GET ME CARLUCCI

Weed offers a biography of her father, Frank Carlucci III, a prominent American diplomat during the Cold War.

In 1930, Frank Carlucci III was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His family was widely known in the area due to his grandfather’s sterling reputation as a stonemason. He would not follow in his footsteps, however; after studying at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Frank embarked on an eventful career in the foreign service—he was a witness to and participant in events in the Congo during historically tumultuous periods in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1974, he became the Ambassador to Portugal as the nation “teetered between communism and democracy.” Carlucci helped steward Portugal toward democratic reform, an achievement so significant that, in the author’s words, it “changed the course of Cold War history.” His career was extraordinary—Carlucci would serve under six different presidents, assuming roles of great power and influence, including a tenure as secretary of defense under President Ronald Reagan. The author, Carlucci’s daughter, weaves together her own account of her father’s remarkable life with a brief memoir he wrote; the result is an intellectual lively and emotionally poignant work. Carlucci was a rare type, both a “daredevil diplomat” capable of employing strikingly unorthodox methods and a “consummate government bureaucrat” respected by all. Weed movingly highlights the achievements of a man who never sought elected office or self-aggrandizement. “I feel his legacy should be better recognized—not because I am his daughter, but because in our modern era of bitter partisanship, the way he lived and the manner in which he moved through Washington, under leaders from both sides of the aisle, offer lessons we all can learn from.” This is an engrossing remembrance that captures a brilliant career and the turbulent times within which it flourished.

A historically vivid and emotionally affecting recollection.