Robert F. Delaney

1925 - 2018

Delaney, Robert F.
August 2, 1925 - January 28, 2018
Robert Finley Delaney, 92, formerly of Newport, R.I., Cape Cod, Venice, FL and Washington D.C., died January 28.
Bob Delaney, whose careers spanned well over half a century and covered the world, was a colorful and often controversial personality. He served the U.S. government for 45 years as a diplomat, Naval officer and senior defense consultant. He taught at eight universities, was president of the American Graduate School of International Management, was a public and government affairs advisor in Central America for Esso, founded and led his own international consulting firm, and ended his career as a columnist, writer, editor and lecturer.
Known as an engaging speaker with an outrageous sense of humor, keen wit and a sharp pen, he was highly sought after by such diverse groups as Boston's Lowell Forum, the World Affairs Council, the Foreign Service Institute and various defense and service colleges.
Born in Fall River, MA, Mr. Delaney was the son of Joseph and Mary (Finigan) Delaney.
Mr. Delaney joined the U.S. Navy in July 1943 as an apprentice seaman and rose to the rank of Captain in Naval Intelligence, including tours in NATO and as an exchange officer in the Federal German Navy. He was a veteran of World War II and Vietnam where he directed psychological operations. He received decorations from the governments of Italy and South Vietnam, the U.S. government's highest civilian career award for superior service, the Organization of American States award for inter-American Relations and many military honors.
Mr. Delaney was educated at Dartmouth and Holy Cross Colleges, Boston University, Catholic University, the U.S. Navy Post-Graduate School and the University of Vienna. He is the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from UMass Dartmouth, and held a doctorate in political sociology. In addition, he graduated from the Naval Intelligence School, Counter Guerilla and Jungle Warfare Schools, Combat Intelligence School and the Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg. Mr. Delaney was the first American to attend the GCS-9 German counter terror school.
A retired foreign service information officer who served over 20 years in the U.S. Information Agency and State Department, Mr. Delaney's posts included Rome, Budapest, Vienna, San Salvador, Vietnam and the U.S. Naval War College. Among his many posts, Mr. Delaney served as chief of the east European branch for the Voice of America, special assistant to the Commander in Chief, Allied Forces, Southern Europe, Director of the Department of Defense's Commission on Public Affairs, held a seat on the CNO Executive Panel and worked as an advisor for Esso in Latin America. His last Washington assignment was as Assistant Director, USIA for research and intelligence.
Having completed careers in the U.S. Foreign Service and the U.S. Navy Reserve, Mr. Delaney moved on to academe, where he was a diplomat in residence at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and became the first director of its Edward R. Murrow Center of Public Diplomacy. From there he served as president of the American Graduate School of International Management, and later as the Milton Miles Professor of International Relations at the U.S. Naval War College.
Following his teaching career, Mr. Delaney ran his own Washington D.C.–based public affairs firm, the RFD Group. As a senior policy advisor for NASA, he shaped media and international affairs for the International Space Station program. Throughout this time he also lectured and consulted extensively on terror, crisis management, subversion and psychological operations at and with such institutions as NATO Defense College, Armed Forces Staff College and NBC News.
Mr. Delaney was a prolific writer throughout his life. He authored, edited and contributed to a dozen books, among them Your Career in the Foreign Service, The Psychology of Terror and This Is Communist Hungary. He wrote some 100 articles on foreign affairs for popular magazines and professional journals. Later in his writing career, Mr. Delaney wrote monthly columns for a Washington defense magazine and for Newport This Week, for which he garnered dozens of acrimonious editorial responses. His written works reside in the University of Wyoming's Archives of American Heritage. Mr. Delaney often used the pseudonym David Finley throughout his writing career.
In addition to his children Flynn, Nancy, Carrie, Deirdre and Sarah, Mr. Delaney is survived by seven grandchildren. His eldest daughter, Mary Ellen, died in 1951. Patricia Nestor, Mr. Delaney's second wife, died in 2009. His first wife and the mother of his children, Mary Elizabeth Flynn, predeceased him in 2004.
He also leaves behind a legion of heartbroken bartenders up and down the East Coast.
A Mass to celebrate Bob's life will be held on Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 11:00am at St. Mary's Church, 12 William Street, Newport, R.I. He will be buried in the family plot at St. Patrick's Cemetery, Fall River, MA at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Bob's memory to the Alzheimer's Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, D.C. 20090-6011. For more information or to register in the online guestbook, please visit www.cuffemcginn.com