Jeffrey Davidow was sworn in by then Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico on July 21, 1998. He was nominated for this appointment by then President Clinton on April 28, 1998, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 26. Davidow served as Ambassador to Mexico until September 2002.

Ambassador Davidow was a Presidential appointee on three prior occasions: as U.S. Ambassador to Zambia (1988-1990) and Venezuela (1993-1996), and as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (1996-1998). A Foreign Service Officer of the U.S. Department of State since 1969, Davidow has spent much of his career focusing on Latin America. In addition to his ambassadorial positions, he has served in American Embassies in Guatemala, Chile, and Venezuela. He was also posted to South Africa and Zimbabwe. Davidow served as Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela from 1986 to 1988.

Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, Ambassador Davidow studied at the University of Massachusetts (BA, 1965), the University of Minnesota (MA, 1967), and at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India (1968-69). While in the Foreign Service, he spent one year as a Fellow of the American Political Science Association working as a congressional staff aide (1979) and another year as a Fellow of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University (1982).

The collection contains materials relating chiefly to Mr. Davidow's diplomatic career in Latin America, particularly in his appointments as Ambassador to Venezuela and Mexico. The papers include Spanish and English language news clippings, business and personal documents, appointment books, photographs, speeches, transcripts of interviews, government reports and papers analyzing various policy issues.

This collection is organized into seven series:

• 1. Publications on Policy, ca. 1993-2003
• 2. Interviews, ca. 1993-2003
• 3. Schedules and Photographs, 1993-2002 and n.d.
• 4. Personal Letters and Memoranda, 1993-2002
• 5. Business Letters and Memoranda, 1994-2002
• 6. English Language News Clippings, 1993-2003
• 7. Spanish Language News Clippings, 1993-2003

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

[Identification of item], in Jeffrey Davidow Papers [Box #, Folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library

The papers were donated to the Amherst College Library as part of the Latino Collection by Mr. Davidow in May 2003. Accession number: 2003-112

The papers were donated to the Amherst College Library as part of the Latino Collection by Mr. Davidow in May 2003. They were processed during the summer of 2003.