Charles Joseph "Butch" Swindells (born 1942) is a former

United States Ambassador to New Zealand The United States has maintained a consular presence in New Zealand since 1838. The first consul was James Reddy Clendon. Born in England, Clendon was a ship owner and merchant who bought land and settled in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. In ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. He was appointed to the position by U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

on June 5 2001 with the strong support of his home state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

's two U.S. Senators. He served from 2001 to 2005.

Early Life and Career

Swindells earned a B.S. from

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1867 and is situated on the historic M. Lloyd Frank Estate in South Portland's Collins View neighborhood. It is composed of three distinct but adjac ...

in 1964, and served as a trustee there from 1998 to 2001. He also attended

Willamette University College of Law The Willamette University School of Law (previously known as the Willamette University College of Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Willamette University. Located in Salem, Oregon, Salem, Oregon, and founded in 1883, Wil ...

. After law school, he went into finance and investing. In 1968, he and law school roommate Jeffrey Grayson founded Capital Consultants together; Swindells left that company in 1985 (and was not involved in the company's financial scandal of the late 1990s). He later co-founded Capital Trust Co., which became one of the largest trust companies in the Northwest, in 1981. Swindells has served on the board of directors of

Swift Energy Company Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, a ...

and

The Greenbrier Companies The Greenbrier Companies is an American publicly traded transportation manufacturing corporation based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, United States. Greenbrier specializes in transportation services, notably freight Railroad car#Freight cars, railcar ma ...

References

1942 births Living people Businesspeople from Oregon Ambassadors of the United States to New Zealand Ambassadors of the United States to Samoa Willamette University College of Law alumni Lewis & Clark College alumni 21st-century American diplomats {{Oregon-politician-stub

Early Life and Career

See also

References