Howard Eliot Wolpe was a seven-term United States Representative from Michigan and the Clinton Administration's Presidential Special Envoy to the African Great Lakes Region, where he led the US delegation to the Arusha and Lusaka peace talks aimed at ending civil wars in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He rejoined the State Department in the capacity of Special Advisor to the Secretary for Africa's Great Lakes Region. Previously, he was the Director of the Africa Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, as well as the Project on Leadership and State Capacity at the Center. Wolpe conducted post-conflict leadership training programs in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Liberia while at the Center.
| Born | Howard Eliot Wolpe November 3, 1939 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | October 25, 2011 (aged 71) Saugatuck, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Judy Wolpe (Deceased 2006) |
| Alma mater | Reed College Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Wolpe was an expert in African politics for ten of his fourteen years in Congress, chairing the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Africa. Wolpe, as chair of the House Africa Subcommittee, co-authored and overrode President Ronald Reagan's veto of sanctions legislation imposing penalties on South Africa. He also wrote and oversaw the enactment of the African Famine Recovery and Development Act, a thorough rewriting of America's approach to development aid in Africa in the 1980s that included the establishment of the African Development Fund.
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