Before becoming ambassador to the Bahamas, Richard Blankenship was a partner in the Capital Policy Group, an investment banking firm with a home office in Jacksonville, Florida. He also served as President and CFO of St. John's Capital, a regional firm with offices in the U.S. Southeast.
While serving in the Bahamas, Blankenship became best known for his emphasis on drug interdiction. Under his leadership, record amounts of cocaine were seized and more drug smugglers extradited to the United States than in the entire relationship between the Bahamas and United States[citation needed]. Notable in his efforts was the added use of electronic intelligence gathering and small guerrilla actions against the cartels, which the U.S. Coast Guard in joint efforts with the DEA had been practicing for some time ineffectively.
Blankenship could often be found in the producing countries of South America coordinating operations, in the jungles or on isolated islands with law enforcement authorities. He was referred to as the "no nonsense diplomat" by The Nassau Tribune after exposing a ten-year cover-up of a Royal Bahamas Defence Force theft of cocaine used in an undercover operation. Some Mexican Government officials believe the smuggling routes through Mexico were established because of the increased emphasis Blankenship brought to interdiction efforts in the Caribbean. Blankenship announced his resignation in June 2003, following many complaints of Bahamians.[3]
He is currently active as Director of Global Policy Advisers, an international business consulting group. It is thought Global Policy Advisers is involved with interdiction efforts of governments in the Caribbean and South America. According to Mexican police authorities, Global Policy Advisers has clients in Mexico and is conducting intelligence gathering. Blankenship, located in Mexico City, would neither confirm nor deny any information about Global Policy Advisers' clients. Blankenship is also listed as the Managing Director of The Policy Advisers, a partnership providing foreign policy advice to U.S. clients. Recently he became Chairman of the Board of Bio-Renewable Fuels Inc, a company whose mission it is to grow renewable biomass fuels (eucalyptus trees) for use by electrical producers both in the United States and abroad.
Blankenship writes a syndicated column for newspapers in the Caribbean and his writings on reorganization of government can frequently be found on conservative web sites.
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The neutrality of this article is disputed Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met October 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message This article s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia See Wikipedia s guide to writing better articles for suggestions October 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message This article contains weasel words vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information Such statements should be clarified or removed October 2015 This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources J Richard Blankenship news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2020 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message James Richard Blankenship born 1959 1 2 is a former politician that served as United States Ambassador to the Bahamas from 2001 to 2003 He was nominated by President George W Bush in the spring of 2001 1 Richard BlankenshipAmbassador BlankenshipUnited States Ambassador to the BahamasIn office December 3 2001 July 18 2003PresidentGeorge W BushPreceded byArthur Louis SchechterSucceeded byRobert M WitajewskiPersonal detailsBorn1959 age 64 65 Troy Alabama U S Political partyRepublicanProfessionDiplomat Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 References 4 External linksEarly life and education editBlakenship was born in 1959 in Troy Alabama and is a graduate of Florida State University and Harvard Kennedy School 2 Career editBefore becoming ambassador to the Bahamas Richard Blankenship was a partner in the Capital Policy Group an investment banking firm with a home office in Jacksonville Florida He also served as President and CFO of St John s Capital a regional firm with offices in the U S Southeast While serving in the Bahamas Blankenship became best known for his emphasis on drug interdiction Under his leadership record amounts of cocaine were seized and more drug smugglers extradited to the United States than in the entire relationship between the Bahamas and United States citation needed Notable in his efforts was the added use of electronic intelligence gathering and small guerrilla actions against the cartels which the U S Coast Guard in joint efforts with the DEA had been practicing for some time ineffectively Blankenship could often be found in the producing countries of South America coordinating operations in the jungles or on isolated islands with law enforcement authorities He was referred to as the no nonsense diplomat by The Nassau Tribune after exposing a ten year cover up of a Royal Bahamas Defence Force theft of cocaine used in an undercover operation Some Mexican Government officials believe the smuggling routes through Mexico were established because of the increased emphasis Blankenship brought to interdiction efforts in the Caribbean Blankenship announced his resignation in June 2003 following many complaints of Bahamians 3 He is currently active as Director of Global Policy Advisers an international business consulting group It is thought Global Policy Advisers is involved with interdiction efforts of governments in the Caribbean and South America According to Mexican police authorities Global Policy Advisers has clients in Mexico and is conducting intelligence gathering Blankenship located in Mexico City would neither confirm nor deny any information about Global Policy Advisers clients Blankenship is also listed as the Managing Director of The Policy Advisers a partnership providing foreign policy advice to U S clients Recently he became Chairman of the Board of Bio Renewable Fuels Inc a company whose mission it is to grow renewable biomass fuels eucalyptus trees for use by electrical producers both in the United States and abroad Blankenship writes a syndicated column for newspapers in the Caribbean and his writings on reorganization of government can frequently be found on conservative web sites nbsp Alabama portal nbsp United States portalReferences edit Congressional Record November 8 2001 to November 28 2001 J Richard Blankenship 1949 Blankenship Resigns Bahamas News 6 June 2003 External links editBiography at United States Department of State Diplomatic posts Preceded byArthur Louis Schechter United States Ambassador to Bahamas2001 2003 Succeeded byRobert M Witajewski Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title J Richard Blankenship amp oldid 1210219035, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
