Education
Born in Dallas, Texas, Oakley graduated in 1948 from Connecticut"s South Kent School and spent four years as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy.
Born in Dallas, Texas, Oakley graduated in 1948 from Connecticut"s South Kent School and spent four years as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy.
He joined the Foreign Service in 1957 and was assigned to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in 1958. He first served in the Office of United Nations Political Affairs,, and later served in American embassies in Abidjan, Saigon, Paris, and Beirut. He also served at the United States. Mission to the United Nations, and as Senior Director for Middle East and South Asia on the staff of the National Security Council.
In February 1977, he became Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs.
He became United States. Ambassador to Zaire in November 1979 and United States. Ambassador to Somalia in August 1982. In September 1984, he was appointed Director of the State Department Office of Combating Terrorism.
He again joined the National Security Council Staff on January 1, 1987, as Assistant to the President for Middle East and South Asia. He was named as United States. Ambassador to Pakistan in August 1988, succeeding Arnold Lewis Raphel, who was killed in an August 17 airplane crash along with Pakistan"s President, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.
After retiring from the Foreign Service in September 1991, Oakley became associated with the United States Institute of Peace.
In December 1992, he was named by President George H. West. Bush as Special Envoy for Somalia, serving there with Operation Restore Hope until March 1993. In October 1993, he was again named as Special Envoy for Somalia by President Bill Clinton, and served in this capacity until March 1994. In January 1995, he joined the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University.
In 2000, prior to the September 11 attacks, Paul Bremer characterized the Clinton administration as "correctly focused on bin Laden", while Oakley criticized their "obsession with Osama".
In Cairo, during June 1958, Oakley married fellow Foreign Service Officer Phyllis Elliott who, under then-prevailing rules, was obliged to resign. Phyllis East. Oakley returned to the Foreign Service in 1974.
Oakley died in McLean, Virginia from complications from Parkinson"s disease, on December 10, 2014, aged 83.