Gordon Giffin
| Gordon Giffin | |
|---|---|
_with_US_Air_Force_General_Myers_(left)_and_USAF_Lieutenant_General_George_Macdonald.JPEG)
in center with others
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| United States Ambassador to Canada | |
| In office September 17, 1997 – January 20, 2001 |
|
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | James Blanchard |
| Succeeded by | Paul Cellucci |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 29, 1949 Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Duke University Emory University |
| Profession | Attorney |
Gordon D. Giffin (born December 29, 1949)[1] became the thirty-fourth Ambassador of the United States to Canada on September 17, 1997.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Gordon Giffin moved to Canada before his first birthday. He lived in Montreal and Toronto for 17 years, attending Valois Park Elementary School in Pointe Claire and Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke. Giffin earned a B.A. from Duke University in 1971 and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia in 1974.
The Ambassador was nominated for his position by President Bill Clinton on July 1, 1997, and confirmed by the full United States Senate on July 31. Unique among U.S. envoys to Canada, he spent seventeen years of his childhood growing up in Canada.[citation needed]
Prior to his appointment, Giffin practiced law as a senior partner in the firm of Long, Aldridge & Norman (now McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP). He has since returned to McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP and heads the firm's Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs department. While on an ambassador's trip to Montreal he took in a Montreal Canadiens hockey game, where a Molson Ice was dumped on his head for his outward support of Bill Clinton. From 1975 to 1979, he was Legislative Director and Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Sam Nunn in Washington, D.C.
He is only the second U.S. envoy to Canada in history to have come from the southern part of the United States (the first, William Walton Butterworth of Louisiana, served from 1962 to 1968; David Wilkins of South Carolina served from 2005 to 2009.)
References
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External links
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State document "Gordon D. Giffin".
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | US Ambassador to Canada July 31, 1997 – 2001 |
Succeeded by Paul Cellucci |
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- Articles with unsourced statements from January 2011
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the United States Department of State
- 1950 births
- Living people
- Directors of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- Ambassadors of the United States to Canada
- Duke University alumni
- Emory University alumni
- Emory University School of Law alumni
- Political staffers
