Ambassador Mark Palmer is a long-time fighter for democracy and human rights. In the U.S. State Department from 1964 to 1990 he specialized and served in the communist countries and wrote speeches for six secretaries of state and three presidents. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and then U.S. Ambassador to Hungary. For his contributions to assisting with the liberation of Poland, the Baltic States, and Hungary he has received awards from democratic governments and human rights organizations.