Christopher Hill: Eagleburger: Diplomat not afraid to speak his mind

For many in the US Foreign Service, Lawrence Eagleburger, who died this weekend, was a larger-than-life figure who left an indelible mark on our institution and on our lives. Eagleburger, who served and later often closely advised a string of US presidents from John F Kennedy to George HW Bush - and was briefly secretary of state himself - was a diplomat who went after every tough issue there was.

His courage was matched only by his determination and humour. He wouldn't so much vanquish his adversaries as make them melt in his presence. It was appropriate that he was the only foreign service officer to become secretary of state. Indeed, had he been appointed in late 1992 for longer than the interregnum between the Bush and Clinton administrations, he arguably would have been America's best secretary of state.

In the foreign service, one's first ambassador is a very special person. Mine was Mr Eagleburger. I met him in 1978 in his office at the US embassy in Belgrade. I had just arrived, aged 25, as the "assistant commercial attach", a rather modest position.

Mr Eagleburger told me what he was trying to do in Yugoslavia in the twilight of president Josip Broz Tito's life: weave a web of relations with the country such that it would keepit from going in another direction. He was first assigned to Yugoslavia in 1963, and became known as "Lawrence of Macedonia" for his relief work after the Skopje earthquake in August of that year.

I listened carefully to his explanation of my role in the "web of relations". His ability to link the tactical task of assisting visiting US businessmen to the strategic goal of managing the coming post-Tito Yugoslavia was extraordinary. I left the meeting a little taller for having realised that he valued my job.

The president died in 1980, after a six-month illness. Mr Eagleburger argued forcefully with the White House, without success, that the president should lead the US delegation to the funeral. I was often privy to his comments about some of his Washington interlocutors: "a mile wide and an inch deep" was how he described a very senior member of the Carter administration at the time.

He never shrank from taking on Washington. "I didn't come here to preside over a post office," he wrote in protest against delivering what he considered a useless note to the Yugoslavs. Then he explained a better course of action, admonishing that "pique is no substitute for policy", a line I always remembered - and had many occasions to use.

Mr Eagleburger went on to bigger and better things. He was undersecretary of political affairs in 1989 during the Polish and central European revolutions, overseeing and spearheading US assistance.

I visited him a few years ago at his home in Virginia, and we talked for a couple of hours. He wanted to know all about the negotiations with North Korea, and I described some of the more theatrical moments."How do you think the foreign service is doing?" he asked. He was worried we'd surrendered too much of our role to the military. I told him we would be fine and would do our duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, military engagements about which he had great concerns.

"Just make sure our people show some guts," he responded, and he lit another cigarette.

• Christopher Hill is a former US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, and was US ambassador to Iraq, South Korea, Macedonia and Poland.