John R. Bolton: External Links: Nomination to UN

The following are External Links related to John R. Bolton's March 7, 2005, nomination as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations by President George W. Bush. On August 1, 2005, because the U.S. Senate had failed to confirm his nominee, Bush appointed Bolton to the position. Bolton replaced John C. Danforth, who resigned November 22, 2004.

See John R. Bolton: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

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Timeline: Articles & Commentary Regarding John R. Bolton's Nomination

December 2004

• Richard Roth and Liz Neisloss, "U.N. Ambassador John Danforth resigns," CNN, December 3, 2004: After only seven months on the job ... "In a letter of resignation sent to President Bush on November 22, Danforth said he wanted to return home to St. Louis to spend more time with his wife. Sally Danforth has recently had health problems."

2005

March 2005

• Condoleezza Rice, "Announcement of Nomination of John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the UN", March 7, 2005
• "Transcript: Rice Announces Bolton's Nomination", Washington Post, March 7, 2005.
• David Corn, ""Bush Gives the UN the Finger", The Nation, March 7, 2005.
• Saul Hudson, ""Bush Nominates UN Critic Bolton as UN Envoy", Reuters, March 7, 2005.
• James Harding, "Choice of Bolton shows US mood," Financial Times, March 7, 2005: "The choice of John Bolton as the next US ambassador to the United Nations underlines the growing sense of vindication in the White House and among neo-conservative circles in Washington over the decision to go to war in Iraq."
• Fred Kaplan, "Bush to U.N.: Drop Dead. The administration will regret its latest appointment", Slate, March 7, 2005.
• Nicholas Kralev, ""Bolton tabbed as envoy to U.N.", Washington Times, March 7, 2005.
• Brooke Lierman, ""Who Is John Bolton?", Center for American Progress, March 7, 2005.
• Jim Loeb, "The Armageddon Nominee," Tom Paine.Common Sense, March 7, 2005.

• Background: Kaplan's November 19, 2004, "Fried Rice. The Bushie who could spoil Condi's dream job" and January 7, 2005, "Condi's First Victory. She doesn't pick John Bolton as her deputy"; Nicholas Thompson's July 16, 2003, "John Bolton vs. the world. His job is to keep a hawk eye on dovish Colin Powell. And he's helped turn Bush foreign policy into an ideological hammer" and Ian Williams's May 10, 2002, "Bush's hatchet man in the State Department. While Colin Powell tries to present a kinder, gentler America to the world, his hard-line underling John Bolton is pushing an America-über-alles doctrine -- and winning" in Salon.

• ""Bush names hardliner as UN envoy", BBC, March 8, 2005.
• "Bush nominates Bolton as U.N. ambassador", CNN, March 8, 2005. Video link on page.
• "Democrats pick on Bush's choice for U.N. ambassador. Sen. Kerry on Bolton: 'Baggage we cannot afford'", Associated Press, March 8, 2005.
• "Senate Leader Sees Battle Over Bush's U.N. Pick," Reuters, March 8, 2005.
• Phyllis Bennis, "Ten Questions the Senate Should Ask John Bolton at his Confirmation Hearing, But Probably Won't", Institute for Policy Studies, March 8, 2005.
• Julian Borger, "US names hawk as ambassador to UN," Guardian/UK, March 8, 2005.
• Dan Froomkin, ""Cheney's Invisible Hand at Work", Washington Post, March 8, 2005.
• Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., "A Bolt of Good Sense. John Bolton is the right man for the U.N.", National Review Online, March 8, 2005.
• Beth Gardiner, "Many Overseas Worried by Bush's U.N. Pick", Guardian Unlimited/UK, March 8, 2005.
• Glenn Kessler and Colum Lynch, "Critic of U.N. Named Envoy. Bush's Choice of Bolton Is a Surprise; Democrats Plan to Contest Nomination", Washington Post, March 8, 2005.
• Jim Lobe, "Ill-will Ambassador", AlterNet, March 8, 2005.
• Kurt Nimmo, "'War is Peace'. John Bolton to the UN," CounterPunch, March 8, 2005.
• Suzanne Nossel, "Bracing for Bolton," Center for American Progress, March 8, 2005.
• Timothy M. Phelps, "Envoy choice a message. Bush nomination of hard-line conservative as ambassador to UN seen as sign unilateral position will continue," Newsday, March 8, 2005.
• Susan E. Rice, "Tough Love or Tough Luck?," Washington Post, March 8, 2005.
• Paul Richter, "Bolton Known to Some as the Un-Diplomat," Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2005.
• Matthew Rothschild, "John Bolton, Neoconman," The Progressive, March 8, 2005.
• John Shovelan, "John Bolton appointed US Ambassador to the UN", The World Today, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 8, 2005.
• Mark Simkin, ""Bush names new US ambassador to UN", Lateline, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 8, 2005.
• Farah Stockman, "Bush nominates UN critic as ambassador. Choice said to show Washington's desire to lead agency reform," Boston Globe, March 8, 2005.
• Steven R. Weisman, "Bush Nominates Weapons Expert as Envoy to U.N.," New York Times, March 8, 2005.
• Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, "Reforming the UN the Bush way," Asia Times, March 9, 2005.
• Anne Gearan, "Bush nominee as U.N. envoy said U.S. is world's only real authority," AP, March 9, 2005.
• Jim Lobe, "Bush makes a foxy pick," Asia Times, March 9, 2005.
• Jim Lobe interviewed by Amy Goodman, "Bush Nominates Fierce UN Critic and Unilateralist John Bolton As Ambassador to United Nations", Democracy Now!, March 9, 2005.
• Rude One, "John Bolton, Another Motherf...er for America" (Part 1) The Rude Pundit, March 9, 2005; Part 2, March 10, 2005. . Contains extremely coarse language, but on point.
• Editorial: "U.N. pit bull / The United States can do better than Bolton," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 10, 2005.
• Larry Birns, "The Pathological John Bolton", CounterPunch, March 10, 2005.
• Sidney Blumenthal, "The enemy within. How an Americanist devoted to destroying international alliances became the US envoy to the UN," Guardian/UK, March 10, 2005: "...Bolton has deep support within the White House, and Rice is very much a work-in-progress. With Bolton's appointment, the empire strikes back. ... Bolton is a specimen of the 'primitives', as Truman's secretary of state Dean Acheson called the unilateralists and McCarthyites of the early cold war. Through his political integration into the neocon apparatus, Bolton might be properly classified a neoprimitive."
• Helen Thomas, "Bush makes wrong choice for U.N.," Hearst Newspapers, March 11, 2005.
• Fifty-nine Former Ambassadors sign letter opposing Bolton's nomination that was sent to Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, forty-six of the signatories had served in Republican Administrations.
• Russ Baker, "Miller's UN Reporting," The Nation, March 31, 2005 (posted online); April 18, 2005 (issue). Posted on MER website. Re Judith Miller and Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove.

April 2005

• Dafna Linzer, "Bolton Often Blocked Information, Officials Say. Iran, IAEA Matters Were Allegedly Kept From Rice, Powell," Washington Post, April 17, 2005.
• William Kristol, "Bolton's the One. John Bolton is an exceptional choice to be our next U.N. ambassador," The Weekly Standard, April 18, 2005 (issue).
• Steven C. Clemons, "Read the Testimony: John Bolton Seems Like Bad Guy in a Le Carre Novel," The Washington Note, April 20, 2005:

• Interview: Frederick Fleitz, April 7, 2005 (146-page pdf).
• Interview: Christian Westerman (65-page pdf).
• Interview: Thomas Fingar, April 8, 2005 (36-page pdf).
• Interview: Neil Silver, April 11, 2005 (23-page pdf).

• "Powell Discussed Bolton Nomination with Senators," Reuters, April 22, 2005.
• Wayne Madsen, "NSA intercepts for Bolton masked as 'training missions'," Online Journal, April 25, 2005: "According to National Security Agency insiders, outgoing NSA Director General Michael Hayden approved special communications intercepts of phone conversations made by past and present U.S. government officials. The intercepts are at the height of the current controversy surrounding the nomination of Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations."

May 2005

• Unedited Interview of Matthew Freedman with Regard to Bolton Nomination, May 4, 2005, before U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, posted at The Washington Note (48-page pdf).
• Barry Schweid, "Biden Hints at Delaying Bolton Vote," Washington Post, May 5, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Matthew Freedman: A Rough-and-Tough Kind of Management Consultant," The Washington Note, May 5, 2005.
• Douglas Jehl, "A Setback to Democrats' Request for Papers on Bolton and Syria," New York Times, May 5, 2005.
• Andrea Koppel, "Biden warns delay possible on Bolton. Top Democrat wants documents from State Department," CNN, May 5, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Word from Senator Lugar on Bolton Evidence Questions," The Washington Note, May 5, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Matthew Freedman Lobbied for Ferdinand Marcos -- While Mark Malloch Brown Lobbied for Cory Aquino," The Washington Note, May 6, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Dick Cheney's Incredible, Imperial, Infallible Vice Presidency: White House Defies Biden and Lugar on Bolton Intercepts," The Washington Note, May 7, 2005.
• Paul Richter, "Senate Democrats May Extend Inquiry on Bolton. They say documents they need on Bush's nominee for the U.N. have not been furnished," Los Angeles Times, May 7, 2005.
• Douglas Jehl, "Ex-C.I.A. Official Says Bolton Interfered," New York Times, May 7, 2005.
• "Lugar Predicts Bolton's Approval by Panel on Party-Line Vote," Bloomberg, May 8, 2005.
• Richard Benedetto, "Bolton fight tests Bush's 2nd-term strength," USA Today, May 8, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Another Vignette of Why John Bolton is WRONG for the United Nations," The Washington Note, May 9, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Matthew Freedman Interview: Bolton 'Management Consultant' Had Light Duties, Made More than $100k a Year, and Still Kept Private, Undisclosed Business Clients," The Washington Note, May 10, 2005: Matthew Freedman "has worked for Bolton for the last four years, has known him since 1981, was listed in the State Department Directory in Bolton's office, billed for 200 days of work -- while other staff report to TWN that they hardly saw him, and made approximately $110,000 plus per year (GS-15 level) -- while also making money from his roster of undisclosed private clients."
• Carol Giacomo, "Bolton aide targets State Dept. bureau in dispute," Reuters, May 10, 2005.
• Mary Curtius, "For 3 GOP Senators, Vote Isn't Just About U.N. Pick," Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2005: "When they gather with their colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for their final consideration of Bolton, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island and George V. Voinovich of Ohio will carry vastly different political calculations and ambitions that may factor as much in their decisions as anything revealed about the nominee by dozens of witnesses and hundreds of documents."
• Steven C. Clemons, "It Was ALL Bolton ... Not Fred Fleitz," The Washington Note, May 10, 2005.
• Douglas Jehl, "No. 2 at State Dept. Was Said to Put Restrictions on Bolton," New York Times, May 10, 2005: "A new portrayal of John R. Bolton describes him as having so angered senior State Department officials with his public comments that the deputy secretary of state, Richard L. Armitage, ordered two years ago that Mr. Bolton be blocked from delivering speeches and testimony unless they were personally approved by Mr. Armitage."
• Ann Gearan, "State Dept. Withholds Bolton Papers," Associated Press, May 10, 2005: "In an interview with the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday, Lawrence S. Wilkerson, a chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that Bolton 'overstepped his bounds' through 'his moves and gyrations' in attempting to prevent the reappointment of ElBarbadei [sic] as head of the IAEA."
• Murray Waas, "Exclusive: Bolton was recipient of NSA intercepts of IAEA chief," Whatever Already! blogspot, May 10, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Lawrence Wilkerson Blows Bolton's Reputation Apart," The Washington Note, May 10, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Cracks Showing in the Pro-Bolton Facade: Paula Dobriansky Next in Line for U.N. Job?," The Washington Note, May 10, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Don't Sell Americans Short: Pick Dobriansky -- Not Bolton," The Washington Note, May 10, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "The Battle over Bolton: The Costs of Winning are Going to Be High for Either Side," The Washington Note, May 10, 2005.
• Mary Curtius, "Democrats to Allow Panel to Vote on Bolton. It's still unclear what undecided Republicans will do when a Senate committee acts this week on the nominee for ambassador to the U.N.," Los Angeles Times, May 11, 2005.
• Steve Clemons, "Bolton Lied to Senate Foreign Relations Committee," The Washington Note, May 19, 2005: Read Committee on Foreign Relations' Bolton Report. Bottom line: "Based on this record [of interviews, etc.], we recommend that members of the Senate vote against John R. Bolton’s nomination to be U.S. Representative to the United Nations. This report details why we have reached that conclusion."
• Sheila Samples, "'The wrong man...'," The Smirking Chimp, May 23, 2005.
• Anne Gearan, "Democrats Force Delay of Bolton Final Vote," AP, May 27, 2005: "Democrats said they hoped the Senate's vote to delay confirmation of John R. Bolton as U.N. ambassador would force the White House to release long-sought classified information about the embattled nominee, or perhaps to pick someone else for the job."

July 2005

• Steven C. Clemons, "Sandra Day O'Connor Resigns. . .The Wars Will Now Begin," The Washington Note, July 1, 2005.
• "When Thinking About Plame, Look Beyond Rove Towards Bolton," The Left Coaster, July 6, 2005.
• Steven C. Clemons, "Scoop: John Bolton Was Regular Source for Judith Miller WMD and National Security Reporting," The Washington Note, July 22, 2005.
• "John Bolton, R.I.P. John Bolton will never be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations," Ragged Thots blogspot, July 23, 2005.
• Larry Johnson, Weekly Radio Address: Larry Johnson on Valerie Plame, democrats.org, July 23, 2005.

2006

• "Key Republican joins Dems opposing Bolton nomination," CNN, November 10, 2006. re Sen. Lincoln Chafee
• John Heilprin, "Bush stands by UN ambassador despite Democrats' opposition," Associated Press (Boston Globe), November 13, 2006.
• Editorial: "Bolton nomination is a test for Dems," Boston Herald, November 13, 2006: "Now it appears that U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will shortly follow Rumsfeld out the door, with the Democrats firmly in control of Congress and in no mood to entertain a bid to reward Bolton for his successes in this most critical diplomatic post."
• "Controversial U.N. ambassador to step down," Associated Press (CNN), December 4, 2006.

SourceWatch Resources

• John R. Bolton: External Links: Articles & Commentary
• John R. Bolton: External Links: Speeches & Commentary