March 2, 1987
The President today announced his intention to nominate Robert H. Pelletreau, Jr., of Connecticut, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister Counselor, as Ambassador to the Republic of Tunisia. He succeeds Peter Sebastian.
Before entering the Foreign Service in 1962, Mr. Pelletreau was a law associate with Chadbourne, Parke, Whiteside and Wolff in New York City. He took Arabic language training in Tangier, Morocco, 1962 - 1963, and was assigned as a junior officer in Nouakchott, Mauritania, 1963 - 1964. He returned to Washington, DC, in 1964 and served as an international relations officer on the Guinea/Mali desk. He was then assigned language and area training in Beirut, Lebanon, 1966 - 1967, to be followed in 1968 - 1970 as political officer in Amman, Jordan. In 1971 he was detailed to the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA. From there he became international relations officer on the Morocco/Mauritania desk in the State Department until 1973 when he went to Algiers, Algeria, as political officer. In 1975 Mr. Pelletreau became deputy chief of mission in Damascus, Syria, and in 1979 he was appointed Ambassador to the state of Bahrain. He was then detailed to the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near East and South Asia, 1980 - 1981. He returned to the State Department in 1981 - 1982 as country director for Arabian peninsula affairs and in 1983 - 1985 served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. Since 1985 he has been Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near East and South Asia.
He graduated from Yale University (B.A., 1957) and Harvard Law School (LL.B., 1961). Mr. Pelletreau's foreign languages are French, Arabic, and Spanish. He is married, has three children, and resides in Washington, DC. Mr. Pelletreau was born July 9, 1935, in Patchogue, NY.