Vance, Cyrus Roberts (1917-2002), served as secretary of state from 1977 to 1980 under President Jimmy Carter. Vance, a lawyer and former official in the Department of Defense, came to the Department of State as an experienced diplomat. In 1967, he settled a dispute between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus. In 1968 and 1969, he served as deputy United States negotiator at the Paris peace talks on the Vietnam War.
As secretary of state, Vance played a major role in establishing full diplomatic relations between the United States and China. He also helped negotiate a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. He resigned because he could not support a Carter administration plan to rescue American hostages held in Iran (see Carter, Jimmy ).
In late 1991, the United Nations asked Vance to help end fighting between Croats and Serbs in Croatia. His efforts led to a cease-fire there in 1992.
Vance was born on March 27, 1917, in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He graduated from Yale University and from Yale Law School. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942, during World War II. In 1947, he joined a New York City law firm.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy named Vance general counsel of the Department of Defense. Vance became secretary of the Army in 1962, and President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him deputy secretary of defense in 1964. Vance died on Jan. 12, 2002.
