Allan Gotlieb

Allan Ezra Gotlieb, CC , LL.D , LL.B , MA (born February 28, 1928) is a Canadian public servant and author.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Gotlieb received his BA from the University of California at Berkeley, his MA from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and his LL.B degree from Harvard University, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review. In 1957 he joined the Department of External Affairs. From 1967 to 1968 he was assistant undersecretary and legal adviser. From 1968 to 1973 he was deputy minister of the Department of Communications, and from 1973 to 1976 deputy minister of Manpower and Immigration. From 1977 to 1981 he was an undersecretary at External Affairs.

Most notably, Gotlieb was Canadian ambassador to the United States from 1981 to 1989. During his high-profile years in Washington, he got to know then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Vice-President George H. Bush, and many senior officials in the Reagan White House, such as Caspar Weinberger, Michael Deaver, James Baker III, and George P. Schultz. An advocate of realism in international relations, Gotlieb became known as a skillful and respected player in the complex world of Washington power politics.

He and his wife Sondra Gotlieb were known for their dazzling parties attended by the most powerful figures in Washington. Sondra's book "Washington Rollercoaster" recounted the Gotliebs' high-powered years as glamorous hosts in Washington, when she also wrote a much-read column for the Washington Post. Sondra attracted a blaze of international publicity in 1986, when she slapped her social secretary at an official dinner she and her husband were hosting in honour of the Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney and U.S. Vice-President George H. Bush.

After he and Sondra returned to Canada in the early 1990s, they moved to Toronto's exclusive Rosedale neighbourhood and became the centre of establishment society in that city. Sondra began writing newspaper columns for "The Globe and Mail" and the "National Post", owned by Conrad Black, whose Hollinger Inc. was among Allan's numerous corporate directorships. After his return to Canada, Gotlieb became an influential figure and was well-connected in both the Canadian and American corporate elites. This marked a shift from his earlier career as a senior mandarin in Ottawa, where he had been a powerful figure and architect of many of Liberal prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's interventionist policies.

From 1989 to 1994 Gotlieb was chairman of the Canada Council. He was also publisher of "Saturday Night" magazine when it was owned by Conrad Black, and a senior counsel at the law firm, Stikeman Elliott. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1982 and was promoted to Companion in 1987. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Toronto in 2002 and by Concordia University in 2005.

Gotlieb is an honorary and former fellow of Wadham College, Oxford and was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He was also William Lyon MacKenzie King professor at Harvard University.

He is a member of the Carlyle Group's Canadian advisory board and a member of the [http://www.trilateral.org/membship/bios/ag.htm Trilateral Commission] . He is also chairman of Sotheby's Canada, former chaiman of the Ontario Heritage Foundation, and serves as chairman of the board of governors of the Donner Canadian Foundation, known for its annual literary prize. He is also a senior advisor in the law office of Bennett Jones.

Gotlieb is a prodigious art collector, notably of the work of 19th-century painter James Tissot. He and his wife donated their Tissot collection to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Allan is a strong proponent of a North American Union between Canada, the US and Mexico authoring a new article titled "Why not a grand bargain with the U.S.?" [http://www.canada.com/national/features/facingthecentury/story.html?id=11bbc8b4-63b4-4006-a294-c967887e2e94] which popularized the phrase "Grand Bargain".

When Ronald Reagan died in 2004, Gotlieb provided expert help in the commentary for CBC Newsworld's coverage of the state funeral, helping the CBC's senior parliamentary editor, Don Newman, who anchored the coverage, drawing from his experiences as Canadian ambassador to Washington when Reagan was president.

He published his diplomatic memoirs, "The Washington Diaries", in 2006.

Family

He married Sondra Gotlieb (née Kaufman) in December 1955. The Gotliebs had three children: Rebecca (born in 1958), Marc (born in 1959), and Rachel (born in 1962).

Rebecca, a lawyer, was married to Keith Ham, also a lawyer, but they separated and divorced after the adoption of son David in 1992. She subsequently married journalist Matthew Fraser, former Editor-in-Chief of the National Post and television host. She died suddenly of cancer in January 2003. David now lives with Keith Ham and his family in England.

Marc, an art historian and University of Toronto professor is married Lauren Freeman and they have three children: Sally, Rosie, and Louis.

Rachel is married to lawyer Rob Dickson and they have two children, Fanny and Joe.

elected works

*"Disarmament and International Law" (1965)
*"Canadian Treaty-Making" (1968)
*"Impact of Technology on International Law" (1982)
*"I'll Be With You in a Minute, Mr. Ambassador" (1989)
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771033858 "The Washington Diaries"] (Random House, 2006)

External links

* [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=666 Order of Canada Citation]
* [http://cjournal.concordia.ca/journalarchives/2005-06/nov_24/005503.shtml Article on Honorary degree from Concordia University]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-74-2086-12998-10/on_this_day/people/twt CBC Archives: Sondra Gotlieb's slap flap]