Ambassador Donald P. Gregg’s Memoir: Pot Shards

Details: Wednesday, November 05 , 2014 | 12:00 PM

About the Speaker Title: Ambassador Donald P. Gregg’s Memoir: Pot Shards
About the Speaker: 2014-11-05 12:00:00
Event Name: $10 Members | $20 Guests | Explorer and YPN Members are FREE but must register
Event Time: ../tickets/2014/2014_11_05__amb-gregg__ticket.html
Event Link:   (From New Academia Publishing) Donald Phinney Gregg, born in 1927, grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He served in the Army in l945–47, graduated cum laude in philosophy from Williams College in 1951, and immediately joined CIA as a paramilitary officer. He served on Saipan and in Japan (ten years), Burma, Vietnam, and Korea, where he was chief of station. Seconded to the NSC staff at the White House in 1979, Gregg served there and as national security adviser to Vice President George Bush until going to Korea as ambassador in 1989. From 1993 to 2009, Gregg ran the nonprofit Korea Society in New York. He now chairs the Pacific Century Institute in Los Angeles and made his sixth trip to North Korea in February 2014. Gregg lives in Armonk, New York, with his wife of sixty years, Meg Curry Gregg.
Custom HTML field content: About the Speaker:
Custom HTML field 2 title:   (From New Academia Publishing) Pot Shards is his memoir. It tells of a philosophy major who graduated from college in 1951 and immediately joined CIA when told, "You'll jump out of airplanes and save the world!" With raucous humor, he describes his parachute training and arctic survival course in Idaho. His book is a window into the Cold War-era CIA, both its failings (twenty years in a Chinese jail for a close friend) and unheralded successes, including Gregg's role in saving the life of Kim Dae-jung, a Korean political dissident who later, as president, won the Nobel Peace Prize. Gregg colorfully describes his tours in Japan, Burma, Vietnam, and South Korea. His four years dealing with the Vietnam War illustrate clearly the difficulties of speaking truth to power with sharp-edged encounters with Robert McNamara, Curtis LeMay, and various generals. Gregg worked effectively against torture when encountered in both Vietnam and Korea. In the White House, Gregg was impressed by Vice President Bush's value as "the rudder on Reagan's sailboat," unseen but imperative. He recounts his travels with Bush to sixty-five countries with both humor and discernment-- Thatcher at the top, Mugabe at the bottom. Gregg served both as CIA station chief in Seoul, 1973-75, and as U.S. ambassador to Korea, 1989-93. He later made more than fifty trips to Seoul as chairman of The Korea Society. Now, as chairman of the Pacific Century Institute, the former diplomat, once feared and disliked by North Korea, has visited that secretive nation six times, as recently as February 2014. Gregg always stresses dialogue over demonization in dealing with the North Koreans.
Custom HTML field 2 content: About the book:
Third Tab Title: Join The Korea Society
Custom HTML field 3 title: <img alt="JoinTKS" src="images/photos/JoinTKS.jpg" height="102" width="237" /> BECOME A MEMBER • <a target="_blank" href="index.php? option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=271&Itemid=432">Individuals</a> • <a target="_blank" href="index.php? option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=186&Itemid=440">Corporations</a>
Registration Form: FOLLOW US
Summit External URL: <a href="forms/newform.html" target="_blank"><img style="float: left; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: -20px;" src="images/Join_Support/email_icon.png" alt="email icon" height="52" width="53" /></a><a href="forms/newform.html" target="_blank">E-News sign-up </a> <hr style="clear: both; margin: 40px 0 20px 0;" /> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/koreasociety" target="_blank"><img style="margin-right: 8px;" src="images/Join_Support/facebook_icon.jpg" alt="facebook icon" height="53" width="53" /></a><a href="https://twitter.com/koreasociety" target="_blank"><img style="margin-right: 8px;" src="images/Join_Support/tweeter_icon.jpg" alt="tweeter icon" height="53" width="53" /></a><a href="http://vimeo.com/koreasociety" target="_blank"><img style="margin-right: 8px;" src="images/Join_Support/vimeo_icon.jpg" alt="vimeo icon" height="53" width="53" /></a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheKoreaSociety" target="_blank"><img src="images/Join_Support/YouTube_icon.png" alt="YouTube icon" height="53" width="53" /></a>

2014 11 05 amb-gregg icon Donald P. Gregg, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and Chairman Emeritus of The Korea Society, discusses his fascinating new memoir, Pot Shards. The book relates experiences from a career that includes thirty-one years as a CIA operations officer and ten years in the White House, which culminated in an appointment as the National Security Advisor to then-Vice President George H. W. Bush. A reception and book signing will follow the program.

Ambassador Donald P. Gregg’s Memoir: Pot Shards

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 | 12 PM

11:30 AM | Registration & Light Fare

12:00 PM | Discussion

If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Lee or (212) 759-7525, ext. 313.

$10 Members | $20 Nonmembers

~ Explorer and YPN Members are free but must register here .~