J. Christopher Stevens

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = J. Christopher Stevens

|image = Ambassador christopher stevens.jpg

|caption = Official portrait, 2012

|office = 10th United States Ambassador to Libya

|president = Barack Obama

|term_start = June 7, 2012

|term_end = September 11, 2012

|predecessor = Gene Cretz

|successor = Laurence Pope
(as Chargé d'affaires){{cite web |url=http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2267821&language=en |title=New US Charge D'Affairs starts his work in Libya |work=KUNA |date=October 10, 2012 |accessdate=October 12, 2012}}

|birth_name = John Christopher Stevens

|birth_date = {{birth date|1960|4|18}}

|birth_place = Grass Valley, California, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2012|9|11|1960|4|18}}

|death_place = Benghazi, Libya

|death_cause = Assassinated during 2012 Benghazi attack

|party = Democratic

|education = University of California, Berkeley (BA)
University of California, Hastings (JD)
National Defense University (MS)

}}

John Christopher Stevens (April 18, 1960{{cite web |title=California birth index search |url=http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/calbirths?c=search&first=john+&last=stevens&spelling=Exact&4_year=1960&4_month=4&4_day=0&5=&7=&SubmitSearch.x=0&SubmitSearch.y=0 |work=FamilyTreeLegends |accessdate=September 11, 2012 |archive-date=November 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116102035/http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/calbirths?c=search&first=john+&last=stevens&spelling=Exact&4_year=1960&4_month=4&4_day=0&5=&7=&SubmitSearch.x=0&SubmitSearch.y=0 |url-status=dead }} – September 11, 2012) was an American career diplomat and lawyer who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from May 22, 2012, to September 11, 2012.{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/193075.htm|title=Stevens, J. Christopher|work=U.S. Department of State |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912174846/https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/193075.htm |url-status=dead|archive-date=September 12, 2012}} Stevens was killed when the U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked by members of Ansar al-Sharia on September 11–12, 2012.,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19570254|title=US ambassador 'killed in Libya'|work=BBC News|date=September 11, 2012|access-date=September 11, 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444426404577647060576633348|title=U.S. Ambassador to Libya Is Killed|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|author=Margaret Coker|date=September 11, 2012|access-date=September 11, 2012}} making Stevens the eighth U.S. Ambassador to be killed while in office.{{cite web|title=US ambassadors killed in the line of duty|url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2012/09/12/ambassadors-killed-the-line-duty/muJr5wvpwTymVtlcfO9QZK/story.html|work=Boston|access-date=September 11, 2012}}

Early life and education

Stevens was born on April 18, 1960, in Grass Valley, California, the eldest of three siblings born to Jan S. Stevens, a California Assistant Attorney General, and his wife Mary J. Stevens (née Floris; born 1937),{{cite web|title=Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens' Mother Spells Out Family Legacy|url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/ambassador-j.-christopher-stevens%E2%80%99-mother-spells-out-family-legacy-136422|work=Indian Country Today|access-date=August 18, 2013|author=Jenny Monnet|date=September 28, 2012|quote=Stevens was a 1/16th enrolled citizen of the Chinook Indian Nation}} from a West Coast family of French, Swedish and Chinook ancestry.[http://www.chinookobserver.com/free/slain-ambassador-was-member-of-local-chinook-tribe/article_7e82f05e-fde2-11e1-9b75-0019bb2963f4.html "Slain ambassador was member of local Chinook Tribe"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916210235/http://www.chinookobserver.com/free/slain-ambassador-was-member-of-local-chinook-tribe/article_7e82f05e-fde2-11e1-9b75-0019bb2963f4.html |date=September 16, 2012 }} Chinook Observer. September 13, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012. Stevens was raised in Northern California and had two younger siblings, Anne (born 1962) and Thomas (born 1965).{{cite web|url=http://www.allgov.com/news/appointments-and-resignations/ambassador-to-libya-who-is-chris-stevens?news=844191|title=Ambassador to Libya: Who Is Chris Stevens?|date= March 18, 2012|work=allgov|author=Matt Bewig|access-date=September 11, 2012}}

Stevens' parents divorced in 1975, and both remarried. Stevens himself never married.{{cite web |url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/54885469-68/stevens-california-family-ago.html.csp |title=Stevens Remembered as a Man Who Cared Deeply for Libya |newspaper=Salt Lake City Tribune |date=September 11, 2012}} His mother, a cellist, joined the Marin Symphony Orchestra (1969—2004),[http://www.marinsymphony.org/death-u-s-ambassador-libya-hits-close-home/ The death of Chris Stevens, U.S. Ambassador to Libya, hits close to home.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916205819/http://www.marinsymphony.org/death-u-s-ambassador-libya-hits-close-home/ |date=September 16, 2012 }} and in 1976 married Robert Commanday, a music critic with the San Francisco Chronicle.California Marriage Index, 1960–1985, accessed on ancestry.com on September 17, 2012{{cite web|url=http://napa.patch.com/articles/ambassador-chris-stevens-a-very-smart-very-funny-guy-says-cal-roommate-austin-tichenor|title=Slain Ambassador Chris Stevens was 'A Very Smart, Very Funny Guy' says Cal Roommate Austin Tichenor|work=Napa Patch|date=September 11, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131150211/http://napa.patch.com/articles/ambassador-chris-stevens-a-very-smart-very-funny-guy-says-cal-roommate-austin-tichenor|archive-date=January 31, 2013}}

Stevens was an AFS Intercultural Programs exchange student in Spain during summer of 1977, and graduated from Piedmont High School{{cite web|author1=Anita Creamer |author2=The Sacramento Bee |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/09/12/168197/slain-us-ambassador-chris-stevens.html |title=Slain U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens had Northern California roots|work=McClatchydc|access-date=October 11, 2012}} in 1978. He earned BA degree in history in 1982 at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. From 1983 to 1985, he taught English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. He graduated with JD degree from University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1989, and received MS degree from the National War College of National Defense University in 2010.

Career

=Lawyer=

Prior to joining the United States Foreign Service, Stevens was an international trade attorney based in Washington, D.C. He was admitted as an active member of the State Bar of California on January 26, 1990; he went on an inactive status on August 1, 1991, and remained an inactive member for the remainder of his career.State Bar of California, [http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/145822 Attorney Profile for John Christopher Stevens]. Retrieved September 13, 2012.

=U.S. Foreign Service=

Stevens joined the United States Foreign Service in 1991. His early overseas assignments included: deputy principal officer and political section chief in Jerusalem, political officer in Damascus, consular/political officer in Cairo, and consular/economic officer in Riyadh. In Washington, Stevens served as director of the Office of Multilateral Nuclear and Security Affairs, Pearson Fellow with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Richard Lugar, special assistant to Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Iran desk officer, and staff assistant in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

He had served in Libya twice previously: as Deputy Chief of Mission, 2007 to 2009, and as Special Representative to the National Transitional Council, March 2011 to November 2011, during Libyan revolution. He arrived in Tripoli in May 2012 as U.S. Ambassador to Libya.

Stevens spoke English, French, and some Arabic.{{cite web|author1=Bradley Klapper|title=Chris Stevens: US envoy to Arab world|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/chris-stevens-us-envoy-arab-world|agency=Associated Press|access-date=July 23, 2014|date=September 12, 2012|archive-date=July 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714191413/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/chris-stevens-us-envoy-arab-world|url-status=dead}}

Death

During the 2012 Benghazi attack, a fire was set against the wall of the main consulate building while three Americans were inside—Stevens, Sean Smith, and a security officer.{{cite news|title=In Libya, deadly fury took U.S. envoys by surprise|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/libya-ambassador-assault-idUSL5E8KCLHR20120913|work=Reuters|author=Hadeel Al Shalchi|date=September 13, 2012|access-date=September 13, 2012}} According to U.S. officials, the security officer escaped; the staff found Smith dead. They were unable to locate Stevens before being driven from the building under large arms fire. Shortly after midnight, local civilians found Stevens and brought him to the Benghazi Medical Centre, in a state of cardiac arrest.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/opinion/what-libya-lost-when-ambassador-stevens-died.html|title = What Libya Lost|last = Chorin|first = Ethan|date = September 14, 2012|accessdate = September 11, 2024|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}} Medical personnel tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at about 2 a.m. local time on September 12, 2012. Later reports suggested that the attack was coordinated and planned, with any protests either coincidental or possibly diversionary.{{cite web|last=CBS/AP|title=U.S. officials: Deadly Libya attack likely planned|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57511043/u.s-officials-deadly-libya-attack-likely-planned/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017122036/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57511043/u.s-officials-deadly-libya-attack-likely-planned|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 17, 2012|work=CBS News|access-date=September 11, 2012}} Libyan president Muhammad Magariaf blamed elements of Ansar al-Sharia for the killing, linking them to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Libyan officials suggested that it might have been a revenge attack mounted by loyalists (of deceased Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi) who were defeated in the Libyan Civil War the previous year.{{cite web|title=Libya official says Gaddafi loyalists killed U.S. diplomats|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-usa-attack-loyalists-idUSBRE88B0K920120912|work=Reuters|first=Andrew |last=Hammond|access-date=May 19, 2016|date=September 12, 2012}}

The doctors who tended to Stevens said that no visible physical wounds were found on his body and that he died from smoke inhalation, making hypoxia the cause of his death.{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Diplomats' bodies return to U.S., and Libyan guards recount deadly riot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/world/middleeast/ambassadors-body-back-in-us-libya-guards-recount-riot.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028163757/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/world/middleeast/ambassadors-body-back-in-us-libya-guards-recount-riot.html |page=A11 |location=New York City |date=September 15, 2012 |volume=CLXI |issue=74 |first1=Peter |last1=Baker |first2=David D. |last2=Kirkpatrick |first3=Suliman Ali |last3=Zway |first4=Steven Lee |last4=Myers |editor1-first=Kahn |editor1-last=Joseph |editor2-first=Dean |editor2-last=Baquet |editor3-first=Monica |editor3-last=Drake |editor4-first=Sulzberger |editor4-last=Sulzberger |editor5-first=Sulzberger Jr. |editor5-last=Arthur Ochs |editor6-first=Meghan |editor6-last=Louttit |archive-date=October 28, 2012}}

File:John Christoper Stevens Grave Stone 2013.jpg

The surviving Americans were taken to a safe house. A rescue squad consisting of eight former U.S. military was sent from Tripoli, the capital. They were ambushed and the safe house came under attack. Two more Americans died, including one sent from Tripoli; several were wounded.[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/assault-on-us-consulate-in-benghazi-leaves-4-dead-including-us-ambassador-j-christopher-stevens/ Libya: Assault on U.S. consulate in Benghazi leaves 4 dead, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens] CBS News September 11, 2012[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19570254 US confirms ambassador killed in Benghazi Libya] BBC News September 11, 2012 Later reports identified the victims as Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty, both former Navy SEALs working as security and intelligence contractors.{{cite web|title=Statement on the Deaths of Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty in Benghazi, Libya |url=https://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/09/197732.htm |work=U.S. Department of State |date=September 13, 2012 |access-date=September 14, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920201312/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/09/197732.htm |archive-date=September 20, 2012 }}{{cite web|title=Two SEAL vets from SD killed in Libya|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/sep/13/libya-embassy-victim-encinitas/|work=U-T San Diego|access-date=September 14, 2012}}

Stevens is buried in New Elm Ridge Cemetery (formerly known as Forester's Cemetery) in Grass Valley, California.

References

External links

{{YouTube|y_SIIxholL4|Introducing U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens}} – U.S. Embassy Tripoli video
[http://www.rememberingchrisstevens.com Memorial site]
[https://www.facebook.com/ChrisStevensMemorialPage/ Ambassador Christopher Stevens FB Memorial Page]
{{C-SPAN|9278591}}