Philip Charles Habib (February 25, 1920–May 25, 1992) was a Lebanese-American career diplomat known for work in Vietnam, South Korea and the Middle East. The New York Times in observing his passing described him as "the outstanding professional diplomat of his generation in the United States".
Habib was born in Brooklyn and raised there in section of the borough known as Bensonhurst, by Lebanese Maronite Catholic parents. He worked as a shipping ...
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Philip Charles Habib (February 25, 1920–May 25, 1992) was a Lebanese-American career diplomat known for work in Vietnam, South Korea and the Middle East. The New York Times in observing his passing described him as "the outstanding professional diplomat of his generation in the United States".
Habib was born in Brooklyn and raised there in section of the borough known as Bensonhurst, by Lebanese Maronite Catholic parents. He worked as a shipping clerk before starting his undergraduate study at the College of Forestry and Wildlife and Range Sciences at the University of Idaho. After graduating in 1942, he served in the United States Army until 1946 and attained the rank of captain. He continued his education in an agricultural economics Ph.D. program at University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1952. There he came across a flyer advertising the United States Department of State entrance exam, which he sat and passed.
Beginning in 1949, his foreign service career took him to...
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