Papers of Elizabeth Ann Swift, 1900-2019

Elizabeth Ann Swift Cronin was a distinguished career diplomat who served in the Department of State from 1963-1995. Known as Ann Swift to her colleagues, and "Annsy," to family and friends, she was born in Washington, DC, on December 3, 1940; the only child of Ernest J. and Helen ("Griffie") Griffin Swift. Swift's father died while she was an infant and she was raised by her mother. She attended the Potomac School (1948-1955), a private school in McLean, Virginia, and the Madeira School (1955-1958), an all-girls private boarding school in Greenway, Virginia. Swift briefly attended Stanford University before transferring to Radcliffe College where she majored in Southeast Asian history and was active in the Young Democratic Club. She graduated magna cum laude in 1962.

Shortly before completing her studies at Radcliffe, Swift applied to the Department of State in hopes of being assigned to foreign service. Her decision was most likely influenced by her family's extensive involvement in international affairs. Swift's maternal grandfather, Rear Admiral Robert S. Griffin (1857-1933), served as an Engineer in Chief of the Navy and Chief of the Bureau of Engineering. His son, Swift's uncle, was Admiral Robert Melville Griffin (1890-1976), a recipient of the Navy Cross and other awards for his service during World War II. Swift's mother Helen, who died in 1989, was a strong role model and graduate of the Madeira School (1917) and Vassar College (1921). She established the library of the Office of Strategic Services, the World War II predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency, and worked for the Department of State after the library was transferred there. A long-standing member of the Junior League of Washington, Mrs. Swift later served as the organization's placement director for fifteen years. A room in the organization's building was named in her honor. Ernest J. Swift (1883-1941) was widely recognized for his humanitarian work. He served as the Secretary General of the League of Red Cross Societies (1932-1936) and subsequently as Vice Chairman in Charge of Insular and Foreign Operations for the American Red Cross. Other contributing factors in Swift's decision was the idealism of the Kennedy era, coupled with the love of travel.

Swift's initial attempt to join the Foreign Service was unsuccessful. After passing only one of two qualifying exams, test administrators advised her that marrying a foreign service officer might be an easier way to reach her goal. On November 23, 1962, she began her career at the Department of State's Message Analysis and Dissemination Office. Determined to join the foreign service, she made a second successful attempt and on August 18, 1963, was assigned to the American Embassy in Manilla, Philippines. In addition to working as a Line Visa Officer handling a large influx of Vietnamese refugees, her early training included rotational duties in the Embassy's administrative, economic and political sections (1963-1965).

After the tour ended, Swift returned to Washington as a junior officer on the Benelux Desk (1966-1968), handling visiting dignitaries and other outlying issues in Belgium, the Netherlands Antilles, Luxembourg, and other countries. In the latter half of 1968, she completed Indonesian language studies and was assigned to the economic and political sections of the United States embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, during the anti-communist movement (1968-1971). After completing this assignment, she returned to the United States to pursue a graduate degree in Southeast Asian studies at Cornell University. In the years that followed, she held various positions within the Department of State, including at the Bureau of Cultural Affairs' international visitor programs (1972-1974); on the Philippine Desk as a Political Military Officer, which entailed selling war planes to the Marcos administration (1974-1976), and in the Office of Congressional Relations (currently the Bureau of Legislative Affairs) as a Congressional Liaison Officer to congressional staff, committee members, and officials (1976-1978). In 1978, Swift received a one year Pearson Fellowship that facilitated her work with Congressman Dante Fascell (Democrat-Florida).

In mid-August 1979, Swift returned to foreign service as Deputy Chief of the Political Section of the American embassy in Tehran, Iran. Growing unrest in the region caused by the authoritarian rule of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, and growing public support of an Iranian revolution, advocated by the Ayotallah Khomeini and his followers, culminated in Iranian students storming the embassy on November 4, 1979. When the takeover occurred, several high ranking embassy officials were meeting at the Iranian Foreign Ministry leaving Swift, the senior official in the political section, in charge. Swift and one other woman, Kathryn Koob, were among the Americans taken hostage. Embassy officials at the Iranian Foreign Ministry were also taken hostage. Some embassy personnel hid in other Western embassies and eventually escaped using Canadian passports. In December, several hostages were released, but 52 captives, which included Swift and Kathryn Koob were held for 14 months. All hostages were released on January 20, 1981, the day of Ronald Reagan's presidential inauguration.

Following the hostage crisis, Swift sought ways to avoid being defined or limited by her experience. Instead, she shifted her focus toward consular affairs in an effort to better protect American citizens traveling abroad. After briefly serving as Management Analysis Officer, which included improving the Department's management system and adding security enhancement, in August of 1981, she received a fellowship from Harvard University's Center for International Affairs. After completing her studies she returned to the Bureau of Consular Affairs to serve as Deputy Director for the Citizens Consular Services, a unit of the Office of Overseas Citizen Services (1982-1984). She subsequently became Acting Director of the unit's emergency center. Swift was recognized by the Department of State for providing assistance to victims of the 1982 Malaga Air crash, the Grenada evacuation and repatriation in 1983, international adoptions, and other crises. After being assigned the role of Deputy Consul General Swift headed visa operations in Athens, Greece (1984-1986). She next served as Consul General in Kingston, Jamaica (1986-1989), where immigration requests were overshadowed by fraudulent activities, narcotic traffickers, and other challenging issues. In 1989, Swift returned to the Office of Overseas Citizens Services as Deputy Assistant Secretary and was later was promoted to Deputy Director (1989-1993). During this period she assisted victims of the 1988 Pan Am flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, by improving the Bureau's response to terrorism, and helped implement needed changes to its travel advisory program. Under her leadership, the Bureau also developed crisis management policies that included evacuation guidelines, disaster assistance handbooks, and organized effective task forces in response to crises in the Persian Gulf, Panama, Romania, and Kuwait.

In 1992 Swift received a one-year fellowship from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which enabled her to research, organize, and lead informative seminars on immigration issues for their Immigration Policy Project. Swift's last foreign service post was at the American Embassy in London where she served as United States Consul General to Great Britain (1993-1995). In 1994, she married Paul D. Cronin, Professor of Physical Education and Director of Riding at Sweet Briar College, Virginia. Swift retired from the Department of State in 1995 and the couple settled in Sweet Briar, Virginia. In 2001 they moved to a farm in Rectortown, Virginia, where they pursued shared interests in horseback riding, traveling, and community affairs, which led to the establishment of the Rectortown Historic District. Swift was also an active board member at the Madeira School, and an active member of the Orange County Hunt, and Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville, Virginia. Recognized for her courage and leadership, Swift received numerous awards, including a presidential award for valor. Elizabeth Ann Swift died in a horseback riding accident near her home in 2004.