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Biography
William H. Twaddell (born 1941 Madison, Wisconsin) is a retired American diplomat who was the Ambassador to Nigeria (1997-2000) and Mauritania (1988-1991), Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to Mozambique (1980-1983) and the de facto Ambassador to Liberia (1992-1995).He served as interim CEO of Dorcas International Institute.
A resident of Providence, Rhode Island, he graduated from Brown University in 1963 and was a member of the Board of Trustees.After stints in the Peace Corps and the Army, Twasell became a D.C.-based reporter for The New York Daily News.
While serving in Liberia, Twaddell was “chief of mission” which made him de facto U.S. ambassador since the U.S. did not have formal relations with the Liberian national government at the time. Two months after he arrived, 500 West African peacekeepers were kidnapped by rebel forces in 1992.He worked with former President Jimmy Carter to have the hostages released.
Twaddell married artist Susan L. Hardy in an August 1989.