192

Commissions and awards of pioneering military administrator Susan Morrisey Livingstone.

Washington and elsewhere, bulk 1985-2003
25 items, all of them framed except for three plaques; generally minor wear.

  • Notes: Susan Morrisey Livingstone was a graduate of the College of William and Mary, the University of Montana, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy before starting her career in the federal government with the Veterans Administration in the 1980s. She was an Assistant Secretary of the Army from 1989 to 1993; and Under Secretary of the Navy from 2001 to 2003. In the latter role, she played a key role in the prohibition of the coercive interrogation techniques used by the military at Guantanamo. She was briefly the acting Secretary of the Navy in early 2003--the first woman to hold the post.

    The most notable items are a Letter Signed from Vice President Dan Quayle congratulating her upon her appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Army, 3 November 1989; her commission for the same post, signed by George H.W. Bush and Dick Cheney, 20 November 1989; her commission as Under Secretary of the Navy signed by George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, 25 July 2001; and a photograph of her with Dick Cheney, inscribed on the mat "For Susan Livingstone, thanks for all your great work and best wishes, Dick Cheney," circa early 1990s. Two earlier Ronald Reagan items appear to be signed by autopen. 

    Notable awards include three Veterans Affairs commissions and awards, 1985-1989; certificate as an Honorary Attack Pilot, 1990; photograph of her shaking hands with President George H.W. Bush, with Dick Cheney, Colin Powell and others; medal for Distinguished Civilian Service framed with its certificate, 1993; a plaque presented upon her visit to the USS Theodore Roosevelt, 2002; Distinguished Public Service Award, 2003; certificate as an honorary Naval Intelligence Officer, 2003; and a small naval flag and two badges framed with a plaque thanking her for "taking care of America," circa 2003; plus 9 other items.

    Provenance: Weschler's Auction, 1 April 2025, lots 228 and 252.
  • Condition:
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November 20, 2025 10:30 AM EST
New York, NY, US

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