- Under President Jimmy Carter, he was the chief United States negotiator for the release of the fifty-two American hostages held in Iran. When Ronald Reagan was elected president, Christopher became a corporate lawyer in private practice with "O'Melveny & Myers", a prestigious Los Angeles law firm. In 1991, he was appointed to head the independent commission that investigated widespread allegations of brutality and racism in the Los Angeles Police Department, following the videotaped beating of Rodney King, a black motorist, by white police officers. Under President Bill Clinton, Christopher was appointed leader of Clinton's transition team and then Secretary of State.
- He is survived by his wife, Marie Wyllis Christopher of Los Angeles, California; their three children; five grandchildren; and another child from a previous marriage.
- He was Deputy Secretary of State during President Jimmy Carter's administration from 1977 to 1981.
- From 1967 to January 1969, he was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to be the Deputy to the Attorney General Ramsey Clark in Washington D.C.
- He was named to the Governor Brown commission to investigate the 1965 Watts Riots in Los Angeles, California.
- In 1950, he joined the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers where he became a partner in 1958 at 33 years old. He became a speech writer for the California Governor Edmund G. Brown.
- He earned his Bachelor's Degree from University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California and his Juris Doctorat (Law Degree) from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He earned a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice, William O. Douglas, in Washington D.C.
- He attended Hollywood High School in Hollywood, California. He studied at the University of Redlands in Southern California at 16 years old. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy Office program and served as an Ensign in the Navy Reserve on an oil tanker in the Pacific Ocean.
- He was one of five children born in a farming community in North Dakota. His father was a banker who moved the family to California where he died at 53 years old.
- U.S. Secretary of State (1993 - 1997).
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