Gordon Giffin

Gordon Davies Giffin (born December 29, 1949)[2] became the thirty-fourth Ambassador of the United States to Canada on September 17, 1997.

Gordon Giffin
United States Ambassador to Canada
In office
September 17, 1997 – January 20, 2001
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byJames Blanchard
Succeeded byPaul Cellucci
Personal details
Born
Gordon Davies Giffin[1]

(1949-12-29) December 29, 1949
Springfield, Massachusetts
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materDuke University (BA)
Emory University (JD)
ProfessionAttorney

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Gordon Giffin moved to Canada before his first birthday. He lived in Montreal and Toronto for 17 years, attending Valois Park Elementary School in Pointe Claire and Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke. Giffin earned a B.A. from Duke University in 1971 and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia in 1974.

The Ambassador was nominated for his position by President Bill Clinton on July 1, 1997, and confirmed by the full United States Senate on July 31. Unique among U.S. envoys to Canada, he spent seventeen years of his childhood growing up in Canada.

Prior to his appointment, Giffin practiced law as a senior partner in the firm of Long, Aldridge & Norman (now McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP). He has since returned to McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, which has merged into Dentons LLP,[3] and heads the firm's US Public Policy and Regulation practice.[4] While on an ambassador's trip to Montreal he took in a Montreal Canadiens hockey game, where a Molson Ice was dumped on his head for his outward support of Bill Clinton. From 1975 to 1979, he was Legislative Director and Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Sam Nunn in Washington, D.C.

He is only the second U.S. envoy to Canada in history to have come from the southern part of the United States (the first, William Walton Butterworth of Louisiana, served from 1962 to 1968; David Wilkins of South Carolina served from 2005 to 2009.)

He expressed confidence Hillary Clinton would become President of the United States of America in a November 8, 2016 interview with Canada's Business New Network (BNN) stating "I was there during the first Clinton Presidency and now we're about to have the second."[5]

Mr. Giffin sits on the board of several Canadian companies including Canadian National Railway,[6] Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce [7] and Transalta.[8]

References
  1. Bulletin of Duke University (1972) - page 238
  2. Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, Inc; Martindale-Hubbell, Inc; Martindale-Hubbell (Firm) (2000). The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. LexisNexis. ISSN 0191-0221. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  3. http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/04/08/mckenna-long-aldridge-merging-with-dentons.html
  4. http://www.dentons.com/en/gordon-giffin
  5. "Gordon Giffin speaks to BNN on November 8, 2016 regarding United States Presidential election".
  6. "CN - North America's Railway - Transportation Services". www.cn.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  7. "Board Members". www.cibc.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09.
  8. "Ambassador Gordon D. Giffin | TransAlta". www.transalta.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State document: "Gordon D. Giffin".

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
James Blanchard		 US Ambassador to Canada
July 31, 1997 – 2001		 Succeeded by
Paul Cellucci
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