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Douglas Kmiec is a former Pepperdine law professor, a legal scholar, a devout Catholic, a husband and a father of five. A few months ago, he embarked on a new journey, a foreign mission, as the United States Ambassador to Malta. The President has given Kmiec the rare opportunity to represent the U.S. on an international stage, to reach across national, political and cultural divides and to facilitate relationships that carry worldwide significance.
“It is a distinct privilege to stand in a spot where you are America, and what you say is in some respect binding on your fellow citizens,” Kmiec said. “I’m privileged that the President has as much confidence in my ability as this task requires.”
In March 2008, Kmiec gained national prominence as someone who places more importance in personal conviction than in political identification. Although a conservative and former legal counsel to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Kmiec endorsed Barack Obama for president and became one of the senator’s most visible supporters on the campaign trail.
Kmiec is a Republican; Obama is a Democrat. Kmiec is pro-life; Obama is pro-choice. But despite their fundamental differences, Kmiec was drawn to Obama’s message of unity and good will across party lines.
“One of the things I discovered about Senator Obama was that he was always a person who sought out common ground with people who might disagree with him,” Kmiec said. “He was someone who very much wanted to run for the presidency on the basis of eliminating the politics of division, the wedge politics.”
Pepperdine law professor Shelley Saxer described Kmiec as always open to considering ideas and opinions that differ from his beliefs.
“As a professor, he is always respectful of varying student opinions and listens carefully to arguments on both sides of an issue,” Saxer wrote in an e-mail. “As a colleague, he is also always respectful of opinions that may conflict with his own ideas, but he is willing to engage in discussions about these ideas and listen to others.”
In March of this year, representatives of the White House approached Kmiec and asked if he would consider the posting for U.S. Ambassador to Malta. This was three months before Obama would officially nominate Kmiec for the position, in early June.
“I was honored to be even thought of for this post, so I said ‘of course,’” recalled Kmiec. “But first I wanted to explore what the president’s objectives were for this foreign mission, and why I was the one best suited to carry it.”
Kmiec met with Obama, and the two of them discussed the expectations the President had for the role of ambassador. Obama called the position “well-matched” for Kmiec, who could identify with Malta’s strong Catholic-Christian roots.
Obama nominated Kmiec for the position on July 2. In order to gain necessary security clearance, Kmiec had to undergo a strict background investigation by the FBI. The government looked into his prior addresses, spoke with his friends, colleagues and relatives and reviewed his financial history. This preceded the Senate process.
“Once you’re nominated, you prepare another set of forms for the U.S. Senate,” Kmiec said. “They conduct the confirmation hearing, and then, if you survive the committee vote, your nomination goes to the floor. And once it goes to the floor, it is voted up or down by the Senate.”
It early August, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm Kmiec as ambassador, and he was sworn in on Sept. 3.
Malta is a densely populated European island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, located just south of Italy and east of Tunisia. Because of its proximity to southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East, Obama sees Malta as a pivotal point in the connection between Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
“The President wants this place to become … a doorway to modern peace, premised upon interfaith understanding,” Kmiec said. “And he views the embassy in Malta as one of the key places where that can occur.”
In a speech he delivered in Cairo, Egypt on June 4, Obama called for a new relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world. One of Kmiec’s primary objectives as ambassador is to foster mutual understanding between members of different faiths, using Malta as a base for carrying out Obama’s plan for international religious reconciliation.
“My position is to carry that work he started in Cairo forward, in a person-to-person, face-to-face manner,” Kmiec said. “In order to do that you have to promote mutual respect … for people’s faith traditions.”
Kmiec is a deeply committed Catholic. While at Pepperdine, he attended Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church and taught an adult religious education class there.
“It is undeniably clear to all who know Doug that his faith and his family are at the very center of his priorities,” wrote Jim Gash, associate dean for student life at the School of Law, in an e-mail. “Doug sees the world through the lens of his strong and abiding Catholic faith — it informs all that he does and believes about everything.”
Kmiec said he has committed to visiting all of Malta’s 365 Catholic churches for morning mass— one each day for a year.
“I am a very serious Catholic,” Kmiec said. “I enjoy studying Catholic theology and philosophy. I think we have an obligation to transform the world in the image of Christ and to do that one person at a time in whatever situation we have, high or low. I love engaging people in discussions about that and about how to generate community.”
According to Kmiec, Malta’s location in the Mediterranean places it as a potential gateway for piracy and terrorism. In the past, individuals affiliated with terrorist activity have accessed Europe illegally, using Malta as an entry point. As the ambassador, Kmiec works with the Maltese government to ensure the country’s security arrangements properly protect against those who would impose a threat to Southern Europe or the U.S.
“That is a constant responsibility and one that [the ambassador] takes very seriously,” Kmiec said. “It takes only one small gap, one look in the wrong direction, or one failure to be alert for risk to be introduced.”
Kmiec also assists the Maltese government in detecting and deterring human and drug trafficking. On a similar note, Kmiec said the religious and political oppression in places like Sudan and Darfur has prompted fairly large-scale migrations from Africa, and many of these refugees attempt to cross the Mediterranean with little food or clothing.
During his service as ambassador, Kmiec has arranged for Maltese armed forces to receive advanced training and equipment that will aid refugee search and rescue efforts. Many of these African immigrants are settled in the United States.
Kmiec said his position doesn’t allow for any off time; while professors and lawyers can go home each night and hang up their spurs, an ambassador is on call 24/7.
“It is a truly awesome set of responsibilities,” Kmiec said. “It is, in some ways, the embodiment of the presidency or the executive in a different part of the globe, just as I expect the President feels in the White House— he is always the President … it’s a different role than I’ve played [in the past].”
Because ambassadors are expected to remain in their host country, Kmiec said his interactions with his five children have been mostly limited to Skype. His daughter Katie recently had a son, Kmiec’s first grandchild. Next to faith, Kmiec said his family is one of the things that animates his life.
Jennifer Allison, who is a Reference Librarian at the Pepperdine Law School, knows Kmiec both as a former student and as a colleague. She is also a personal friend of Katie and affirmed the significance of family in Kmiec’s life.
“His family is everything to him,” Allison said. “My husband and I went to [Katie’s] baby shower, and to see him there— he was so, so excited. He was so proud of Katie that she was forging her own life and that he could still be a part of it … it’s really heartwarming.”
When he is not discussing faith, meeting with the Maltese officials at the embassy or Skyping with his children, Kmiec said he spending time with his wife of 36 years, Carol.
“Her day is as filled as mine. The wife of an ambassador is an ambassador,” Kmiec said. “She will sometimes substitute me for a speaking engagement, but more often than not, she will be in a school, or a church, or a community center dedicated to supporting a charity for the disabled or supporting an activity that explores the human environment. It’s fun to watch her light up a room.”
Saxer described the Kmiecs as an example of “what to do right when raising a family.”
“Throughout our friendship of almost 15 years, I have marveled at the excellent child-rearing approach he and his wife Carol have managed,” Saxer said. “Doug would always take one of his children with him on business trips. His children were always polite, respectful, smart, fun, and able to interact with both adults and children with personality and intelligence.”
According to Kmiec, ambassadors typically serve for a single four-year term. Once he is finished with his “foreign mission,” he plans to return to the U.S. and write about his experiences as ambassador. He said Pepperdine has made it clear that the door is open for him to teach at the School of Law and School of Public Policy in the future.
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