Women's History

Nancy Soderberg

Birth: 1959
Nationality: American
Occupation: Political consultant
Source: Biography Resource Center Online. Gale Group, 2003.

Table of Contents

Biographical Essay
Further Readings
Source Citation

Biographical Essay

Working in foreign policy on a national level for a number of years, Nancy Soderberg was one of President Bill Clinton's highest-ranking advisors during his two terms in office. Among her accomplishments was working on issues in Northern Ireland and negotiating a peace treaty with the IRA (Irish Republican Army) there. After Clinton left office, Soderberg was hired as a vice president of International Crisis Group, which filed reports on hot spots around the world.

Soderberg was born in 1959, and grew up in Nantucket, Massachusetts. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in French and economics. After graduation, she worked at the Bank of New England in Boston as a budget analyst. Soderberg later earned her Master of Science in foreign service from Georgetown University in 1984. Her studies focused on political risk analysis and international economics.

Worked as Foreign Affairs Advisor

After earning master's degree, Soderberg worked for Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy for seven years as his foreign affairs advisor. She also was foreign policy advisor in two unsuccessful campaigns for president: Walter Mondale in 1984 and Michael Dukakis in 1988. When Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992, Soderberg was his foreign policy director. When Clinton won the presidency, she served as his Deputy Director of the Presidential Transition for National Security.

In 1993, Soderberg took another position among Clinton's advisors. She was his number three advisor as the staff director for the National Security Council. By 1994-95, much of Soderberg's attention was focused on getting a cease fire in Northern Ireland as chair of a presidential committee on Northern Ireland. The country had long been plagued by a guerilla war between the IRA and other factions in the country.

Though when Soderberg began she was not overtly sympathetic to Irish and Irish American causes, she was open taking it on and making it part of Clinton's policies as directed. She helped get IRA leader Gerry Adams a visa to visit Clinton in the United States. She also worked to get Great Britain to change its policies in Northern Ireland. While the peace she helped negotiate in Northern Ireland was not complete, this initial accord marked one of Clinton's biggest accomplishments.

Northern Ireland was not Soderberg's only focus in Clinton's first term. She also dealt with issues like the possible U.S. invasion of Haiti, which had a power struggle in 1994. Because of her work, by late 1995 or early 1996, Soderberg was promoted the deputy national security advisor. When Clinton was re-elected in 1996, it was rumored that she would become the under-secretary for political affairs in the State Department, making her number three in the State Department. She did not. Instead, Soderberg remained deputy assistant to President Clinton for National Security Affairs.

In 1997, Soderberg was appointed by Clinton to be the U.S. Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations. This was the third-highest position in the American group there, and made her a representative to the United Nations' Security Council. She helped develop U.S. foreign policy, which was put in to play there. Among the issues she addressed were how peacekeepers were used.

Hired by International Crisis Group

When George W. Bush was elected president in 2000, Soderberg was replaced at the United Nations. She was then hired as a vice president of the International Crisis Group in 2001. This organization issued quick reports on areas of the world where conflict and unrest could be found, such as the re-building of Afghanistan and the war in Iraq in 2003. Soderberg's expertise made her an important addition to the organization.

Further Readings

Periodicals

• Insight on the News, November 20, 1995, p. 6.
• Irish Times, September 17, 1994, p. 2; January 15, 1997, p. 9.
• New York Times, November 25, 2001, section 4, p. 3.
• San Francisco Chronicle, March 29, 2000, p. A14; April 20, 2003, p. A1.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 17, 1995, p. 5B.
• Sunday Times, December 8, 1996.
• U.S. News & World Report, January 18, 1993, p. 32.

Online

• "Nancy Soderberg," www.intl-crisis-group.org/about/staff_detail.cfm?staffid=123 (October 12, 2003).

Source: "Nancy Soderberg." Biography Resource Center Online. Gale Group, 2003. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004.