L. Desaix Anderson

Who is L. Desaix Anderson?

L. Desaix Anderson is a career foreign service officer specializing in East Asian affairs, and served as American Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to Vietnam.

The significance of Anderson's contribution was his instrumental role in restoring formal diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. His most notable assignment was opening the first U.S. Embassy in Hanoi after the Vietnam War, in August 1995. He faced many challenges, however, Vietnam and the US were finally able to restore diplomatic relations.

Before embarking on his mission, Anderson gained insight by meeting with senators John McCain, John Kerry, Bob Kerry, Thad Cochran, Chuck Robb, Frank Murkowski, Kit Bond, Craig Thomas, and Jay Rockefeller.

Anderson was Executive Director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization from 1997 to 2001.

Anderson is an Executive Board member of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.

Anderson was raised on a farm in rural Mississippi. He received his B.A. in History from Princeton University, and did graduate work in European Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. He also served on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1958 to 1960, after which he managed his family farm in Mississippi.