R. Spencer Oliver (born 1937) was the first Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA). A lawyer by training, Oliver previously served 22 years as a staff member in the U.S. Congress, including as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Helsinki Commission from 1976 to 1985 and as Chief Counsel of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives until January 1993. He also served in several senior diplomatic positions on U.S. delegations to CSCE Review and Expert Meetings between 1977 and 1993. Long active in Democratic Party politics, Oliver's phone was tapped during ''Operation Gemstone'' in the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

. Pages 9-30.

Watergate

During the first of the two Watergate burglaries, two phones inside the offices of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

headquarters had wiretaps placed inside them. One of those phones was the phone of Spencer Oliver who at the time was working as the executive director of the Association of State Democratic Chairmen, the other was the phone of the secretary of Democratic National Chairman

Larry O'Brien Lawrence Francis O'Brien Jr. (July 7, 1917September 28, 1990) was an American politician and commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1975 to 1984. He was one of the United States Democratic Party's leading electoral strat ...

. The tap on Oliver's phone was the only one that worked, but primarily revealed only that Oliver "was quite the ladies' man: he spent a lot of time on the phone lining up cross-country trysts."

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

R. Spencer Oliver had been the secretary general of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE (OSCE PA) is an institution of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The primary task of the 323-member Assembly is to facilitate inter-parliamentary dialogue, an important aspect of the o ...

since its inception, having been chosen as the Assembly's first general secretary by the Bureau in a meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in October 1992. He was elected by the standing committee of the organization in January 1993, and was reelected in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. He did not seek reelection in 2015, and retired at the end of that year. The Secretary General's mandate includes responsibility for managing the affairs of the Assembly, ensuring the efficiency of the Secretariat, and carrying out the decisions of the Bureau, the Standing Committee and the Assembly. He reports to the President, the Bureau, the Standing Committee and the Annual Session. Although Oliver was criticized by the former Minister of Defense of Latvia, who ran against him in 2010, Oliver was reelected with more than 95% of the vote.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, R. Spencer 1937 births Living people Democratic Party (United States) politicians Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe