Robert Holmes Tuttle (born August 4, 1943) is a businessman specializing in car dealerships. He was the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from July 2005 to February 2009.[1][2]
Early life and career
Tuttle earned a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University, and earned his Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Southern California.[3][4] Tuttle is the son of Holmes Tuttle, founder of the Southern California chain of auto dealerships and, in the 1960s and 1970s, a prominent force behind the political rise of actor Ronald Reagan. Tuttle previously worked in the White House during the Reagan administration as an assistant to the President in 1982, and director of presidential personnel in 1985. An avid tennis player, he enjoyed occasional games of tennis at the White House tennis court. Tuttle was also on the board of directors of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.[citation needed]
Diplomatic career
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
A California native, he was nominated to be ambassador by U.S. President George W. Bush. He had raised more than $200,000 for Bush's 2004 presidential campaign and inauguration ceremony.[5] Both Tuttle and his predecessor William Stamps Farish III were both wealthy private citizens with personal and financial ties to the Bush family.[6]
Controversy over congestion fee
Tuttle was the Ambassador to the United Kingdom during the U.S. Embassy's refusal to pay the London congestion charge.[7] The embassy has claimed that the charge is a form of taxation, and the diplomats and their staff are therefore exempt under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Transport for London, which is headed by the Mayor of London, considers the charge to be a fee for service rather than a tax, and points out that other embassies in London pay it, and US embassies in other cities pay similar road charges.
In March 2006, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said that Tuttle was trying to "skive out of [paying] like some chiselling little crook".[8] A survey published in 2007 showed that the United States owed £1.5 million in outstanding congestion charge payments. Livingstone again chided Tuttle, and called him a "venal little crook" for his refusal to pay.[9]
Later career
Tuttle is a partner in the Tuttle-Click Automotive Group based in Irvine, California, and the Jim Click Automotive Group based out of Tucson, Arizona. He currently serves as the chairman of the board of directors of the Pacific Council on International Policy.[10] He is a trustee of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress in Washington, D.C.[11]
In 2020, Tuttle, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."[12]
Personal life
He is married to the former Maria Denise Hummer. Tuttle and his wife are both avid collectors of contemporary art.[13] He has two daughters from a previous marriage.[citation needed]
References
- ^ American Ambassadors to the United Kingdom Archived 2009-02-20 at the Wayback Machine Embassy of the U.S. London
- ^ US embassy close to admitting Syria rendition flight, The Guardian, December 27, 2005
- ^ https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/appointment-robert-h-tuttle-deputy-assistant-the-president-and-director-presidential
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20071118145234/http://www.usembassy.org.uk/ukamb/tuttlebio.html
- ^ How $200,000 gave Bush friend ticket to London, The Times, June 11, 2005
- ^ "Car sales boss is Bush's UK envoy | World news | The Guardian". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
- ^ Livingstone hits out at US ambassador Archived 2006-04-18 at the Wayback Machine, Politics.co.uk, March 28, 2006.
- ^ British Press Review, BritainUSA.com, March 28, 2006.
- ^ Diplomatic C-charge bill tops £4.5m, channel4.com, June 22, 2007.
- ^ "Board of Directors". Pacific Council on International Policy. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- ^ "Board of Trustees". Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- ^ "Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden". Defending Democracy Together. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ Interview with Robert Tuttle, Country Life, December 4, 2008.