There was a commercial this evening for classic Shirley Temple movies. She was an adorable gal, puffy cheeks, tap dancing, and all. Wondering what happened to adorable Shirley T (did she marry a Tilghman?), I wiki’d her. Turns out, not only did she enjoy success on the silver screen, but she’s also been rather involved in other domains:
Shirley Temple Black became involved in Republican Party politics, unsuccessfully entering a Congressional race in 1967 on a platform that supported the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War; she had run against Pete McCloskey, who was famous for his opposition to the war, rare in a Republican and rarer in a retired Marine. She went on to hold several diplomatic posts, serving as the U.S. delegate to many international conferences and summits. She was appointed a delegate to the United Nations by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969. She was appointed United States Ambassador to Ghana (1974–76). In 1976, she became the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States which put in her charge of all State Department ceremonies, visits, gifts to foreign leaders and co-ordination of protocol issues with all U.S. embassies and consulates. She was United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1968 and 1989–92) and witnessed the Velvet Revolution. She commented, about her Ambassadorship, “That was the best job I ever had.” In 1987 she was designated the first Honorary Foreign Service Officer in U.S. history by then U.S. Secretary of State, George Shultz.
Black served on the board of directors of some large enterprises including The Walt Disney Company (1974–75), Del Monte, Bancal Tri-State, and Fireman’s Fund Insurance. Her non-profit board appointments included the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of American Ambassadors, the World Affairs Council, the United States Commission for UNESCO, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the United Nations Association, and the U.S. Citizen’s Space TaskForce.
And to think that, for some reason, I was under the impression she’d committed suicide!
