John B. Emerson

American lawyer

John B. Emerson

United States Ambassador to Germany
In office
August 26, 2013 – January 20, 2017
President| Barack Obama
Deputy| Kent Logsdon[1]
Preceded by| Phil Murphy
Succeeded by| Richard Grenell
Personal details
Born|

John Bonnell Emerson

(1954-01-11) January 11, 1954 (age 69)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party| Democratic
Spouse| Kimberly Marteau
Children| Hayley
Taylor
Jacqueline
Alma mater| Hamilton College, New York
University of Chicago

John Bonnell Emerson (born January 11, 1954) is an American diplomat, lawyer and the former United States Ambassador to Germany, having served from 2013 to 2017.[2] Emerson is the 2015 recipient of the State Department's Susan M Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to a non-career ambassador who has used private sector leadership and management skills to make a significant impact on bilateral or multilateral relations through proactive diplomacy.

## Biography[edit]

Emerson was raised in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and Larchmont, New York. He received his bachelor's degree in government and philosophy from Hamilton College in 1975 and earned a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1978.

He practiced law with Manatt, Phelps and Phillips and made partner in 1983.

He served as deputy campaign manager for Gary Hart's presidential campaign until its dissolution in May 1987; after questioning Hart about the weekend with Donna Rice after the story of their extramarital affair broke, Emerson said to another top aide, "I'm a team player. Hart can trust me to the moon. But I'm not buying this shit."[3]

He then served as chief deputy/chief of staff in the city attorney's office in Los Angeles, under City Attorney James K. Hahn. In 1988, Emerson was recognized as a "Rising Star" in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times.[4] Emerson narrowly lost a race for the California State Assembly in 1991.

He was active in a number of subsequent political campaigns, including serving as Bill Clinton's California campaign manager in 1992.[5][6] After Clinton was elected, Emerson worked as an assistant at the White House, as deputy director of intergovernmental affairs where he served as liaison to the nation's governors, and coordinated the administration's efforts to obtain congressional approval of the Uruguay Round of the GATT trade agreement. Emerson was particularly noted for his work as the president's chief liaison in dealing with California issues,[5] including the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.[7] He subsequently worked at Capital Group Companies, an international investment management company headquartered in Los Angeles, where he became president of private client services, serving in that capacity for 16 years.[8]

Emerson was the US ambassador to Germany. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 1, 2013 and sworn on August 7, 2013. Emerson arrived with his family in Berlin on August 15, 2013.[9][6][10]

## Personal life[edit]

Emerson is married to Kimberly Marteau Emerson, attorney and civic leader.[11][12] The couple has three daughters: Hayley, Taylor and Jacqueline Emerson. Prior and subsequent to moving to Germany, he and Kimberly were active in civic affairs, serving on a number of non-profit boards, including (for John), the Music Center of Los Angeles County, the LA Metropolitan YMCA, the Pacific Council on International Policy, the American Council on Germany, the German Marshall Fund, the Buckley School and Marlborough School; and for Kimberly, Human Rights Watch, United Friends of the Children, the USC Annenberg School Center on Public Diplomacy, United Way Germany, and the Archer School for Girls.

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Deputy Chief of Mission". August 24, 2015. Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
2. ^ Revesz, Rachel (January 20, 2017). "Donald Trump has fired all foreign US ambassadors with nobody to replace them". The Independent. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
3. ^ Cramer, Richard Ben (1992). What it takes : the way to the White House (1st ed.). New York: Random House. p. 448\. ISBN 0-394-56260-7. OCLC 24794262.
4. ^ "88 for 1988: Meet Southern California's Rising Stars". Los Angeles Times. 10 January 1988. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019.
5. ^ a b Paul Richter, "Mr. Fix-It : When things don't run right in California, the White House calls on John Emerson. His job? Ensuring that the politicians--and the voters--are happy.", Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1994.
6. ^ a b "Ambassador to Germany: Who Is John Emerson?", AllGov, June 24, 2013.
7. ^ Scott Harris, "Quake as a Political Mover and Shaker", Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1994.
8. ^ "New US ambassador arrives in Berlin with focus on trade issues", Deutsche Welle, August 15, 2013.
9. ^ "US-Botschafter Emerson tritt schwierigen Posten an - SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel Online (in German). Retrieved August 15, 2013.
10. ^ Marquis Who's Who on the Web
11. ^ "Kimberly Marteau Emerson". USC Center on Public Diplomacy.
12. ^ "Kimberly Marteau Emerson". Human Rights Watch. April 2015.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John B. Emerson.

* United States Diplomatic Mission to Germany: The Ambassador Archived 2020-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
* Mr. John B. Emerson & Ms. Kimberly Marteau Emerson at the Pacific Council

## External links[edit]

* Appearances on C-SPAN

Diplomatic posts

Preceded by

Phil Murphy

|  United States Ambassador to Germany
2013–2017  | Succeeded by

Richard Grenell

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