HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Charles W. 'Chuck' Larson Jr. (born April 1, 1968, in Newton,
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
) is the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the US to the
Republic of Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Larson was the Iowa State Senator from the 19th District from 2003–2007, was a member of the
Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...
from 1993-2001, and is a former chairman of the
Republican Party of Iowa The Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is chaired by Jeff Kaufmann. The RPI operates the Republican side of the Iowa caucu ...
. He was succeeded in the Iowa Senate by Democrat Rob Hogg. During his most recent term of office, Larson served on several committees in the Iowa Senate – the Commerce committee; the Education committee; the Judiciary committee; the Ways and Means committee; and the Ethics committee, where he was co-chair. In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Larson to the President's Advisory Commission for Drug Free Communities, on which he continues to serve. On November 30, 2007, the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
announced that Larson would be nominated to become Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the US to the Republic of Latvia in 2008, replacing Catherine Todd Bailey. In May 2008, Latvian President Valdis Zatlers awarded Ambassador Larson the
Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...
, which is Latvia's highest award for his service to the country. In June 2009, President Barack Obama announced he was nominating Judith Gail Garber to replace Larson as U.S. Ambassador to Latvia.


Work

Chuck served on the Pearl Mutual Fund board of directors from 2006 until his appointment. He prosecuted as an assistant county attorney in Jones County, Iowa from 1997 to 1999. He was then named General Counsel for the ESCO Group, a Marion, Iowa, technology services firm with more than 250 employees. He served in this capacity until 2006. He was also chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa from 2001 to 2005 and served on U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential kitchen cabinet. Ambassador Larson is one of the founding partners of Larson Shannahan and Slifka group (LS2group), a bipartisan public affairs firm in Des Moines, IA, whose projects range from local to international covering a diverse groups of sectors.


Education

Ambassador Larson is a 1992 graduate of the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. He graduated with honors and distinction and is a member of the
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
honor society. In 1996, Ambassador Larson received his Juris Doctor degree with distinction from the University College of Law.


Military service

Ambassador Larson served as a major in the U.S. Army Reserves spending a year in Iraq during
Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...
and was awarded a
Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...
for meritorious service in combat and the
Combat Action Badge The Combat Action Badge (CAB) is a United States military Badges of the United States Army, award given to soldiers of the U.S. Army of any rank and who are not members of an infantry, special forces, or medical MOS, for being "present and active ...
. In January 2008, Ambassador Larson's book ''Heroes Among Us,'' was released by
Penguin Publishing Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initiall ...
, profiling 29 heroes from the War on Terrorism.


References


External links


Larson on Project Vote Smart

Larson's Capitol Web Address
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Chuck Republican Party Iowa state senators Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Latvia 1968 births People from Newton, Iowa People from Fremont County, Iowa Iowa lawyers Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Iowa General Assembly