Cyrus R. Vance (born 1917) was Secretary of the Army (1962-1964), Deputy Secretary of Defense (1964-1967), and Secretary of State (1977-1980). He was instrumental in the SALT II talks and the Camp David Accords. Since leaving public office, he has continued to act as negotiator in both the private and public sectors.

Cyrus Vance was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on March 27, 1917 to John Carl Vance and Amy Roberts Vance. Vance, his mother and father, and an older brother moved to New York City, where his father died suddenly from pneumonia when Vance was five years old. After a year in which the bereaved family resided in Europe, the Vances returned to New York City. One of the major influences in Cyrus Vance's years of youth following his father's death was an uncle, John W. Davis, the unsuccessful Democratic Party candidate for president in 1924. Davis was a highly successful...