Faith Whittlesey
Encyclopedia
Faith Ryan Whittlesey is a former Republican
politician and White House Senior Staff member notable for her effort to communicate Reagan's entire policy agenda to U.S. opinion leaders and for bringing together for the first time in the Reagan White House evangelical, Catholic, Jewish and other traditional orthodox religious groups to promote the notion of the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception. These groups became a significant component of the Reagan coalition
as they grew more politically self-conscious in the 1980s. Their influence continues as an active force in the Republican party and remains a significant factor in U.S. local, regional, and national politics. As Whittlesey observed on FoxNews in an interview the day of Reagan's funeral, "Ronald Reagan realigned the political landscape in the U.S." Whittlesey also organized the White House Central American Outreach Group to provide information about Reagan's anti-communist policies in the region. Whittlesey served twice for a total of nearly 5 years as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and also served for 2 years on the Reagan White House Senior Staff as Assistant to the President for Public Liaison
.
President Judge Stephen J. McEwen, Jr., of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania noted that Whittlesey "reflected a certain elegance and bright image upon the Reagan Administration, both on the international scene as Ambassador to Switzerland and at the White House as the Director of Public Liaison, an office as little known as its impact was powerful." Whittlesey, a tenacious fighter on behalf of Reagan's policies, was not, however, a stranger to controversy during her time of involvement in the political arena.
's secretary Helene A. von Damm
and with the urging of James Baker and Michael Deaver.
Her tenure was marked by initiatives to improve the access of traditional Christian and Jewish religious believers to the American political process and national policymaking. She was considered their most "aggressive ally" in the White House.Martin, William(1996) With God On Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America. New York: Broadway. p. 235 ISBN 0-7679-2257-3 She wrote a memo in October 1983 that fundamentalist and evangelical groups had done "little organizational work" for "the 1984 election period" and that to maintain Ronald Reagan
's "credibility" with those groups, Catholics in particular, "the tuition tax credit bill must come up for Senate floor action this fall". She noted that school prayer was "not unlike the tuition tax credit issue. Politically we win if we get votes on the Senate floor". In 1985, she sent the anti-abortion and pro-life film The Silent Scream
, which was a documentary of an ultrasound abortion produced in 1984 by Dr. Bernard Nathanson of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), to every member of Congress and arranged for a screening at the White House.
Whittlesey focused on the core Reagan agenda during her White House tenure. She clashed with some other members of the Reagan White House staff whom she regarded as "largely Washington permanent government party functionaries not very committed to advocating the President's policies in a serious or consistent way." The White House staff on which Whittlesey worked was "pockmarked with Republican 'liberals' and 'pragmatists'" during the Reagan Administration, according to one Washington journalist.
Whittlesey told Nancy Reagan
biographer Kitty Kelley
that "[w]e despaired over White House guest lists, because they were filled with people who were invited solely to attain social prestige for Nancy Reagan or enhance Michael Deaver
's future job prospects". She was appreciative of Nancy Reagan, too. Interviewed by FoxNews on the day of Reagan's funeral, Whittlesey, introduced as "one of the longest serving members of the Reagan Administration," said, "we can thank Nancy for what she did to exemplify trust, loyalty, fidelity, and devotion to her wonderful husband."
" in Nicaragua
. In 1983 she established the White House Outreach Working Group on Central America to garner increased private sector understanding and support for Reagan's policies and the Contras, including working with, among many other individuals and groups, the American Security Council Foundation
, to produce anti-Sandinista propaganda (what she would call "truth-telling") films, and the Council for National Policy
to raise funds for the Contras and to produce materials that revealed the Marxist-Leninist orientation of the Sandanista movement. Among those groups that participated in the Outreach Group effort was the AFL-CIO because "the Sandinistas were against free labor unions." Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Constantine Menges cited "the very effective public outreach staff headed by Ambassador Faith Whittlesey" in his reflections on Reagan foreign policy.
Despite its effectiveness, Whittlesey says the Outreach Group was shut down in 1985 when Donald Regan took over as Chief of Staff and the White House "started the brown bag operation with Ollie North. What we were doing was completely open and above board. It was an honest effort to change minds and hearts and to provide a forum for truth telling". According to Whittlesey, "the Washington establishment, both Democratic and Republican, was opposed to Reagan's Central American anti-communist policies."
Later, when asked about Iran-Contra she said: "I had no knowledge of the Iran-Contras connection. I had no involvement in it, nor was I asked to be a part of it.", The final House report on Iran-Contra concluded that Whittlesey unsuccessfully attempted to help Oliver North
obtain a U.S. passport for a fake Saudi prince who claimed to have knowledge of the locations of hostages being held in Lebanon
. Whittlesey has repeatedly and emphatically denied this charge, for which she maintains no proof was produced, as a politically motivated attempt to discredit her White House Outreach Group initiative, which had been "a legitimate and in every respect legal attempt to communicate Reagan's anti-communist policy in Central America."
from 1981–83 and again from 1985-88. In her first term as Swiss Ambassador she initiated negotiations that later led to the signing of a "Memorandum of Understanding on Insider Trading," the first opening up of the tradition of Swiss banking secrecy. Of this memorandum, Ambassador Jean Zwahlen, then a Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, later wrote her: "I still keep a vivid memory of your skill to help delicate negotiations in the 80s."
She was a particularly active Ambassador and traveled often around Switzerland explaining and advocating Reagan's policies.
While she was the Director of the Liaison office (1983–85), there were conflicts with the staff of Reagan's Chief of Staff James A. Baker III and his deputy Michael Deaver, which led to Senator Arlen Specter
and others urging her to take a federal judgeship on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. After careful consideration, she declined the nomination. A judicial appointment would have effectively removed her from the public policy and political arena, which she did not wish. She had taken the job of Public Liaison because of "a profound sense of obligation to the grassroots voters who had elected Reagan believing him to be a man of deep principle and traditional faith." Infighting in the White House continued, however. She eventually decided to return to Switzerland after Donald Regan became Chief of Staff, replacing James A. Baker. Whittlesey resumed her duties representing the U.S. in Bern for a second term in 1985.
After the Democrats took control of the Senate in 1986, giving them both Houses of Congress, allegations were made to Attorney General
Edwin Meese
that Whittlesey had granted diplomatic favors for private contributions to her State Department-administered entertainment fund and that she had also obstructed justice. Meese "found no 'reasonable grounds' to pursue allegations that" Whittlesey "mishandled entertainment funds at the embassy or improperly aided contributors to the funds" in contravention of the independent counsel statute. Hearings into the subject were held by a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, but the hearings failed to produce substantiation of the charges and went nowhere. The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial entitled "True Grit," echoing a popular movie of the time, dismissed the investigation. "The U.S. Justice Department has now filed a notification in Federal Circuit Court in Washington clearing the ambassador of any wrongdoing and vindicating the view that there was a whole lot less to the whole affair than had met either the eye or ear....It is impressive to come out of such an investigation clean and clear."
Former National Security Adviser and Secretary of the Interior
William P. Clark, Jr.
believes that the allegations were a product of a "campaign of leaks" by Baker, Deaver, David Gergen
, and Dick Darman to discredit ideologues in the administration they did not like. William F. Buckley, Jr.
asserted the view that the investigation had been driven by "two forces, one of them galactic, the other merely torrential . . . The first is the disposition of the State Department bureaucracy to make things hard for political appointees. The second is the disposition of all of Washington to make things hard for Mr. Reagan." For her part Whittlesey attributes the allegations to disgruntled career State Department employees who disagreed with Reagan's policies, but in the end the constant friction, according to one source, led to her resignation.
However, with the prospect of the change of administration, and having served for a total of nearly five years in the post, she returned to the U.S. in July 1988, officially vindicated. Widely regarded by political admirers and detractors alike as a most effective U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, shortly after her return to New York City she was asked to assume the Presidency of the American Swiss Foundation by its board. She received the Reagan Revolution Medal of Honor in 1989.
Whittlesey's diplomatic career resumed very briefly in 2001 when she was named by President
George W. Bush
to be an At-Large Member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. She continued in this position as needed throughout the Bush Presidency. A strong supporter of the Second Amendment
, she has been quoted as saying about the treaty: "This document by the U.N. freezes the last coup. It favors established governments, while taking away rights from individuals. It does not recognize any value higher than peace, such as liberty."
that is often attributed to her: "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire
did, except backwards and in high heels." The official Ginger Rogers website attributes the origin of the quote to Bob Thaves
who wrote in a 1982 Frank and Ernest
comic strip
about Fred Astaire: "Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did, backwards…and in high heels." The attribution to Whittlesey traces to a speech she delivered to a Teamsters Union meeting in 1984 where she was representing Reagan. Sometimes the quote is also attributed to Ann Richards
, who later used the line in her 1988 Democratic National Convention
speech, but Richards said she got the line from television journalist Linda Ellerbee
who said she heard the line from a fellow passenger on an airplane.
Whittlesey worked her entire adult life, even when pregnant, canvassing door-to-door for her 1972 legislative race while pregnant with her third child, William. In 1985, when looking at the trendline that showed that half of all pre-school children had mothers in the workforce, she assured Reagan that once the economy picked up "all those women can go home and look after their own children". As a working mother herself, Whittlesey asserted this statement was taken out of context and did not reflect her intent of expanding choices, professional and personal, for women. The statement continued, "They could care for their children themselves if they wished to do so because their husbands would have opportunities again in a thriving economy." Whittlesey was the only woman on Reagan's Senior White House Staff during her service there. As Dee Jepson, who worked as a member of Whittlesey's White House staff and wrote about her experience in the White House, noted, "She was a widow raising three children. Not only did I find that she was a very dedicated, loving mother, but an extremely competent professional…I watched her fill the role of mother and father to her family, as well as serve in one of the most intense professional pressure cookers in the world—the White House."
In 1989 Whittlesey became the first female member of the all-male Union League Club of New York
.
missionaries. Her husband's father, Albert Withey Whittlesey, was born in China. Her husband's uncle, Captain Henry Clark Whittlesey, also born in China, was a member of General Joseph W. Stilwell's 18-member U.S. Army Observer Group known as the"Dixie Mission" to the Communist Chinese in 1944 and was the only member of the group to die in combat during the mission.
Whittlesey's brother, Thomas Martin Ryan, an expert in Chinese language and literature, taught ancient Chinese literature briefly at the University of Alabama
, Birmingham, before turning to a career in direct mail advertising and communications. Whittlesey was invited to lead two delegations of prominent Americans to Beijing as guests of the Chinese—one in 1994 and the other in 2006. In 2005 she was the special guest in Beijing of President Hu Jintao at the celebration of the Chinese victory over Japan in World War II. In 2009 she was instrumental in having the China Rose (Rosa chinensis spontanea) planted in the new Chinese embassy garden in Washington as a gesture of regard between the gardening communities of the U.S. and the People's Republic of China.
Continuing as a member of the Pennsylvania bar, Whittlesey also served on numerous corporate boards.
to Martin Roy Ryan of Maybrook, New York, and Amy Jerusha Covell of Pope's Mills, New York. She grew up in Williamsville, New York, and graduated with honors from Williamsville Central High School
in 1956. In 1955 she was selected to participate in the American Field Service program to Flensburg, Germany. In 1958 she participated in the Experiment in International Living program to Austria. She earned a full-tuition scholarship to attend Wells College
in Aurora, New York, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude in 1960 with a BA in history. She also earned a full-tuition scholarship to the law school at the University of Pennsylvania
and a Ford Foundation
grant to attend a summer program at the Hague Academy of International Law
, The Netherlands. Whittlesey is also an accomplished classical pianist and former piano teacher. She has one sibling, Thomas Martin Ryan, who graduated Yale College magna cum laude in 1963, received an MA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1963 she married Roger Weaver Whittlesey of Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, a graduate of the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and Bowdoin College in Maine. Roger Whittlesey was an advertising executive from a prominent Philadelphia family that had included World War I Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and Harvard Law graduate Major Charles W. Whitttlesey of "Lost Battalion" fame and Captain Henry C. Whittlesey of the famous "Dixie Mission" to China. They had 3 children—Henry Clark Whittlesey (b. 12-18-65), Amy Elizabeth Whittlesey O'Neill (b. 9-19-67), and William Weaver Whittlesey (b. 10-18-72) -- and 10 grandchildren. The marriage lasted 11 years until Roger Whittlesey's suicide in March 1974.
Because her father was a "Roman Catholic in the Irish tradition" it has been incorrectly assumed that Whittlesey grew up Catholic, when in fact her mother's family did not approve of her father's Catholicism. "[S]o he left the Catholic Church. He attended the Methodist Church with my mother and brother, Tom, and me. I was thus raised as a Methodist. As a family we went to the Williamsville, New York, Methodist Church every Sunday. I went to regular Sunday school and sang in the choirs." Her husband's family was Presbyterian
. Whittlesey converted to Roman Catholicism in 2000 in Staten Island, New York. She was baptized and confirmed by Father Michael Reilly, principal of St. Joseph's By-the-Sea High School in Staten Island, New York.
For 19 years until February 2008, Whittlesey served as President and Chairman of the Board of the American Swiss Foundation and since then has been Chairman Emeritus. She was a member of the Board of Directors (and fomer Chairman for 3 years) of Christian Freedom International
, an organization dedicated to assisting persecuted Christians. She is a member of the Council of American Ambassadors and also a member of the Board of Advisers of the Reagan Alumni Association. She also served as a member—and for 6 years as Chairman—of the Board of the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.
. She is a member of the International Advisory Board for Cancer of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, one of the teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School. She is a longtime member of the University Club of Washington, D.C., and for several years has served on the Newsmax International Advisory Board.
Honors Whittlesey has received over the years include
. In 1974 she was reelected to the Legislature. In 1975 she was elected to the Delaware County Board of Commissioners, now known as the Delaware County Council and reelected in 1979. (Delaware County was at the time larger in population than 5 states of the Union.) She served alternately as Chairman and Vice Chairman. She lost the 1978 Republican primary for Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania.
While serving in the Delaware County government, Whittlesey briefly held her first job in the private sector, taking a part-time job as the token Republican at the law firm Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen LLP
in Philadelphia. After leaving Switzerland, Whittlesey joined the New York-based law firm of Myerson & Kuhn
. until its 1990 bankruptcy filing In 1998 she started her own consulting firm, Maybrook Associates. She has also served on several corporate boards over the years, including the U.S. Advisory Board for Nestle
. Since 1989 she has been a board member of Schindler Elevator Corporation. Since 1992 she has served as a board member of Valassis Communications, Inc., and is a member of its audit committee.
She was admitted to the bar
of Pennsylvania in 1964 and remains in non-resident active status.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politician and White House Senior Staff member notable for her effort to communicate Reagan's entire policy agenda to U.S. opinion leaders and for bringing together for the first time in the Reagan White House evangelical, Catholic, Jewish and other traditional orthodox religious groups to promote the notion of the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception. These groups became a significant component of the Reagan coalition
Reagan coalition
The Reagan coalition was the combination of voters that Republican Ronald Reagan assembled to produce a major political realignment with his landslide in the 1980 United States Presidential Election. In 1980 the Reagan coalition was possible because of Democrat Jimmy Carter's losses in most...
as they grew more politically self-conscious in the 1980s. Their influence continues as an active force in the Republican party and remains a significant factor in U.S. local, regional, and national politics. As Whittlesey observed on FoxNews in an interview the day of Reagan's funeral, "Ronald Reagan realigned the political landscape in the U.S." Whittlesey also organized the White House Central American Outreach Group to provide information about Reagan's anti-communist policies in the region. Whittlesey served twice for a total of nearly 5 years as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and also served for 2 years on the Reagan White House Senior Staff as Assistant to the President for Public Liaison
White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs
The Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs is a unit of the White House Office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States...
.
President Judge Stephen J. McEwen, Jr., of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania noted that Whittlesey "reflected a certain elegance and bright image upon the Reagan Administration, both on the international scene as Ambassador to Switzerland and at the White House as the Director of Public Liaison, an office as little known as its impact was powerful." Whittlesey, a tenacious fighter on behalf of Reagan's policies, was not, however, a stranger to controversy during her time of involvement in the political arena.
White House Liaison Office
Whittlesey was named Assistant to the President for Public Liaison in 1983 at the suggestion of Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's secretary Helene A. von Damm
Helene A. von Damm
Helene von Damm was a Republican political figure, diplomat and former United States Ambassador to Austria.An emigrant from Ulmerfeld, Austria herself, originally named Helene Winter, her father died from tuberculosis when she was 12 years old...
and with the urging of James Baker and Michael Deaver.
Her tenure was marked by initiatives to improve the access of traditional Christian and Jewish religious believers to the American political process and national policymaking. She was considered their most "aggressive ally" in the White House.Martin, William(1996) With God On Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America. New York: Broadway. p. 235 ISBN 0-7679-2257-3 She wrote a memo in October 1983 that fundamentalist and evangelical groups had done "little organizational work" for "the 1984 election period" and that to maintain Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's "credibility" with those groups, Catholics in particular, "the tuition tax credit bill must come up for Senate floor action this fall". She noted that school prayer was "not unlike the tuition tax credit issue. Politically we win if we get votes on the Senate floor". In 1985, she sent the anti-abortion and pro-life film The Silent Scream
The Silent Scream
The Silent Scream is a 1984 anti-abortion documentary video directed and narrated by Bernard Nathanson, an obstetrician, NARAL Pro-Choice America founder, and abortion provider turned pro-life activist, and produced in partnership with the National Right to Life Committee. The film depicts the...
, which was a documentary of an ultrasound abortion produced in 1984 by Dr. Bernard Nathanson of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), to every member of Congress and arranged for a screening at the White House.
Whittlesey focused on the core Reagan agenda during her White House tenure. She clashed with some other members of the Reagan White House staff whom she regarded as "largely Washington permanent government party functionaries not very committed to advocating the President's policies in a serious or consistent way." The White House staff on which Whittlesey worked was "pockmarked with Republican 'liberals' and 'pragmatists'" during the Reagan Administration, according to one Washington journalist.
Whittlesey told Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
biographer Kitty Kelley
Kitty Kelley
Kitty Kelley is an American journalist and author of several best-selling unauthorized biographies of celebrities and politicians. Her subjects have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British Royal Family, the Bush family, and Oprah Winfrey...
that "[w]e despaired over White House guest lists, because they were filled with people who were invited solely to attain social prestige for Nancy Reagan or enhance Michael Deaver
Michael Deaver
Michael Keith Deaver was a member of President Ronald Reagan's White House staff serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James Baker III and Donald Regan from January 1981 until May 1985.-Early life:...
's future job prospects". She was appreciative of Nancy Reagan, too. Interviewed by FoxNews on the day of Reagan's funeral, Whittlesey, introduced as "one of the longest serving members of the Reagan Administration," said, "we can thank Nancy for what she did to exemplify trust, loyalty, fidelity, and devotion to her wonderful husband."
Iran-Contra
At the direction of White House Chief of Staff, James Baker, Whittlesey also spent a good deal of time organizing domestic support for and the communication of information about Reagan's overall policies in Central America and, in particular, the "ContrasContras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
" in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. In 1983 she established the White House Outreach Working Group on Central America to garner increased private sector understanding and support for Reagan's policies and the Contras, including working with, among many other individuals and groups, the American Security Council Foundation
American Security Council Foundation
The American Security Council Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by John M. Fisher that seeks to influence United States foreign policy by "Promoting Peace through Strength". The ASCF was formed in 1958, and was originally known as the Institute for American Strategy...
, to produce anti-Sandinista propaganda (what she would call "truth-telling") films, and the Council for National Policy
Council for National Policy
The Council for National Policy , is an umbrella organization and networking group for social conservative activists in the United States...
to raise funds for the Contras and to produce materials that revealed the Marxist-Leninist orientation of the Sandanista movement. Among those groups that participated in the Outreach Group effort was the AFL-CIO because "the Sandinistas were against free labor unions." Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Constantine Menges cited "the very effective public outreach staff headed by Ambassador Faith Whittlesey" in his reflections on Reagan foreign policy.
Despite its effectiveness, Whittlesey says the Outreach Group was shut down in 1985 when Donald Regan took over as Chief of Staff and the White House "started the brown bag operation with Ollie North. What we were doing was completely open and above board. It was an honest effort to change minds and hearts and to provide a forum for truth telling". According to Whittlesey, "the Washington establishment, both Democratic and Republican, was opposed to Reagan's Central American anti-communist policies."
Later, when asked about Iran-Contra she said: "I had no knowledge of the Iran-Contras connection. I had no involvement in it, nor was I asked to be a part of it.", The final House report on Iran-Contra concluded that Whittlesey unsuccessfully attempted to help Oliver North
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, a military historian, and a New York Times best-selling author....
obtain a U.S. passport for a fake Saudi prince who claimed to have knowledge of the locations of hostages being held in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Whittlesey has repeatedly and emphatically denied this charge, for which she maintains no proof was produced, as a politically motivated attempt to discredit her White House Outreach Group initiative, which had been "a legitimate and in every respect legal attempt to communicate Reagan's anti-communist policy in Central America."
Ambassador to Bern
Whittlesey was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland under Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
from 1981–83 and again from 1985-88. In her first term as Swiss Ambassador she initiated negotiations that later led to the signing of a "Memorandum of Understanding on Insider Trading," the first opening up of the tradition of Swiss banking secrecy. Of this memorandum, Ambassador Jean Zwahlen, then a Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, later wrote her: "I still keep a vivid memory of your skill to help delicate negotiations in the 80s."
She was a particularly active Ambassador and traveled often around Switzerland explaining and advocating Reagan's policies.
While she was the Director of the Liaison office (1983–85), there were conflicts with the staff of Reagan's Chief of Staff James A. Baker III and his deputy Michael Deaver, which led to Senator Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
and others urging her to take a federal judgeship on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. After careful consideration, she declined the nomination. A judicial appointment would have effectively removed her from the public policy and political arena, which she did not wish. She had taken the job of Public Liaison because of "a profound sense of obligation to the grassroots voters who had elected Reagan believing him to be a man of deep principle and traditional faith." Infighting in the White House continued, however. She eventually decided to return to Switzerland after Donald Regan became Chief of Staff, replacing James A. Baker. Whittlesey resumed her duties representing the U.S. in Bern for a second term in 1985.
After the Democrats took control of the Senate in 1986, giving them both Houses of Congress, allegations were made to Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Edwin Meese
Edwin Meese
Edwin "Ed" Meese, III is an attorney, law professor, and author who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Administration , the Reagan Presidential Transition Team , and the Reagan White House , eventually rising to hold the position of the 75th Attorney General of...
that Whittlesey had granted diplomatic favors for private contributions to her State Department-administered entertainment fund and that she had also obstructed justice. Meese "found no 'reasonable grounds' to pursue allegations that" Whittlesey "mishandled entertainment funds at the embassy or improperly aided contributors to the funds" in contravention of the independent counsel statute. Hearings into the subject were held by a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, but the hearings failed to produce substantiation of the charges and went nowhere. The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial entitled "True Grit," echoing a popular movie of the time, dismissed the investigation. "The U.S. Justice Department has now filed a notification in Federal Circuit Court in Washington clearing the ambassador of any wrongdoing and vindicating the view that there was a whole lot less to the whole affair than had met either the eye or ear....It is impressive to come out of such an investigation clean and clear."
Former National Security Adviser and Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
William P. Clark, Jr.
William P. Clark, Jr.
William Patrick Clark, Jr. , American politician, served under President Ronald Reagan as the Deputy Secretary of State from 1981 to 1982, United States National Security Advisor from 1982 to 1983, and the Secretary of the Interior from 1983 until 1985.- Life and career :A devout Catholic, former...
believes that the allegations were a product of a "campaign of leaks" by Baker, Deaver, David Gergen
David Gergen
David Richmond Gergen is an American political consultant and former presidential advisor who served during the administrations of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. He is currently Director of the Center for Public Leadership and a professor of public service at Harvard Kennedy School. Gergen is...
, and Dick Darman to discredit ideologues in the administration they did not like. William F. Buckley, Jr.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing was noted for...
asserted the view that the investigation had been driven by "two forces, one of them galactic, the other merely torrential . . . The first is the disposition of the State Department bureaucracy to make things hard for political appointees. The second is the disposition of all of Washington to make things hard for Mr. Reagan." For her part Whittlesey attributes the allegations to disgruntled career State Department employees who disagreed with Reagan's policies, but in the end the constant friction, according to one source, led to her resignation.
However, with the prospect of the change of administration, and having served for a total of nearly five years in the post, she returned to the U.S. in July 1988, officially vindicated. Widely regarded by political admirers and detractors alike as a most effective U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, shortly after her return to New York City she was asked to assume the Presidency of the American Swiss Foundation by its board. She received the Reagan Revolution Medal of Honor in 1989.
Whittlesey's diplomatic career resumed very briefly in 2001 when she was named by President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to be an At-Large Member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. She continued in this position as needed throughout the Bush Presidency. A strong supporter of the Second Amendment
Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.In 2008 and 2010, the Supreme Court issued two Second...
, she has been quoted as saying about the treaty: "This document by the U.N. freezes the last coup. It favors established governments, while taking away rights from individuals. It does not recognize any value higher than peace, such as liberty."
Famous quote
Whittlesey popularized a quote about Ginger RogersGinger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
that is often attributed to her: "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
did, except backwards and in high heels." The official Ginger Rogers website attributes the origin of the quote to Bob Thaves
Bob Thaves
Robert Thaves was the creator of the comic strip Frank and Ernest, which began in 1972.Thaves' desire to become a cartoonist began in his childhood. He had no formal training; instead, he practised by studying and drawing the works of other cartoonists...
who wrote in a 1982 Frank and Ernest
Frank and Ernest
Frank and Ernest is a play on the English words frank and earnest, which can both mean "candid". It may refer to:*Frank and Ernest *Frank and Ernest *Frank and Ernest Denouement...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
about Fred Astaire: "Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did, backwards…and in high heels." The attribution to Whittlesey traces to a speech she delivered to a Teamsters Union meeting in 1984 where she was representing Reagan. Sometimes the quote is also attributed to Ann Richards
Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
, who later used the line in her 1988 Democratic National Convention
1988 Democratic National Convention
The 1988 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia from July 18–July 21, 1988 to select a candidate for the 1988 United States presidential election. At the convention Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was nominated for President and...
speech, but Richards said she got the line from television journalist Linda Ellerbee
Linda Ellerbee
Linda Ellerbee is an American journalist who is most known for several jobs at NBC News, including Washington, DC correspondent, host of the Nickelodeon network's Nick News, and reporter and co-anchor of NBC News Overnight, which was recognized by the jurors of the duPont Columbia Awards as...
who said she heard the line from a fellow passenger on an airplane.
On feminism
While in law school, to earn money Whittlesey became a substitute schoolteacher for the City of Philadelphia (1962–64) because: "[i]n my last year of law school [the female students] were advised by the law school administration not to even come to the [law firm job] interviews because we would not be hired". Years later when working in the Liaison Office she declared that feminism was a "straightjacket" for women because it reduced the historic legal rights women had previously enjoyed in child custody and marital support cases before states enacted versions of the Equal Rights Amendment. She declared, "Ronard Reagan honored the roll of full-time homemaker and her rights in Social Security and income tax in the face of elite feminists' demeaning of full-time mothers."Whittlesey worked her entire adult life, even when pregnant, canvassing door-to-door for her 1972 legislative race while pregnant with her third child, William. In 1985, when looking at the trendline that showed that half of all pre-school children had mothers in the workforce, she assured Reagan that once the economy picked up "all those women can go home and look after their own children". As a working mother herself, Whittlesey asserted this statement was taken out of context and did not reflect her intent of expanding choices, professional and personal, for women. The statement continued, "They could care for their children themselves if they wished to do so because their husbands would have opportunities again in a thriving economy." Whittlesey was the only woman on Reagan's Senior White House Staff during her service there. As Dee Jepson, who worked as a member of Whittlesey's White House staff and wrote about her experience in the White House, noted, "She was a widow raising three children. Not only did I find that she was a very dedicated, loving mother, but an extremely competent professional…I watched her fill the role of mother and father to her family, as well as serve in one of the most intense professional pressure cookers in the world—the White House."
In 1989 Whittlesey became the first female member of the all-male Union League Club of New York
Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club of New York is a private social club in New York City. Its fourth and current clubhouse, which opened on February 2, 1931, is a building designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris, III, located at 38 East 37th Street between Madison and Park Avenue in the Murray Hill section of...
.
Reagan's core agenda
Whittlesey was elected an alternate delegate from Pennsylvania to the 1976 Republican National Convention and as a delegate in 1980 and 1984. As an elected delegate at the 1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Whittlesey co-chaired with Congressman Jack Kemp the Subcommittee for Foreign Policy and Defense of the Platform Committee and delivered the defense plank to the Convention. Regarded as a "conviction conservative," Whittlesey strongly identified with Reagan's core agenda, which she described as "support for the peaceful defeat of the Soviet Union without commitment of U.S. troops in combat, defense of life, opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment with its hidden agenda of tax-funded abortion and same-sex marriage, lower taxes and reduced government regulation of the private sector, school prayer, defeat of Marxism-Leninism in its various permutations and manifestations, individual Second Amendment rights, the establishment of official diplomatic recognition of the Vatican, support for tuition tax credits for parochial schooling." After leaving public service, she maintained much of Reagan's core agenda remained to be implemented and that it ought to serve as a continuing issue blueprint for the Republican party.U.S. foreign policy
After 1988, Whittlesey continued to be active, behind the scenes, in advocating Reagan-inspired policies of prudence and restraint in foreign affairs. In 2009, she took a public stand against the U.S. engaging in unconstitutional, undeclared wars, such as, she maintained, in Iraq. She declared "the U.S. military and homeland security budgets consume resources that America can no longer afford to expend on arguably imprudent and utopian missions to remake other governments and cultures." She advocated caution in making military commitments and challenged the U.S. "to reassess the manpower and revenues devoted to maintaining a worldwide military presence and conduct a thorough reappraisal of what is and is not absolutely required to protect vital American interests" and to begin "a serious debate" on U.S. foreign policy in the aftermath of Republican defeats in 2006 and 2008. She also publicly criticized the U.S. government for exerting superpower hubris and "asserting raw Goliath power" against U.S. friends in the post-Cold War era, in particular, Switzerland.China connection
Whittlesey has maintained a long Whittlesey family connection to China that dates back to her husband's father's parents, Roger Burrell and Ann Withey Whittlesey, who had been Presbyterian China InlandChina Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
missionaries. Her husband's father, Albert Withey Whittlesey, was born in China. Her husband's uncle, Captain Henry Clark Whittlesey, also born in China, was a member of General Joseph W. Stilwell's 18-member U.S. Army Observer Group known as the"Dixie Mission" to the Communist Chinese in 1944 and was the only member of the group to die in combat during the mission.
Whittlesey's brother, Thomas Martin Ryan, an expert in Chinese language and literature, taught ancient Chinese literature briefly at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
, Birmingham, before turning to a career in direct mail advertising and communications. Whittlesey was invited to lead two delegations of prominent Americans to Beijing as guests of the Chinese—one in 1994 and the other in 2006. In 2005 she was the special guest in Beijing of President Hu Jintao at the celebration of the Chinese victory over Japan in World War II. In 2009 she was instrumental in having the China Rose (Rosa chinensis spontanea) planted in the new Chinese embassy garden in Washington as a gesture of regard between the gardening communities of the U.S. and the People's Republic of China.
Later career
After completing her second tour as United States Ambassador to Switzerland, Whittlesey was named as Chairman and President of the American Swiss Foundation in New York. For more than two decades, she worked “to protect and strengthen the friendship between the United States and Switzerland.” Whittlesey conceived of and established a young leaders' program that for 21 years has brought together young opinion leaders from Switzerland and the United States for an intensive, week-long conference in Switzerland. Participants meet senior public and private sector officials, engage in discussions on issues of the day, and build friendships. There are now over 800 alumni of this program.Continuing as a member of the Pennsylvania bar, Whittlesey also served on numerous corporate boards.
Personal life
Faith Ryan was born in 1939 in Jersey City, New JerseyJersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
to Martin Roy Ryan of Maybrook, New York, and Amy Jerusha Covell of Pope's Mills, New York. She grew up in Williamsville, New York, and graduated with honors from Williamsville Central High School
Williamsville South High School
Williamsville South High School is a high school located in Williamsville, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. South is one of three high schools in the Williamsville Central School District, along with Williamsville North High School and Williamsville East High School.-Origins, 1853-1892:In...
in 1956. In 1955 she was selected to participate in the American Field Service program to Flensburg, Germany. In 1958 she participated in the Experiment in International Living program to Austria. She earned a full-tuition scholarship to attend Wells College
Wells College
Wells College is a private coeducational liberal arts college located in Aurora, Cayuga County, New York, on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. Initially an all-women's institution, Wells became a co-ed college in Fall 2005....
in Aurora, New York, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude in 1960 with a BA in history. She also earned a full-tuition scholarship to the law school at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and a Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
grant to attend a summer program at the Hague Academy of International Law
Hague Academy of International Law
The Hague Academy of International Law is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands...
, The Netherlands. Whittlesey is also an accomplished classical pianist and former piano teacher. She has one sibling, Thomas Martin Ryan, who graduated Yale College magna cum laude in 1963, received an MA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1963 she married Roger Weaver Whittlesey of Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, a graduate of the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and Bowdoin College in Maine. Roger Whittlesey was an advertising executive from a prominent Philadelphia family that had included World War I Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and Harvard Law graduate Major Charles W. Whitttlesey of "Lost Battalion" fame and Captain Henry C. Whittlesey of the famous "Dixie Mission" to China. They had 3 children—Henry Clark Whittlesey (b. 12-18-65), Amy Elizabeth Whittlesey O'Neill (b. 9-19-67), and William Weaver Whittlesey (b. 10-18-72) -- and 10 grandchildren. The marriage lasted 11 years until Roger Whittlesey's suicide in March 1974.
Because her father was a "Roman Catholic in the Irish tradition" it has been incorrectly assumed that Whittlesey grew up Catholic, when in fact her mother's family did not approve of her father's Catholicism. "[S]o he left the Catholic Church. He attended the Methodist Church with my mother and brother, Tom, and me. I was thus raised as a Methodist. As a family we went to the Williamsville, New York, Methodist Church every Sunday. I went to regular Sunday school and sang in the choirs." Her husband's family was Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
. Whittlesey converted to Roman Catholicism in 2000 in Staten Island, New York. She was baptized and confirmed by Father Michael Reilly, principal of St. Joseph's By-the-Sea High School in Staten Island, New York.
For 19 years until February 2008, Whittlesey served as President and Chairman of the Board of the American Swiss Foundation and since then has been Chairman Emeritus. She was a member of the Board of Directors (and fomer Chairman for 3 years) of Christian Freedom International
Christian Freedom International
Christian Freedom International is an American human rights organization based in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, whose stated mission is to "help those who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ." CFI operates as a 501 nonprofit organization and relies on voluntary, private support from...
, an organization dedicated to assisting persecuted Christians. She is a member of the Council of American Ambassadors and also a member of the Board of Advisers of the Reagan Alumni Association. She also served as a member—and for 6 years as Chairman—of the Board of the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. She is a member of the International Advisory Board for Cancer of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, one of the teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School. She is a longtime member of the University Club of Washington, D.C., and for several years has served on the Newsmax International Advisory Board.
Honors Whittlesey has received over the years include
- a Ford Foundation grant to attend The Hague Academy of International Law, The Netherlands (1962)
- selection by the American Council of Young Political Leaders as a member of a delegation traveling to China (1979)
- three honorary doctorates (from Widener University, 1982; Boston University, 1985; and King's College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1986)
- The Wells College Outstanding Alumnus Award (1984)
- the Certificate of Appreciation from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Warehousemen, and Helpers of America (1985) in recognition of her "outstanding contribution to the trade union movement" and particularly the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
- the Reagan Revolution Medal of Honor (1989)
- At-Large Member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (2001)
- the Stratton Prize for Intercultural Achievement (2003), received at the Harvard Club in Boston, in recognition of her work to promote better U.S.-Swiss understanding
- the Ball for Life Award (2003) to benefit Good Counsel Homes at the New York Athletic Club
- Williamsville Central (now Williamsville South) High School (New York) Wall of Fame Award (2003)
- the Congress of Racial Equality Public Service Award (2004) at the Harlem Museum of the City of New York
- selection by the American Council of Young Political Leaders as a member of a delegation traveling to Japan (2005)
- the naming of a new Tea Rose, 'Faith Whittlesey', in her honor by the American Rose Society (2006)in New York City
- Republicans Abroad Switzerland Testimonial Dinner honoree (2006), Geneva, Switzerland
- serving on the U.S. Executive Committee of the Calvin Quincentennial (2009) held in Geneva, Switzerland
- Henry Morrison Flager Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Luncheon honoree (2009), Palm Beach, Florida
- the Christian Freedom International Freedom Award (2009) for her service on behalf of persecuted Christians worldwide
- the International Friend of the Rose Award (2010), presented in New York on behalf of the Great Rosarians of the World Committee by Clair Martin, Shannon Curator of Roses and Rose Gardens, Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens
- Tell Award presented by Ambassador of Switzerland Manuel Sager in Washington, D.C. (2011) for her work on creating better understanding of Switzerland in the U.S.
Job history
After her substitute teaching job in 1963 and 1964, Whittlesey held a variety of governmental positions: Special Assistant Attorney General in Pennsylvania assigned to the Pennsylvania Banking Code Revision Project (1964–65), law clerk for Federal District Court Judge Francis L. Van Dusen, E.D.P.A. (1965), a Special Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (1967–70), Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1970–1972). In 1972 she was elected as a Representative in the Pennsylvania Legislature representing the 166th Legislative District in Delaware CountyDelaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
. In 1974 she was reelected to the Legislature. In 1975 she was elected to the Delaware County Board of Commissioners, now known as the Delaware County Council and reelected in 1979. (Delaware County was at the time larger in population than 5 states of the Union.) She served alternately as Chairman and Vice Chairman. She lost the 1978 Republican primary for Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania.
While serving in the Delaware County government, Whittlesey briefly held her first job in the private sector, taking a part-time job as the token Republican at the law firm Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen LLP
WolfBlock
WolfBlock LLP was a large U.S. law firm and lobbying group based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The National Law Journal ranked WolfBlock the 149th largest firm in the United States, and the 10th largest in Philadelphia, by number of attorneys...
in Philadelphia. After leaving Switzerland, Whittlesey joined the New York-based law firm of Myerson & Kuhn
Myerson & Kuhn
Myerson & Kuhn was a New York-based law firm that operated from 1988-1990. It was formed by name partners Bowie Kuhn and Harvey D. Myerson, former partner in the defunct Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey who brought some 80 attorneys with him from the unraveling firm...
. until its 1990 bankruptcy filing In 1998 she started her own consulting firm, Maybrook Associates. She has also served on several corporate boards over the years, including the U.S. Advisory Board for Nestle
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
. Since 1989 she has been a board member of Schindler Elevator Corporation. Since 1992 she has served as a board member of Valassis Communications, Inc., and is a member of its audit committee.
She was admitted to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
of Pennsylvania in 1964 and remains in non-resident active status.
Books and forewords
- Soviet global strategy and the Caribbean: America by the throat? , Rockford InstituteRockford InstituteRockford Institute is a conservative think-tank associated with paleoconservatism, based in Rockford, Illinois. It is known for the John Randolph Club, and publishes Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture....
, 1984. - Faith Whittlesey, Edson I. Gaylord. Straight talk on the economy: The capital goods industry between the great depressions of the 1930s and the 1980s, Rockford Institute, 1984.
- Switzerland under siege, 1939-1945 : a neutral nation's struggle for survival edited by Leo Schelbert, foreword by Faith Whittlesey (Picton Press, 2000) ISBN 0-89725-414-7
Articles
- "America must treat its Swiss friend with care," by Faith Whittlesey
- "Brazil Goes Red" By Faith Whittlesey
- "Small Arms in a Big, Brutal World," by Faith Whittlesey
- "No More Embassies For Sale, Please" By Faith Whittlesey
- "And the Hillary Factor" by Faith Whittlesey
- "Nazi Gold," by Faith Whittlesey, from The Wall Street Journal (1996)
- "Brazil's gathering clouds" by Faith Whittlesey, from The Washington Times, October 1, 2002, page A17
- "Switzerland on Trial," Ambassadors REVIEW,Council of American Ambassadors, 1997.
- "Switzerland and the Honor of America," Ambassadors REVIEW,Council of American Ambassadors, 1998.
Collected papers
Whittlesey's Collected Papers are housed at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.External links
- Amb. Whittlesey's writings at the American Swiss Foundation
- Bio page at the Council of American Ambassadors
- Official State Department Bio
- Her wedding announcement
- Blue-Blood Breakup
- “Die USA negieren Abkommen” an interview with Faith Whittlesey (in German)