1936
Born in New York, New York to Geoffrey and Helen Choate Platt.
1957
Graduates cum laude from Harvard University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts.
1959
Receives a Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
1959
Commissioned as a Foreign Service officer for the U.S. Department of State.
1962
Becomes a Chinese language trainee at the Foreign Service Institute.
1964
Becomes a political officer and consulate general at the United States Consulate in Hong Kong.
1969
Serves as chief of the Asian Communist Areas Division of the Bureau of Intelligence & Research for the U.S. Department of State.
1971
Becomes deputy director of Executive Secretariat Staff.
1972
Appointed director of staff of Executive Secretariat Staff.
1973
Serves as chief of the Political Section of the United States Liaison Office in Peking, China.
1974
Serves as first secretary of the United States Embassy in Tokyo.
1977
Becomes director of the Office of Japanese Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
1978
Joins the staff of the National Security Council of the White House.
1980
Becomes deputy assistant and secretary for international security affairs for the U.S. Department of Defense.
1982
Appointed as ambassador to Zambia.
1985
Appointed executive secretary to the Department of State.
1987
Serves as United States ambassador to the Philippines at the U.S. Department of State in Manila.
1991
Serves as United States ambassador to Pakistan at the U.S. Department of State in Islamabad.
1992
Appointed president of the Asia Society in New York City.
2004
Becomes President Emeritus of the Asia Society.