Frank Shakespeare

Francis J. Shakespeare (born April 9, 1925) is a former American diplomat and media executive. He was the president of CBS Television before entering public service. He served as the United States Ambassador to Portugal from 1985 to 1986 and the United States Ambassador to the Holy See from 1986 to 1989. He now serves as an honorary member of the board of trustees for The Heritage Foundation.

Born in New York City to Francis and Frances (née Hughes) Shakespeare and raised in the Roman Catholic faith, Shakespeare graduated (B.S.) from Holy Cross College in 1946. He also served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1946. He was later awarded honorary degrees in engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 1975, in commercial science from Pace University in 1979 and in law from Sacred Heart University in 1985.

Shakespeare was president of CBS Television in New York from 1950 to 1969, when he was appointed by President Richard Nixon as director of the United States Information Agency. He returned to the private sector in 1973, and became an executive vice president of Westinghouse in New York. In 1975 he became vice chairman of RKO General.

In 1981 President Ronald Reagan named him chairman of the Board for International Broadcasting, the entity which oversaw the operations of Radio Free Europe. He held this position until 1985, when Reagan appointed him United States Ambassador to Portugal. The following year, in September 1986, Shakespeare was appointed United States Ambassador to the Holy See. Since 1979 Shakespeare has been an honorary member of the board of trustees for The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy research institute. He also currently serves as a trustee of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.