is in US interest". El Salvador (1980–1981) In 1980–81, he was posted to El Salvador during the first years of that country's brutal 12-year civil war. He was harshly critical of the Salvadorian government and accused the military and paramilitaries (widely alleged to have close ties) of committing widespread atrocities against civilians, many of which were later factually confirmed. He once called prominent military figure Roberto D'Aubuisson a "pathological killer". D'Aubuisson was widely suspected of collaboration with death squad killings including the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero. White also accused José Napoleón Duarte, El Salvador's President from 1984 to 1989 of being a CIA asset. He was dismissed by the new Reagan administration in 1981. He wrote of his ouster: In 1981, as the ambassador to El Salvador, I refused a demand by the secretary of state, Alexander M. Haig Jr., that I use official channels to cover up the Salvadoran military's responsibility for the murders of four American churchwomen. I was fired and forced out of the Foreign Service. Post-diplomatic career After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1981, White served as a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was also Professor of International Relations at Simmons College in Boston, and an election observer in Haiti's 1987 general election. He was at one time President of the International Center for Development Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. In 1990, he joined the Center for International Policy as the President and presided at conferences, led delegations to several Latin American and Caribbean countries and published numerous studies regarding U.S. policy towards the region. In 1999, he stated his criticism of U.S. policy:In the name of anticommunism, U.S.-supported armies suppressed democracy, free speech, and human rights in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Torture and assassination of democratic leaders, including presidential candidates, journalists, priests and union officials became commonplace. Additionally, White led an ongoing effort to reform U.S. intelligence agencies. Awards St. Michael's Col. Cook award. Honorary degree of Doctor of Political Science from Providence College In popular culture In the 1983 TV movie dramatizing the murder of the four missionaries Choices of the Heart, Ambassador White is portrayed by Mike Farrell. In Oliver Stone's 1986 film dramatization of the Salvadoran Civil War, Salvador, the character "Ambassador Tom Kelly" (played by Michael Murphy) is based on Robert White, who appeared in the 62-minute retrospective documentary Into the