Cyrus Vance

Cyrus Roberts Vance (March 27, 1917 – January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat.

Cyrus Vance
57th United States Secretary of State
In office January 20, 1977 – April 28, 1980
President	Jimmy Carter
Deputy	Warren Christopher
Preceded by	Henry Kissinger
Succeeded by	Edmund Muskie
11th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
In office January 28, 1964 – June 30, 1967
President	Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	Roswell Gilpatric
Succeeded by	Paul Nitze
7th United States Secretary of the Army
In office July 5, 1962 – January 21, 1964
President	John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	Elvis Jacob Stahr Jr.
Succeeded by	Stephen Ailes
General Counsel of the Department of Defense
In office January 29, 1961 – June 30, 1962
President	John F. Kennedy
Preceded by	Vincent Burke
Succeeded by	John McNaughton
Personal details
Born	Cyrus Roberts Vance (1917-03-27)March 27, 1917 Clarksburg, West Virginia, U.S.
Died	January 12, 2002(2002-01-12) (aged 84) New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Gay Sloane ​ ​ (m. 2015; died 2012)​
Children	5, including Cyrus Jr.
Relatives	John W. Davis (Adoptive father)
Education	Yale University (BA, LLB)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1942–1946
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	USS Hale (DD-642)
Battles/wars	World War II

Early life

Vance was born on March 27, 1917 in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vance studied at Kent School, Yale University, and at Yale Law School.

Career

Vance was United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980.^[1] Before that, he was the Secretary of the Army^[2] and the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

As Secretary of State, Vance approached foreign policy with an emphasis on negotiation over conflict. He was very interested in arms reduction. In April 1980, Vance resigned in protest of Operation Eagle Claw, the secret mission to rescue American hostages in Iran. Edmund Muskie replaced him.

Personal life

Vance married Grace Elsie Sloane in 1947. They had four daughters and a son. Vance lived in New York City during his final years. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1995.

Death

Vance died at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City on January 12, 2002 of pneumonia. His death was a complication from Alzheimer's disease.^[1] He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.