee of Bolton's wrote that the charges against Bolton are inaccurate.

"I never witnessed John treating a subordinate with anything but respect and courtesy," Fletcher graduate student Frances Bolton (no relation to the nominee) wrote in the Journal. "John Bolton is a man of high standards, who holds himself to the same high standards he expects of others."

John Bolton was named under secretary of arms control and international security in May 2001. Frances Bolton says she worked with the under secretary for five years at both the State Department and the American Enterprise Institute, where he was senior vice president prior to his governmental appointment.

The Fletcher student wrote that Democratic senators are politically toying with the nomination. She cited testimony by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) in confirming Bolton for the 2001 post, noting that he "is an individual of integrity and intelligence. He has demonstrated those qualities throughout his career."

She contrasted those remarks with recent comments by the senator during hearings by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee calling the under secretary's character into question.

"The Democrats are turning to character assassination, rather than substantive arguments, to prevent John Bolton, who has strong ideas for reforming the United Nations, from being confirmed," Bolton wrote in the Journal.

The Fletcher student cited the U.N.'s problems with the oil-for-food program, sexual harassment and abuse charges, and embezzlement. "The U.N.'s scandals… require the leadership of someone willing to call a spade a spade," she said in the op-ed.

Among the under secretary's accomplishments, she wrote, are several measures to curtail the proliferation of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction, the repeal of the 1975 U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism and protections from using American servicemen and servicewomen in "politicized prosecutions."

In her op-ed, Bolton cited "the intellect, energy and focus he brought to the office every day that I worked with him.

"I continue to be inspired by the privilege of having worked for him," Bolton added.