Ambassador Charles Lichenstein, RIP

Ambassador Charles Lichenstein passed away on Thursday. I haven't seen any note of his passing, save for this blurb on NewsMax:

Ambassador Charles Lichenstein, a man famed for once having invited the Soviet Union to leave the U.N. and the United States during the debate over the Soviets' downing of a Korean Passenger plane in 1983, died today in Washington during minor heart surgery.

In recent years, Lichenstein has been a Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation. During the Reagan administration, he served as Alternate U.S. Representative to the United Nations with Amb. Jean Kirkpatrick. He was also active in Republican party affairs for many years.

In an announcement of his death, the Heritage Foundation recalled his wonderful response to the Soviet Union U.N. delegation during the crisis caused by the Soviet military downing of the Korean jet over international air territory in 1983:

"If in the judicious determination of the members of the United Nations they feel they are not welcome and treated with the hostly consideration that is their due, the United States strongly encourages member states to seriously consider removing themselves and this organization from the soil of the United States," he said. "We will put no impediment in your way and we will be at the dockside bidding you a farewell as you set off into the sunset."

I met Ambassador Lichenstein some years ago in Springfield, MO, when he was a guest lecturer in a graduate seminar. He was quite a character, and not a young man even then. He had a raspy voice that suggested many years of smoking, and a hacking cough that suggested the same. But he was a stalwart for liberty, and a true patriot. I'm sorry to hear of his passing.

[Posted at 12:08 CST on 08/31/02] [Link]