U.S. ambassador to France in ‘80s

Evan G. Galbraith, 79, a businessman who was U.S. ambassador to France in the Reagan administration, died Monday at his home in New York City after a battle with cancer, his family said.

Known as Van, Galbraith spent more than 20 years as an investment banker in Europe before serving as ambassador from 1981 to 1985.

A political appointee to the diplomatic post, Galbraith irritated French officials on several occasions during his tenure. He was officially reprimanded three times by the French for his public statements, most notably for criticizing Communists in the Socialist government of President Francois Mitterand.

“I don’t think there’s any way you can undertake the mission that I did without incurring certain risks,” Galbraith said of his role as an advocate for Reagan’s positions, “but the risks were worth it.”

Galbraith recently served for two years as a representative to then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Europe and as a defense advisor to the U.S. mission to NATO.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1928, Galbraith earned degrees at Yale University -- where he roomed for four years with National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr. -- and Harvard Law School.

In the 1950s, he spent four years in the Navy and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.

Galbraith, who also served as a board chairman of the National Review, unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for New York governor in 1990 and 1994.