Peter Scott Bridges (June 19, 1932 – August 13, 2022)[1] was an author and diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Somalia from 1984 to 1986.
He attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri as a private and served in the 97th Engineer Battalion in Verdun, France.
He served overseas in the American embassies at Panama (1959–1961), Moscow (1962–1964), Prague (1971–1974), Rome (1966–1971 and 1981–1984, when he was Deputy Chief of Mission), and finally Mogadishu.
[6] As the American ambassador to Somalia in 1984–1986, Bridges supervised one of the largest U.S. civilian and military aid programs in Sub-Sahara Africa, and was highly praised by President Ronald Reagan on retiring from government in 1986.
[7][citation needed] After leaving government service Bridges worked successively as the executive director of the Una Chapman Cox Foundation in Washington, the manager international affairs of Shell Oil Company in Houston, and the resident representative in the Czech Republic of the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development.