Edward Douglass White Jr. (November 3, 1845 – May 19, 1921) was an American lawyer politician and judge. He was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1894 to 1910 and as the ninth Chief Justice of the United States from 1910 until 1921. He was a descendant of the Lee family of Virginia
White grew up on his family’s sugar plantation in Louisiana. His father had been a US Representative and Governor. When the Civil War broke out he left his studies in Georgetown, returned to Louisiana and enlisted in the Confederate Army. He later gained the rank of lieutenant. There are varying and contradicting tales of his exploits during the war. He was taken prisoner by Union Troops.
After his release he returned to Louisiana and finished his studies in law. He then got involved in politics.
White was politically affiliated with two-time governor Francis T. Nicholls (1876–1880; 1888–1892), a former Confederate general. He was Nicholls’ campaign manager in the 1888 Louisiana gubernatorial election, which was riddled with fraud and the intimidation of African American voters to ensure Nicholls’ election – Wikipedia
We was appointed a Associate Justice to the US Supreme Court in 1894. He voted with the 7–1 majority in Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality.
He was nominated to the post of Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court by President William Taft. He served in that post from 1910 until his death in 1921.
White’s membership in the Ku Klux Klan is a matter of contention. Some authors, such as Michael Newton, claim White was a “Reconstruction Era Klansman.” Other reports question whether there is enough evidence to support that claim, though noting that membership in secret societies such as the KKK can be difficult to document… Movie maker D.W. Griffith claimed that when he met White, and told White of the subject matter of The Birth of a Nation, White said “I was a member of the Klan, sir.” Griffith then arranged a screening of his film for the nine members of the Supreme Court and members of Congress. Wikipedia
White later in life expressed regret for his activities in the Confederate Army. He died of a heart attach in May 1921.
William Healy Sullivan (October 12, 1922 – October 11, 2013) was an American Foreign Service career officer who served as US ambassador to Laos from 1964 to 1969, the Philippines from 1973 to 1977, and Iran from 1977 to 1979.
Sullivan served in the US Navy during World War II as a gunnery officer on the destroyer USS Hambleton. After the war he completed his degree and was the second highest honor student (salutatorian) in his class. He joined the Foreign Service where he was known for forcefully speaking his mind.
In 1964, Sullivan began his tenure as Ambassador to Laos. Pursuant to an order by President John F. Kennedy, all U.S. military operations in Laos were under the direct supervision of the Ambassador. As Ambassador to Laos during Project 404, and he also personally directed the bombing of the Ho Chi Minh trail. This civilian control and the restriction on military operations rankled the military – Wikipedia
He was also involved in Lima Site 85 in Laos. The site was a mountaintop covert radar site that guided the bombing of war industry in North Vietnam. The site was attacked and destroyed. “Throughout January and February, intelligence collected by the Hmongs confirmed that a major assault on Lima Site 85 was being prepared, but Sullivan and the US military took no steps to strengthen the defenses or evacuate personnel.” The PAVN ( North Vietnamese army) attacked the site and destroyed it. The PAVN victory proved to be a significant one, as they had succeeded in knocking out a major asset of the USAF, which had inflicted heavy damage to North Vietnam’s limited industrial infrastructure Wikipedia
Sullivan’s next post was ambassador to Iran. During his tenure the Iranian Revolution occurred. He published an internal memo entitled Thinking the Unthinkable. He advocated getting the Shah to leave Iran and making a deal between the Iranian military and the Ayatollah.
Sullivan realized the Shah was doomed and proposed a deal between the Iranian military and Ayatollah Khomeini to prevent a total radical takeover, mistakenly believing a stable transitional government could be formed. Misreading Khomeini’s Intentions: Sullivan famously compared Khomeini to a “Gandhi-like figure,” viewing him as a religious figurehead who might return to a quiet role in Qom rather than seeking absolute political power. Wikipedia
In January of 1979 the Shah, convinced by president Jimmy Carter, left Iran. His departure was marked by the creation of the Bakhtiar government. This was the moderate government envisioned by Sullivan to oversee a transition away from the constitutional monarchy. When the Ayatollah returned to Iran everything went to hell.
On February 1, 1979, the exiled Khomeini returned to Tehran. Days later, with Tehran in revolution and all organs of state essentially nonexistent, Under Secretary of State David D. Newsom called from the White House Situation Room with a question for Sullivan: “The National Security Advisor (Brzezinski) has asked for your view of the possibility of a coup d’état by the Iranian military to take over from the Bakhtiar government, which is clearly faltering.” Sullivan allegedly replied, “Tell Brzezinski (another State Department leader who disagreed with Sullivan) to fuck off.””That’s not a very helpful comment,” Newsom noted. “You want it translated into Polish?” Sullivan hung up. Wikipedia
See The Shah, the Ayatollah and the CIA pt 3 4dforum
In the end the US embassy was overrun and the staff taken hostage, after Sullivan left the country. Carter’s inability to get the hostages released is cited as one of the main reasons he lost the 1979 election to Ronald Reagan.
Sullivan died in 2013.