Andrew Young

==American Ambassador to the United Nations==
[[File:STU-I.Young.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ambassador Young, calling from New York City on an [[STU-I]] secure phone during the [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty|Egypt–Israel peace talks]]. (NSA museum)]]
 
In 1977, President [[Jimmy Carter]] appointed Young to serve as the [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations]]. Young was the first African American to hold the position. Atlanta city councilman [[Wyche Fowler]] won the special election to fill Young's seat in Congress.

Although the US and the UN enacted an arms embargo against South Africa, as President Carter's UN ambassador, Young vetoed economic sanctions.<ref name=pm-01122012 />

Young caused controversy when, during a July 1978 interview with French newspaper ''[[Le Matin de Paris]]'' while discussing the [[Soviet Union]] and its treatment of political dissidents, he said, "We still have hundreds of people that I would categorize as [[political prisoner]]s in our prisons", in reference to jailed civil-rights and anti-war protestors. In response, US Representative [[Larry McDonald]] (D-GA) sponsored a resolution to impeach Young, but the measure failed 293 to 82. Carter referred to it in a press conference as an "unfortunate statement."<ref name=civil-rights-ambassador />

In 1979, Young played a leading role in advancing a settlement in [[Rhodesia]] with [[Robert Mugabe]] and [[Joshua Nkomo]], who had been two of the rebel leaders in the [[Rhodesian Bush War]], which had ended in 1979. The settlement paved the way for Mugabe to take power as Prime Minister of the newly formed [[Republic of Zimbabwe]]. There had been a [[1979 Rhodesian general election|general election in 1979]], bringing Bishop [[Abel Muzorewa]] to power as leader of the [[United African National Council]] leading to the short-lived country of [[Zimbabwe Rhodesia]]. Though majority rule had been implemented, many in the international community felt that the reforms were not wide-ranging enough. Young refused to accept the election results and described the election as "neofascist," a sentiment echoed by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 445]] and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 448|448]]. The situation was resolved the next year with the [[Lancaster House Agreement]] and the establishment of [[Zimbabwe]].<ref name=civil-rights-ambassador />

Young's favoring of Mugabe and Nkomo over Muzorewa and his predecessor and ally, [[Ian Smith]], has been controversial. Many African-American activists, including [[Jesse Jackson]] and [[Coretta Scott King]], supported the anticolonialism represented by Mugabe and Nkomo.<ref name=civil-rights-ambassador /> However, it was opposed by others, including civil-rights leader [[Bayard Rustin]], who argued that the 1979 election had been "free and fair",<ref name=war-against-zimbabwe /> as well as Senators [[Harry F. Byrd Jr.]] (I-VA) and [[Jesse Helms]] (R-NC). It was later criticized in 2005 by Gabriel Shumba, executive director of the anti-Mugabe [[Zimbabwe Exiles Forum]].<ref name=hill-mugabe />

In July 1979, Young discovered that an upcoming report by the [[United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights]] called for the creation of a [[Palestinian State]]. Young wanted to delay the report because the Carter Administration was dealing with too many other issues at the time. He met with the UN representatives of several Arab countries to try to convince them the report should be delayed; they agreed in principle but insisted that the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] also had to agree. As a result, on July 20, Young met with [[Zuhdi Labib Terzi]], the UN representative of the PLO, at the apartment of the UN Ambassador from [[Kuwait]]. On August 10, news of the meeting became public when the [[Mossad]] leaked its illegally-acquired transcript of the meeting first to Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]], and then through his office to ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref name=ostrovsky /> The meeting was highly controversial since the United States had already promised Israel that it would not meet directly with the PLO until it recognized [[Israel's right to exist]].<ref name=civil-rights-ambassador />

During the controversy, Young took a break and was invited by [[John F. Kennedy Jr.]] to speak about [[apartheid]] in South Africa at [[Brown University]].<ref name=Landau />

Young's UN ambassadorship ended on August 14.<ref name=civil-rights-ambassador /><ref name=frum /><ref name=ebony-magazine /> Carter denied any complicity in what was called the "Andy Young Affair" and asked Young to resign. Asked about the incident by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' soon afterward, Young stated, "It is very difficult to do the things that I think are in the interest of the country and maintain the standards of protocol and diplomacy.... I really don't feel a bit sorry for anything that I have done."<ref name=time-fall-of-young /> Soon afterward, on the television show ''[[Meet the Press]]'', he stated that Israel was "stubborn and intransigent."<ref name=frum />

After his ambassadorship ended, Young became a guest lecturer at [[Michigan State University]] in [[East Lansing, Michigan]].<ref name=argus-press-colemanyoung />