Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[easymoney101]

Nominated for Secretary of Veterans Affairs December 9, 2004; Confirmed on January 26, 2005

R. James Nicholson, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, was confirmed as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, January 26, 2005.

Jim Nicholson was sworn in as Ambassador to the Holy See on August 10, 2001.

In 1999, Nicholson was honored by induction as a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, one of the highest honors awarded to a Roman Catholic.

http://usinfo.state.gov/special/transition/transition_nominees/nicholson.html


BIO
snipets>>
he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the prestigious John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, and on January 7, 2003 he was presented with the coveted President's Medal from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. On October 16, 2003, Pope John Paul II named him a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX. The Grand Cross is the highest papal award given to a layman who is not a head of state.


Nicholson's tenure as Chairman was marked by record fund raising and flawless adherence to the rules and ethics, and culminated in the history making victories of the 2000 elections. Under Nicholson the Republican Party won the Presidency, the Congress, a majority of Governorships and state legislatures, a feat not achieved by Republicans in nearly fifty years

In 1999, Nicholson was honored by induction as a Knight in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, one of the highest honors awarded to a Roman Catholic.

In 2000, Nicholson was given the prestigious Horatio Alger Award, recognizing his climb from humble beginnings to a position of success, which has enabled him to serve others in America now less fortunate. Among community honors, Irish America magazine has named him one of the top 100 Irish Americans in the country. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Public Service, Honoris Causa, by Regis University in Denver in May of 2001. On August 10, 2001 Nicholson was sworn-in as the sixth U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, and presented his credentials to the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II on September 13, 2001.

http://www. papal-concert-of-reconciliation.com/h_html_en/03-12nicholson.html


THE USA AND THE HOLY SEE. The Long Road

The launch of the book* by Jim Nicholson, Ambassador of the United States to the Holy See, at the Pontifical Lateran University, 31 March 2004. The speeches by Senator Giulio Andreotti, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and the author

snipet>> Your mission, Mr. Ambassador Nicholson, will go down in history for the fact that you presented your letters of credentials a few hours after that 11 September 2001 which, with the massacre in New York, has given rise to an anguishing global problem, in facing which no one can avoid deep reflection and "sacrifices"

http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.asp?id=3544
Jim doesn't say that Nazis and communism was created by the same fancy he leaves that part of history out of his speech. and this is who is helping out military VETS!
snipet
JIM NICHOLSON:
This year marks the 20th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between the United States and the Holy See. I have often characterized our relationship as one between the world's temporal superpower and its spiritual superpower, both sharing a common priority to promote human dignity. When I became U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, I realized that the history of this distinctive partnership was not well known. When Trenta Giorni approached me about the possibility of writing this history, I welcomed the opportunity to add to the story of the diplomatic relationship between my country and the Holy See.
I want to thank Senator Andreotti and Trenta Giorni magazine for their interest in the United States, and for the opportunity to write about our relationship with the Vatican. I would also like to express my special thanks to Trenta Giorni editor, Giovanni Cubeddu, and his team, for their outstanding collaboration and professionalism in both publications of The Long Road – it has been a pleasure to work with him. Giovanni is a patient man when it comes to publishing deadlines, although I know we tried his patience a time or two. I am honored that His Eminence Cardinal Tauran and Secretary of State Powell have enriched this book with a preface in which they eloquently share their perspectives on this relationship. Finally, I want to thank Bishop Fisichella for his interest in this subject and for his hospitality here at the Lateran tonight.
It is a pleasure to see so many friends here this evening. I'm particularly pleased to see so many colleagues from the Vatican and the diplomatic corps with whom I have had the privilege of working these past two plus years. When I began work on the first edition of " The United States and the Holy See, The Long Road" two years ago with the help of a group of young research assistants I was intrigued to find out that this relationship began during the very first years of the American Republic. Its early protagonists included such personalities as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, the Jesuit, John Carroll, and Pope Pius VI.

The second edition of "The Long Road" takes our story right up to our 20th anniversary. The central issue of this most recent period was of course the war in Iraq – an issue in our relationship that has been subject to some considerable misunderstanding


For some two hundred years the diplomatic relationship between the United States and the Holy See ebbed and flowed as the geo-political climate of each historical period influenced the relationship. The early years saw the appointment of consuls and resident ministers to what was then the Papal States, here to assist U.S. citizens and promote U.S. commercial interests. With the loss of the Papal States in 1870 the relationship entered a long pause, as the United States and the Holy See continued to engage each other, but at a diplomatic distance.
With the outbreak of World War II and the challenge it posed to freedom and justice, this limited engagement was no longer tenable. Recognizing the important role the Holy See played throughout Europe, President Roosevelt appointed Myron Taylor as his Personal Representative to Pope Pius XII. Taylor would emerge as a crucial intermediary between the president and the pope as the U.S. tried unsuccessfully to keep Italy from entering the war. True to the humanitarian face Roosevelt had placed on his mission – a mission we continue to fulfill today – Taylor worked closely with the Vatican to feed refugees streaming across the borders of Europe, to provide material aid to the victims of war-torn Eastern Europe, and to assist allied prisoners of war.
Despite an effort by President Truman to formalize the relationship by appointing WWII hero, General Mark Clark, as U.S. Ambassador, the effort again ran aground in Congress, where emotional concerns about Church-State separation continued to generate opposition. As a result, there were occasional representatives in the 1970's and early 1980's, but it was only in 1984, with Pope John Paul II emerging as a critical voice for freedom and justice that President Reagan decided that the United States could no longer afford to be without an Ambassador to the Holy See