Appointment of Charles A. Gillespie, Jr., as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

The President today announced the appointment of Charles A. Gillespie, Jr., as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Mr. Gillespie, an experienced career diplomat, will be Senior Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the National Security Council.

Mr. Gillespie was Ambassador to Chile from 1988 through 1991 and Ambassador to Colombia from 1985 to 1988. From 1983 to 1985, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Caribbean and Deputy for Operations in the State Department's Inter-American Affairs Bureau. While in that position he was named Chief of Mission in Grenada as United States forces landed there in October 1983. Mr. Gillespie is a career minister in the U.S. Foreign Service, which he entered in 1965. His early assignments included Embassies at Manila, Jakarta, Brussels, Mexico City, Managua, and the U.S. mission to NATO.

Born in Long Beach, CA, Mr. Gillespie graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles. He served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army in Europe. He has done graduate work at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Public Affairs and is a graduate of the National War College. Mr. Gillespie is married to Vivian Havens; they have two children.