Security is everyone’s concern

This raised the possibility that the diamond cartel and its allies might have found some way of intervening in the antitrust division. In a previous antitrust case involving the ITT corporation, President Nixon had blatantly attempted to prevent the antitrust division from pressing its suit. On August 4, 1974, the Justice Department received information that the “De Beers organization is a large contributor to both political parties and should this investigation get to a stage where cases were actually filed [the antitrust division] would probably receive much political pressure.” The informant also disclosed that one major diamond dealer in New York was in “constant contact” with Harry Oppenheimer and was somehow relaying to him “information on the progress of this antitrust investigation.” The diamond dealer in question was further alleged by this source to have “arranged the meeting for Harry Oppenheimer with John Kennedy when Kennedy was President-elect … at the Carlyle Hotel,” and to have served as an intermediary between Oppenheimer and American concerns in a number of deals.

Philanthropic and political activities

Tempelsman maintains relations with political and business leaders, in particular government leaders in Africa and Russia, and leading figures in the U.S. Democratic Party.^[2][11] His extensive political contacts and monetary contributions often provide him with access and prestige in those markets, as was the case during the presidency of Bill Clinton.^[2][20] From 1993 to 1997, Tempelsman visited the White House at least ten times, met privately with Hillary Clinton on two separate occasions, vacationed with the Clintons and the Kennedy familyin Martha’s Vineyard, and flew to Moscow and back with President Clinton on Air Force One.^[2][6]

In Southern Africa, Tempelsman has played a key role in negotiations between hostile governments and companies engaging in diamond exploration. He met with Mobutu Sese Seko, former dictator of Zaire, to assist the regime’s business dealings with De Beers.^[21][22][23] From March 3, 1977, Tempelsman briefly held the title of honorary consul general for Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), at the DRC’s consular offices in New York City.^[24] In addition to the DRC, Tempelsman has played a key role in the diamond industries of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and Sierra Leone.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Tempelsman served as chairman of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) from 1999 to 2002, when he was named chairman emeritus.^[29] An example of his work with the CCA involved assisting government leaders with establishing the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.^[30] Tempelsman was a board member of the Southern African Enterprise Development Fund, and past chairman and current board member of The Africa-America Institute.^[8][31][32]

Tempelsman is a trustee of the Eurasia Foundation,^[33] and a director of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs,^[34] the Center for National Policy, the Business Council for International Understanding, and the US-Russia Business Council.^[8]

He is chairman of the International Advisory Council of the Harvard School of Public Health’s AIDS Initiative,^[35] and is an honorary trustee and an honorary member of the corporation of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Tempelsman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was named a Visitor to the Department of Classical Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A director of the Academy of American Poets, Tempelsman also serves as a trustee of the New York University Institute of Fine Arts, and on Lenox Hill Hospital’s Advisory Board. He has served on several Presidential Commissions including the President’s Commission for the Observance of Human Rights, the Citizen’s Advisory Board of Youth Opportunities and the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee, and was appointed to the New York Council on International Business