Editing Richard N. Gardner (section)

==Government Service==
Gardner’s government career began under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (1961–1965). This office oversaw the operations internationally of the CIA. He advocated for strengthening institutions like the World Bank and was senior adviser to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1965–1966). In 1970–1971, he served on the President’s Commission on International Trade and Investment Policy.

As U.S. Ambassador to Italy (1977–1981), Gardner navigated a turbulent period marked by Operation Gladio, the Aldo Moro assassination, and Italy’s internal strife with the Red Brigades, which were used by Operation Gladio elements of the Italian government to orchestrate deadly Gladio events in Italy. He was the first U.S. ambassador to grant a visa to Giorgio Napolitano, later Italy’s president, despite Napolitano’s communist affiliations, a decision reflecting Gardner’s pragmatic diplomacy. His wife, Danielle, played a significant role, gathering intelligence through social networks, once learning of a minister’s resignation from her hairdresser’s gossip, which the CIA initially dismissed but later confirmed.

Appointed Ambassador to Spain (1993–1997) by President Clinton, Gardner focused on intellectual property rights and support for U.S. citizens abroad, earning the Thomas Jefferson Award. He also served as a U.S. delegate to the 1999 World Trade Organization ministerial meeting and the 2000 U.N. General Assembly, and advised the U.N. on environmental issues, including the 1992 Rio Conference.