I recently spent some time with Mr. Bob Smith, an admired Grandville Bulldog who has provided me with a great deal of history about our wonderful community. Bob presented me with an article about a man who most of us have never heard of but probably should have as he is truly one of the most amazing Bulldogs ever!
Mr. Stephen Bosworth was a 1957 graduate of Grandville High School. He was the Salutatorian that year. A 1961 graduate of Dartmouth, Steve went on to have a foreign service career that included serving as an ambassador under three presidents and a special envoy under a fourth (President Obama). Steve tried to defuse nuclear tensions in recent years and helped persuade Ferdinand Marcos to give up power in the 1980s, personally walking the Philippine leader to an awaiting aircraft. Many presidents and secretaries of state turned to Mr. Bosworth for advice because he was wise, direct, and completely unflappable.
Besides being an incredible ambassador, Steve was Dean of Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He was admired by so many because as Lawrence Bacow, President of Tufts stated, “Steve had a commanding presence, he was the type of person you wanted on your side in a crisis. Yet, he grew up in modest means and never forgot where he came from. Steve was kind to everybody,and he had a common touch. He commanded a room.”
For more information regarding this amazing person from our town, please do a web search Stephen Bosworth and you will find many articles and pictures. A Grandville Bulldog of the past but never forgotten!
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