Ruth Morgenthau, 75; foreign policy advisor to three presidents
Ruth Morgenthau, 75, a professor emeritus at Brandeis University and a foreign policy advisor to three Democratic Party presidents, died Nov. 4 at a Boston hospital from a rare blood disease.
“She was our principal advisor on Africa and sustainable development in the ’76 presidential campaign and really had an impact on President Carter’s decision to give priority to relations with Africa and development in Africa,” Stuart E. Eizenstat, Carter’s chief domestic policy advisor, told the Boston Globe.
Born Ruth Schachter in Vienna, she immigrated with her family to the United States in 1940.
After graduating from Barnard College, she studied in Paris on a Fulbright scholarship, then went on to earn her doctorate from Oxford University. She became an expert in French-speaking West Africa.
She also was an advisor to presidents Kennedy and Johnson and advised presidential candidates Bill Bradley and Michael Dukakis.
She ran for Congress as a Democrat from Rhode Island in 1988, losing to former Rep. Claudine Schneider.
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