# Prudence Bushnell > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Prudence_Bushnell > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Prudence_Bushnell.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudence_Bushnell > Source revision: 1345079089 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American diplomat (born 1946)}} {{Multiple issues|{{more footnotes needed|date=February 2016}}{{cleanup reorganize|date=February 2016}}{{BLP sources|date=May 2022}} }} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Prudence Bushnell | honorific_suffix = | image = PrudenceBushnell.gif | alt = | order = | ambassador_from = United States | country = Kenya | term_start = 1996 | term_end = 1999 | predecessor = Aurelia E. Brazeal | successor = Johnnie Carson | president = Bill Clinton | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1946}} | birth_place = [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.) | death_date = | death_place = | education = [University of Maryland](/source/University_of_Maryland%2C_College_Park)
[Russell Sage College](/source/Russell_Sage_College) }} '''Prudence Bushnell''' (born 1946) is an American [diplomat](/source/diplomat) who served as the [United States Ambassador to Kenya](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Kenya) from 1996 to 1999 and as [United States Ambassador to Guatemala](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Guatemala) from 1999 to 2002.{{Cite web |date=21 July 2005 |title=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR PRUDENCE BUSHNELL |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Bushnell,%20Prudence.toc.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621162607/https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Bushnell,%20Prudence.toc.pdf |archive-date=21 June 2024 |access-date=7 August 2024 |website=Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training}} ==Early life and education== Bushnell was born in [Washington D.C.](/source/Washington_D.C.) in 1946. Her father was a career member of the [United States Foreign Service](/source/United_States_Foreign_Service) and as a result of her family's travels, she grew up in [Iran](/source/Iran), [Germany](/source/Germany), [France](/source/France) and [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan). After obtaining a [Bachelor's Degree](/source/Bachelor's_Degree) from the [University of Maryland](/source/University_of_Maryland%2C_College_Park), Bushnell received a graduate degree from [Russell Sage College](/source/Russell_Sage_College) in [Troy, New York](/source/Troy%2C_New_York). ==Career== Following graduation, Bushnell went to work as a management consultant in [Texas](/source/Texas). She joined the foreign service in 1981 as an administrative track officer, with her first assignment being in [Bombay](/source/Mumbai), [India](/source/India). She then served as Deputy Chief of Mission under Ambassador [George Moose](/source/George_Moose) at the U.S. Embassy in [Dakar](/source/Dakar), [Senegal](/source/Senegal). ===State Department and Rwanda 1994 genocide against Tutsi=== In 1993, Ambassador Moose was appointed [Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs](/source/Assistant_Secretary_of_State_for_African_Affairs) by President [Bill Clinton](/source/Bill_Clinton). Bushnell accompanied Moose to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary. Bushnell's time in Washington was marked by extreme tension in Africa. On October 3, 1993, 18 U.S. soldiers were killed and 73 wounded in an attempt to apprehend warlord [Mohamed Farrah Aidid](/source/Mohamed_Farrah_Aidid) at the [Battle of Mogadishu](/source/Battle_of_Mogadishu_(1993)) in [Somalia](/source/Somalia). The American public was appalled at the deaths and support for American involvement in African affairs suffered as a result. It was against this backdrop that the [Rwandan genocide](/source/Rwandan_genocide) began. On April 6, 1994, Rwandan President [Juvénal Habyarimana](/source/Juv%C3%A9nal_Habyarimana) and [Cyprien Ntaryamira](/source/Cyprien_Ntaryamira), the President of [Burundi](/source/Burundi), were both killed when their plane was shot down on approach to [Kigali](/source/Kigali) Airport in Rwanda. Responsibility for the assassinations has never been clearly established, however, the resulting chaos was the catalyst for the massacre of [Tutsis](/source/Tutsis) at the hands of Rwanda's [Hutu](/source/Hutu) majority. Bushnell, who had been visiting the area just weeks before, released a memorandum immediately following the assassinations. In it, she predicted widespread violence and the military take-over of the Rwandan government and urged the U.S. government to take action to maintain order. Partly as a result of the Somali incident, the U.S. government chose not to heed Bushnell's recommendations, and on the next day, April 7, the Rwandan genocide began when several Tutsi government officials and moderate Hutu Prime Minister [Agathe Uwilingiyimana](/source/Agathe_Uwilingiyimana) were killed by Hutu militias. Bushnell began calling Rwandan military officials in an attempt to persuade them to cease the slaughter. Without a military commitment, however, her pleas for a stop to the violence fell on deaf ears. On April 29, 1994, Bushnell spoke with Colonel [Théoneste Bagosora](/source/Th%C3%A9oneste_Bagosora), a Rwandan military official who had been identified as a leader of the genocide. She warned him that the [State Department](/source/State_Department) was aware of the violence and called for an end to the massacres. Bagosora was eventually arrested and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for his role in the genocide.{{cite news|title=Rwandan genocide sentence reduced|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-16185659|work=BBC News|date=14 December 2011}} Bushnell's attempts to stop the genocide and her conversations with Bagosora are dramatised in the 2004 film ''[Sometimes in April](/source/Sometimes_in_April)''. Actress [Debra Winger](/source/Debra_Winger) portrayed Bushnell in the film. ===Kenyan Embassy bombing=== Bushnell remained Deputy Assistant Secretary until being nominated by President Clinton to serve as Ambassador to [Kenya](/source/Kenya) in 1996. Upon confirmation by the United States Senate, Bushnell took up residence in [Nairobi](/source/Nairobi). Bushnell used her office to push Kenyan President [Daniel arap Moi](/source/Daniel_arap_Moi) to institute democratic reforms and to root out corruption in his government, a major drag on Kenya's economy. Bushnell was also alarmed at the vulnerability of the U.S. embassy compound to attack. For over two years, she complained about security conditions to her superiors in Washington.In an interview for the BBC documentary ''Age of Terror'' ([Peter Taylor](/source/Peter_Taylor_(journalist)) / Steve Condie 2007/8) Bushnell claimed that eventually she wrote to Secretary Albright directly about her security concerns, but never got a response. In spite of Bushnell's request for a new building, a State Department evaluation team concluded that a renovation would suffice. Bushnell's fears proved to be well founded when on August 7, 1998 a [car bomb](/source/car_bomb) was [detonated next to the embassy](/source/1998_United_States_embassy_bombings) by [al-Qaeda](/source/al-Qaeda) agents. At the time of the bombing, Bushnell was attending a meeting with the Kenyan Trade Minister, [Joseph J.Kamotho](/source/Joseph_Kamotho) in the Cooperative Bank Building next to the embassy. She was knocked unconscious by the blast and badly cut by flying glass. Upon regaining consciousness a few minutes later, Bushnell was evacuated to a nearby hotel where she received medical treatment and began overseeing rescue operations. Ultimately, 12 embassy staff were killed along with 212 Kenyans and 4,000 people were injured. Additionally, another car bomb exploded simultaneously in [Dar es Salaam](/source/Dar_es_Salaam), [Tanzania](/source/Tanzania), killing 11 and wounding 85. In the weeks following the bombings, Bushnell was the target of some criticism in the Kenyan press for not allowing Kenyan civilians to participate in search and rescue operations. She responded by appearing on Kenyan state television to point out the inherent danger the devastated compound posed to untrained searchers and the need to preserve evidence. In 2001, four al-Qaeda agents, including [Wadih El-Hage](/source/Wadih_El-Hage), the leader of the cell that planned the attack, were put on trial in New York City. Bushnell was a witness for the prosecution. At the end of the trial, all four men were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Several conspirators remain at large however. [Osama bin Laden](/source/Osama_bin_Laden), former leader of al-Qaeda, was indicted in 1998 for his role in ordering the attacks. He [was killed](/source/Death_of_Osama_bin_Laden) on April 30, 2011, in Pakistan. ===Guatemala=== Bushnell was nominated by President Clinton in 1999 to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala. She was sworn into that position on August 5, 1999 by [U.S. Secretary of State](/source/U.S._Secretary_of_State) [Madeleine Albright](/source/Madeleine_Albright). While ambassador, Bushnell sought to boost Guatemala's participation in organic and specialty coffees following a worldwide drop in coffee prices. Of her position as Ambassador, she said:
I think that my getting out in the countryside, letting people see me, puts a human face on the mystique of the United States of America. Every now and then you touch somebody, and somebody touches you. It is extraordinary to overcome race, culture, language, sometimes gender, economic issues, and simply connect as human beings. What is extraordinary about being an ambassador is that you have the power of the United States Government to make a difference.
===S.M.A.R.T. Policies=== These are policies that are Strategic, Moral, Achievable, Reliable, and Transformational. Bushnell conceived this framework for examining approaches to global challenges in the wake of her book about the 1998 al Qaeda terrorist attacks. Two decades of “hard” power wars have not deterred terrorist tactics. Ambassador's Bushnell provides an example of a S.M.A.R.T. in her article, "Operation Vittles" found in the May 2019 Issue of Journal of American Diplomacy.{{cite web |last1=Bushnell |first1=Prudence |title=A Recipe Book. An Airlift. A Song. |url=http://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2019/05/operation-vittles/ |website=American Diplomacy |publisher=University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill |accessdate=26 August 2019}} Ambassador Bushnell also references the failures of diplomatic actions during the Rwandan genocide in an article published in The Brown Journal of World Affairs.{{cite web |last1=Bushnell |first1=Prudence |title=Leadership And Policy-Making: Lessons From The U.S. Government |url=https://bjwa.brown.edu/25-2/leadership-and-policy-making-lessons-from-the-u-s-government/ |website=The Brown Journal of World Affairs |date=10 June 2019 |publisher=Brown University |accessdate=26 August 2019}} ==Personal life== Bushnell resigned as U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala in July 2002 to become Dean of the Leadership and Management School at the [Foreign Service Institute](/source/Foreign_Service_Institute), a position she no longer holds. In 2004, she was the recipient of the Career Achievement Award, a [Service to America Medal](/source/Service_to_America_Medal). She is married to lawyer and playwright Richard Buckley and has five [stepchildren](/source/Stepfamily). ==References== {{Reflist}} # "Bombings in East Africa: The American Ambassador; The 'Devastated' Envoy Now Faces Kenyans' Ire", ''The New York Times'', August 13, 1998. # "Papers Show U.S. Knew Of Genocide In Rwanda", ''The New York Times'', August 22, 2001. # [https://2001-2009.state.gov/outofdate/bios/b/1894.htm Official State Department Biography] ==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061206044249/http://www.afsa.org/fsj/julaug00/Bushnell.cfm Article by Bushnell on Kenyan Bombings] *[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/mfdip/2010/2010bus02/2010bus02.pdf Oral history by Prudence Bushnell to the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training] *{{C-SPAN|35116}} {{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box|title=[United States Ambassador to Kenya](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Kenya)|before=[Aurelia E. Brazeal](/source/Aurelia_E._Brazeal)|after=[Johnnie Carson](/source/Johnnie_Carson)|years=1996–1999}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bushnell, Prudence}} Category:1946 births Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Kenya Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Guatemala Category:Living people Category:Diplomats from Washington, D.C. Category:Russell Sage College alumni Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni Category:Women ambassadors of the United States Category:United States Foreign Service personnel Category:21st-century American women Category:Survivors of terrorist attacks --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Prudence Bushnell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudence_Bushnell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudence_Bushnell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.