Richard Holbrooke

A career diplomat who is well known within the Washington Beltway, Holbrooke became a familiar face to the rest of the country when he brokered a peace agreement among the warring factions in Bosnia, leading to the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. Educated at Brown, Holbrooke joined the U.S. State Department shortly after graduation and has worked in some of their most challenging assignments. Between stints at State, he has also developed a formidable reputation on Wall Street where he has cultivated a career in investment banking. In August 1999, Holbrooke was finally confirmed by the Senate as chief American diplomat to the United Nations, ending a 14-monthlong nomination process that languished amid partisan bickering and political maneuvering.