Vera and the Ambassador: Escape and Return

By Vera Blinken and Donald Blinken

Book Overview

A behind-the-scenes look at diplomacy and international relations in post-communist Eastern Europe.

Vera and the Ambassador is a book to be savored and enjoyed on many levels. Both a behind-the-scenes peek at the operations of a U.S. embassy in a post-Cold War former Soviet satellite and a personal story of a refugee's escape and triumphant return, Vera and Donald Blinken's dual memoir openly details their challenges, setbacks, and victories as they worked in tandem to advance America's interests in Eastern Europe and to restore a former Soviet satellite state to a pre-communist level of prosperity.

Hungary in all its cultural glory and historical anguish lies at the heart of this dramatic and deeply personal story. Born in Budapest just prior to World War II, Vera was only five years old when the Germans invaded in 1944. In a harrowing account, she describes how she and her mother managed to survive the atrocities of the war and, in 1950, narrowly escape Soviet-occupied Hungary for the freedom and opportunity of America. Making their way to New York, Vera settled into her adopted country with an indomitable spirit, a vow to become the best American she could be, and a hope of finding some way to give back as a show of gratitude for her good fortune in surviving the destruction of the war.

That opportunity came in 1994 when her husband was appointed ambassador to Hungary by President Clinton, just five years into the country's tentative transformation from a command economy and totalitarian government into a market economy and fledgling republic based upon democratic ideals. A former investment banker, Donald might have lacked foreign service experience, but his skills as an administrator and his willingness to try innovative ideas, combined with Vera's knowledge of Hungarian language and culture and her outreach to the Hungarian community, helped them deal head-on with a variety of challenges, including a collapsing economy and the threat of a slide back toward the old ways of communism, and a brutal civil war that raged across the country's southern border in the former Yugoslavia.

Replete with colorful characters from the streets of Budapest, humorous scenes at the ambassadorial residence, and accounts of tense high-level diplomatic negotiations in the run-up to Hungary's vote to join NATO, Vera and the Ambassador shows how the Blinkens helped chart a new course for American diplomacy in the mid-1990s. Ultimately, it is also the story of how Hungarians came to see them personally, and memorably, as their Vera and their ambassador.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1438426631
• ISBN13: 9781438426631
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 364 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.7" x 9.8"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

intimate and honest - a must read for all diplomats and diplomats at heart

Vera and the Ambassador is a quick and wonderful read. Vera is the most charming, open and insightful autobiographer I have read. Vera's story is powerful and timeless. Donald's story is an outstanding primer for political appointees and the career folks in government who serve with them. The honesty and intimacy in this lovely book makes it a delightful and quick read. Its also a love story - not just between Vera and the Ambassador - but between a mother and a daughter. Wonderful. Timeless.

excellent

President Clinton appointed financial banker Donald Blinken as the American ambassador to, Hungary. Mr. Clinton selected Mr. Blinken because the President understood the fledgling democracy would need someone who could help the country adjust to the global economy and Donald's wife Vera was born and raised in Budapest; as a child she and her mom fled just after WWII ended and the Soviets brought down the Iron Curtain. This memoir provides alternating insider looks at Hungary during a critical adjustment point. Rotating perspectives, Donald's sections enable the reader to obtain a glimpse at world events impacting the former Communist nation such as joining NATO and helping with the Bosnia crisis. Vera's entries are more personal as she compares the 1990s Budapest to her memoirs of living there in the 1940s. VERA AND THE AMBASSADOR is one of the best autobiographies in recent years, as readers will appreciate the couples' take on the 1990s in East Europe with Hungary as their prime focus as well as the historical viewpoint of how much the capital changed in four plus decades of Soviet rule. Harriet Klausner

Two Lives in the Post War Years

An enthralling true account of two lives brought together by the tumultuous events of the second half of the 20th century. Their individual voices, trading off chapters, convey the personal drama they each experienced, alone and then together. Vera's dramatic story of escaping Hungary to find refuge in the U.S. is riveting and unforgettable. Donald's recounting of the cataclysmic events leading up to and following the fall of the Berlin Wall is equally compelling. Their shared tale of living in a rapidly changing, post- Iron curtain Hungary, as the American ambassador and wife, reveals a world not known to most citizens about the enormous personal sacrifice, dedication, and influence, these, our overseas representatives make year in-and- out. Fascinating and illuminating, the book records a significant time in history recorded by two very remarkable individuals.

Touching and Informative

I found this a very touching and informative book. Vera Blinken's descriptions of her wartime experiences in Hungary were moving, and her courage in confronting them was inspiring. I would have liked to know even more about her personal growth in addressing these issues. I also very much enjoyed reading about Donald's and Vera's experiences in Hungary at such a formative time in its development. Donald's diplomatic abilities and Vera's American/Hungarian sensitivities made them a formidable team.

True story of the heroic effort required to advance US Diplomacy

You have heard about millionaires who "purchase" Ambassadorships to London or Paris for their personal pleasure/prestige. Now read the true story of an American couple who simply wanted to help Hungary recover from its nightmare years of Communism. They felt they could contribute both to America's foreign relations and the Hungarian people by serving the US Government in that country. The political difficulties they confronted in Washington, D.C. make their successes in Budapest seem easy! This is the inspiring story of a devoted couple who worked together effectively to make a small part of the world a better place. And as Vera (Mrs. Blinken) was a refugee from Hungary, educated in the USA, she recounts the history and progress of her native land with accuracy and compassion. Ambassador Donald Blinken, whose keen business intelligence enabled him to assist in the rise of free market capitalism in Hungary, as well as American participation in it, often comments on how much he was helped by Vera's fluency in Hungarian and her understanding of it culture. It is a pleasure to read, for a change, Good News!