State Department as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
Which position did Margaret D. Tutwiler hold from Mar 1989 to Aug 1992?
Margaret D . Tutwiler Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler ( born December 28 , 1950 ) is an American politician who has served multiple different positions within the United States Department of State . Tutwiler was born in Birmingham , Alabama , the daughter of Temple Tutwiler II and Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler . At age 26 , she worked under James A . Baker III in George H . W . Bush’s failed bid for the 1976 presidential nomination . In 1980 , she was one of a team of relatively younger aides assembled by Baker to run Bush’s campaign for the presidential nomination . When Bush lost the nomination to Ronald Reagan , Reagan tapped Baker to run his presidential campaign , and Baker brought Tutwiler with him to the campaign . When Reagan won the presidency and Baker became White House Chief of Staff , Tutwiler asked to accompany him , saying , “Until we figure it out , can’t I just be your jack of all trades?” Once they were ensconced in the White House , one of Tutwilers duties was to return phone calls from members of congress , or the press , if Baker could not himself return the call . Gradually , Tutwiler became known as Bakers right hand and alter ego . In the run-up to the 1984 election , Baker installed Tutwiler as liaison at Reagans re-election campaign , in part to keep an eye on Ed Rollins , who had left his position as Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and became chair of the campaign , and who was critical of Baker . In January 1985 , after Reagan won the 1984 election , he appointed Baker as Secretary of the Treasury , and Baker took his White House team with him to the Treasury , where Tutwiler became Bakers chief political assistant , initially holding the position of Assistant Secretary For Public Affairs . In 1989 , after George H . W . Bush was elected President , Baker became Secretary of State , and Tutwiler moved with him to the State Department as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs -- although she had to be convinced to take the position , because it involved daily briefings on matters with which she was not yet familiar . In June of 1989 , when protests broke out in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square , the Bush administration was concerned that a strong condemnation from the U.S . might damage the rapprochement with China which had begun during the Nixon administration , and impair the ability of the U.S . to use China as a counterweight in its geopolitical struggle with the Soviet Union . As Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs , Tutwiler was in charge of press and public briefings conducted by the State Department’s Bureau of Public Affairs . She objected to the administration’s position regarding the protests , and urged Baker to speak out against the Chinese government’s crackdown on protesters . Initially , she refused to conduct briefings supporting the administration’s position . To overcome her scruples , Baker had to personally insist that she conduct the briefings . It was Tutwiler who urged Baker to invite Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze to accompany him on a trip to his ranch in Wyoming , which would provide an opportunity for the two men to become better acquainted . The trip took place in September , 1989 . President Bush met Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev for a summit in Malta on December 2-3 , 1989 . Tutwiler was part of the State Department party who travelled to Malta for the summit . On August 13 , 1992 , President Bush announced that Baker was leaving the State Department , and coming back to the White House as White House Chief of Staff , and would run Bushs re-election campaign . Tutwiler was one of the advisers who moved back to the White House with him . After Bush lost his bid for re-election , William Barr , then the Attorney General , appointed a special prosecutor to look into whether the Bush campaign had sought information from Bill Clintons passport files . No charges were filed , but Tutwiler and other aides had to find lawyers to represent them during the investigation . In 1996 , Baker considered running for president against Clinton . One of the people from whom he sought advice on whether to run was Tutwiler . Tutwiler also read and critiqued drafts of Bakers memoir . When the result of the 2000 United States presidential election in Florida was in doubt , Baker became the head of the George W . Bushs legal team in the state . One of the first things Baker did was to phone Tutwiler and ask her to mobilize his aides and go to Florida . Tutwiler was installed in a corner office near Bakers office in the state Republican Party building . On August 25 , 2002 , prior to the second Iraq war , the New York Times published a column by Baker urging the President to seek a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force to compel Iraq to submit to international inspection . Tutwiler urged Baker to take a harder line against a war , but Baker declined to publicly criticize the approach taken by the White House . During the administration of George W . Bush , Tutwiler was Ambassador to Morocco from March 2001 until 2003 , when she became Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs , serving from December 16 , 2003 to June 30 , 2004 . She was confirmed by the U.S . Senate on December 9 , 2003 to replace outgoing Under Secretary Charlotte Beers . Tutwiler was given the task of leading the governments public-relations drive to build a favorable impression abroad . In July 2004 , she began directing communications for NYSE Euronext . Her boss at the NYSE , John Thain , later brought her on board as head of communications at Merrill Lynch in December 2007 and then at CIT Group in August 2010 . Tutwiler is a member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute . External links . - Margaret Tutwiler Diaries at the Seeley G . Mudd Manuscript Library , Princeton University - USC Center on Public Diplomacy Profile - Interview in Frontline Diplomacy : The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training . - Profile in the Alabama Academy of Honor . - Margaret Tutwilers diaries from her time as State Department Spokesman and Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under Secretary of State James Baker at Mudd Manuscript Library , Princeton University .