December 2002 Newsletter

THE RESIGNATION OF SECRETARY OF
STATE CYRUS VANCE

by
David F. Trask

In April 1980 the Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, resigned his office. He found himself unable to support President Jimmy Carter's decision to resolve the Iranian hostage crisis by force. At the time I served as the chief of the Office of the Historian in the Department of State, reporting to the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Hodding Carter III, for whom I had developed considerable respect. On the day of Vance's resignation, I attended a meeting that Mr. Carter called to make known the events of the day to his senior staff.

Immediately after this gathering I wrote a memorandum that summarized its substance. When I learned of Mr. Vance's recent death it occurred to me that I ought to share its contents with the SHAFR membership. The text follows with two appended documents, the Secretary's letter of resignation and the President's response.

The reference to "Bill Dyess" is to a Foreign Service officer, William Dyess, later Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and also an ambassador.

MEMORANDUM FOR THE FILES

This morning, April 28, just before Secretary Vance announced his resignation publicly, I received word to attend a meeting with Hodding Carter III at 2:00 p.m. There follows my recollection of what transpired in this gathering. Some twenty-five people were there. I take note of it because I doubt that many such meetings have taken place before in the Department of State.

Hodding's purpose was to provide a history of events, surrounding Mr. Vance's departure, and he did so in a quiet, utterly serious way. On most occasions he relieves situations with a certain banter or humor. Today he did not indulge in any, but spoke directly and clearly to the point.

Secretary Vance took a vacation around April 10, a long weekend in Florida. On April 11, the National Security Council held a meeting, and took the decision to try to release the hostages. Deputy Secretary Warren Christopher attended this meeting, and he thought that the Secretary had previously acquiesced in the decision to free the hostages in Tehran. Such was definitely not the case. Hodding did not say how Christopher had stood in the meeting.

When the Secretary learned of the decision, he opposed it, and did so on a good number of occasions as the matter passed through various stages after April 11. He had a good number of opportunities to talk to the President. His remonstrances ultimately led to a full-dress meeting of the National Security Council to review the decision, but he was the only one who opposed it. Sometime before April 21 he came to the conclusion that he would have to resign.

On April 21 he wrote to the President, resigning his office. A copy of this letter is appended. The President made a good number of efforts to get the Secretary to reconsider. Mr. Vance at one point considered the possibility of proposing that he be allowed to oppose the hostage matter publicly, but he soon realized that a Secretary of State could not support everything but one decision of a major nature, and this solution went by the board. He might have gone public but Hodding argued that Secretary Vance would have deemed any such procedure treasonous. He was prepared to accept the necessity of resigning, but he was not prepared to torpedo the President's action. Hodding insisted that the two men remain friends, and parted as friends. Apparently, no acrimony accompanied the process. The Secretary has even volunteered to help the President in any possible way, presumably in the campaign or by undertaking special missions.

Hodding insisted that the resignation was not the culmination of accumulating grievances, although there had been prior problems. The Secretary resigned, Hodding said, because of the particular circumstances surrounding the decision to free the hostages by force. He acted on principle. He will be making a public record of all these matters in due course.

Hodding said that he thought the new secretary would be named very soon. He said flatly that it would not be Brzezinski. He thought Mr. Christopher had as good a chance as any, and he vouchsafed the view that "Chris" wanted the position. In connection with the role of the National Security Adviser, Hodding indicated how impossible the situation was -- i.e., the existence of a policy person rather than an administrative type as the Adviser. He noted that Henry Kissinger had taken the same position. (obviously, although Hodding did not go further, he believes that the NSC is the villain in the piece. He said that Vance had not resigned because of being cut out of the NSC procedure but on the question of principle.)

Hodding indicated that no one was considering an early departure besides Vance. (He had made a survey of his colleagues and gotten this result.) He himself would remain for the moment, presumably through the "transition," but he did not believe that he would be here for any great length of time.

Bill Dyess asked whether certain things should not be kept quiet, but Hodding immediately said that we were free to convey the information he had covered along to our families and friends.

David F. Trask
The Historian, Office of the Historian
Bureau of Public Affairs

THE SECRETARY OF STATE
WASHINGTON

Monday, April 21

Dear Mr. President:

I have the greatest respect and admiration for you and it is with a heavy heart that I submit my resignation. It has been a privilege and a high honor to serve you and our nation. I look with pride and satisfaction at the many actions and new directions which have marked our foreign policy under your leadership. the Panama Canal Treaty, the Camp David Accords, the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China, the strengthening of our military forces and our alliances, the negotiations of the SALT II Agreement, the Zimbabwe settlement, and the new thrust and direction given to our relations with the Third World are several of these major steps.

I know how deeply you have pondered your decision on Iran. I wish I could support you in it. But for the reasons we have discussed I cannot.

You would not be well served in the coming weeks and months by a Secretary of State who could not offer you the public backing you need on an issue and decision of such extaordinary importance -- no matter how firm I remain in my support on other issues, as I do, or how loyal I am to you as our leader. Such a situation would be untenable and our relationship, which I value so highly, would constantly suffer.

I shall always be grateful to you for having had the opportunity to serve. I shall always have for you the deepest respect and affection, and you know you can count on my support for your continued leadership of our nation.

Respectfully yours,
Cy [Cyrus]

The White House
Washington

April 28,1980

To Secretary of State Cyrus Vance,

I accept your resignation with regret, but with deep appreciation for your dedicated and effective service to me and our country.

As mentioned in your letter, we have had notable accomplishments under your leadership as Secretary of State. I share your pride in what has been achieved.

Because you could not support my decision regarding the rescue operation in Iran, you have made the correct decision to resign. I know this is a matter of principle with you, and I respect the reasons you have expressed to me.

You leave your post with the admiration and best wishes of a grateful nation. Our close friendship and partnership during challenging times have been a source of strength and reassurance to me.

I look forward to your continuing advice and counsel on matters of importance to the United States, our country, which you have served so well.

Your friend,
Jimmy Carter