Contrary to the popular impression of Washington DC, some of its inhabitants keep their heads, and even their ideals, notes Anne Applebaum, a National Endowment for Democracy board member. James S. Denton, who died of prostate cancer on June 18, was one of them. He was a Washington figure who organized things behind the scenes, created institutions, connected people to one another, she writes for the Washington Post:
Jim ran organizations – first the National Forum Foundation, then Freedom House – that were dedicated to supporting nascent democracy movements in Central Europe. In this capacity, he trained some of the people who would become leading politicians and journalists, helped create think tanks across the former Soviet bloc, funded human rights organizations, and organized the exchanges of people and ideas that helped establish democratic institutions in central Europe and became the basis for America’s commitment to the region, too. RTWT
“James Denton was a great professional and a colleague who contributed a lot to promoting democracy in Eastern Europe,” said CEPA Adjunct Fellow Maria Snegovaya.
