[1] Swank was born in Frederick, MD and graduated magna cum laude from Franklin & Marshall College in 1942 where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity and Phi Beta Kappa.
[3] On September 7, 1970, shortly after arriving in Phnom Penh, he survived an assassination attempt when someone rolled a bomb carrying bicycle towards his car that did not got off.
He passed on orders to Cambodian leader Lon Nol but thought that the U.S. should be doing more to help the country and warned of a civil war.
He clashed with State Department leaders about policy towards the country and was eventually reassigned to a dead-end desk job advising NATO.
He revitalized the group by forming a motivated and efficient staff, improving finances and fundraising, and attracted an array of outstanding speakers on international issues which brought in new members.