Count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

 Wilhelm Hans Fredrik Wachtmeister (born 1923) is a Swedish career diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

 who served as the Swedish Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 for 15 years from 1974 to 1989, eventually becoming the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in 1986, as the longest-serving ambassador in the U.S. diplomatic corps

Diplomatic corps

The diplomatic corps or corps diplomatique is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body.The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission who represent their countries in another state or country...

. Wachtmeister is married to Countess Ulla Wachtmeister and has one son, Count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

 Erik Wachtmeister

Erik Wachtmeister

Count Erik Wachtmeister is the founding chairman of ASMALLWORLD Holdings, Inc. The son of Swedish Ambassador Count Wilhelm Wachtmeister and Countess Ulla Wachtmeister, he earned a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD in 1983...

, and two daughters.

Swedish Ambassador to the U.S.

Wachtmeister's predecessor as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps was the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

's ambassador, which led Wachtmeister to famously quip that this was the first time that a Count had succeeded a communist. Despite being the Swedish Ambassador during a period of turbulent U.S.-Swedish relations engendered by Swedish opposition to the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 and soon-to-be Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 Olof Palme

Olof Palme

Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...

's declaration that President Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 was a war criminal for his decision to bomb Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, Wachtmeister managed to forge good relations with successive U.S. Presidential administrations, and even became the first President Bush

George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

's favorite tennis partner.

Diplomatic Life

Wachtmeister's first prominent role within the diplomatic community was as U.N. General Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. An early Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hammarskjöld...

's personal assistant from 1958 to 1961. Wachtmeister continued to serve in both the U.N. and elsewhere as part of the Swedish diplomatic corps.