Background
John Holdridge was born August 21, 1924, in New York City, New New York His parents later divorced, and John gained his only sibling, a much younger stepsister, Cheryl Holdridge, after his father remarried.
John Holdridge was born August 21, 1924, in New York City, New New York His parents later divorced, and John gained his only sibling, a much younger stepsister, Cheryl Holdridge, after his father remarried.
Holdridge attended Dartmouth College in 1941, but transferred to the United States Military Academy at West Point upon the United States entry into World World War World War II
He also served as United States. Ambassador to Singapore (1975–1978) and Indonesia (1982–1986). After graduation in 1945, he was commissioned an officer in the United States Army, and served briefly in of Korea. He resigned his commission in 1948, after passing the State Department"s foreign service examination
He then began a two-year intensive study of Mandarin at Cornell University and Harvard University.
John Holdridge"s first State Department posting was as United States Vice Consul in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1950 to 1953. He was promoted to Consul and assigned to first Hong Kong (1953-1956), then Singapore (1956-1958).
He returned to Hong Kong in 1962 as Chief of the Political Section, a post he held for four years. In 1966 he became Director of Research and Analysis, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, for the State Department in Washington, District of Columbia. With the election of Richard Nixon as President of the United States in 1968, Holdridge became a Senior Staff Member for the Far East of the National Security Council, probably upon the recommendation of Henry Kissinger, the incoming National Security Advisor.
Though not involved with domestic politics, Holdridge would be largely identified with Republican administrations and the real politik policies of Kissinger throughout his later career.
While serving on the National Security Council, Holdridge was selected by Kissinger to help lay the groundwork for diplomatic reproachment between the United States and Red China. He accompanied Kissinger on his secret 1971 trip to the Mainland, and helped draft the protocol agreement between Zhou En-lai and Henry Kissinger that marked the beginning of normalized relations. Foreign his services, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission in Beijing, China for 1973-1975.
Holdridge was then selected by Gerald R. Ford in 1975 to serve as the fourth United States Ambassador to Singapore.
After the election of Jimmy Carter, Holdridge continued to serve in Singapore until 1978. After that he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency until early 1981 as National Intelligence Officer for East Asia/Pacific, on detail from the State Department.
In 1981 he became Assistant Secretary of State of East Asian & Pacific Affairs, then was appointed United States Ambassador to Indonesia from 1983-1986. Later life
After retiring from active service, he wrote a memoir on the restoration of United States-China diplomatic relations.
He also made occasional appearances as a commentator on Asian political affairs for American television
Holdridge died of pulmonary fibrosis in Washington, District of Columbia on July 12, 2001.