Manatos, Andrew

Early Years, Family, and Education

Born into a family whose ancestors come from the island of Crete ^{[18] [19]} .

Nicholas A. Manatakis ( Greek: Νικόλας Μανατάκης ), the grandfather of Andy Manatos, was a very religious man. In 1910, having left his home in the village of Khiliomudu ( Chania ) ^[20] , he arrived on Ellis Island (USA) ^[21] . Once in Wyoming , he worked in a coal mine. In 2010, the Andy Manatos family visited Ellis to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their ancestor's arrival on this island ^[22] .

Emmanuel “Mike” N. Manatos ^[23] , the father of Andy Manatos, an influential lobbyist, being Senate liaison with Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson ^[21] , was the first American Greek to work in the White House ^[22] .

He graduated from the American University with academic degrees of bachelor (1968) and master of science (1969) in the field of political science and journalism ^{[1] [22] [24]} .

Career

In 1969-1973 he worked in the Senate Committee on Postal and Public Service.

In the years 1973-1977 - Assistant Director of the Headquarters of the Senate Committee on the District of Colombia and Legislative Assistant Senator Thomas Eagleton.

In 1977-1981, he was Assistant US Secretary of Commerce in the office of President Jimmy Carter ^[25] .

In 1987-1988 - co-chairman of the presidential campaign, Michael Dukakis ^[1] .

Manatos & Manatos

In 1983, father and son Mike and Andrew Manatos established the state policy firm Manatos & Manatos ^[7] .

Since 1990, Andy Manatos has run Manatos & Manatos with his eldest son Emmanuel E. "Mike" Manatos, who is its president ^{[26] [27] [28]} .

Among the clients of Manatos & Manatos are Fortune 500 companies , foreign states, religious leaders and the Smithsonian Institution ^[6] .

In 2016, the Russian commercial bank VTB signed a contract with the company Manatos & Manatos, which it has been working with since 2015, in order to promote the business interests of the VTB Group against the background of sanctions from the United States ^{[29] [30]} .

Pro bono activities Manatos focused mainly on the realization of the interests of the Greek community of the United States.

Thanks to Manatos, the American Greeks have the opportunity to meet annually with the US president to resolve their issues. The other of the two US ethnic groups , other than the Greek, which the President of this country annually hosts at the White House, is the Irish community ^{[22] [31]} .

Since the 1990s, Manatos has focused his efforts on supporting the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in modern Istanbul ( Turkey ). So, he collected 90 signatures of US senators in a letter to the US president on granting religious freedom to the Ecumenical Patriarchate by putting pressure on Turkey ^[32] .

Other achievements of Manatos include the awarding of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to the Gold Medal of the US Congress ^{[33] [34]} , as well as joint efforts with the US leadership aimed at joining Cyprus to the EU by changing the position of France and Germany in voting on this issue ( Cyprus EU member in 2004 ) ^[35] . In addition, from the first days after the invasion of Turkey on the island, he seeks the withdrawal of the Turkish occupation forces from its northern territory , as well as the lifting of the American arms embargo on Cyprus ^[36] .

Thanks to the efforts of Andy Manatos and the well-known Washington priest Alexandros (Alex) Karlutsos, the White House annually hosts a festive event dedicated to the Independence Day of Greece . By developing a proposal and submitting it for consideration by the US Congress , Manatos was able to convince lawmakers to adopt a resolution on this issue. Then the event was celebrated in the Oval Office . Then Tom Korologos , another American lobbyist of Greek origin, passed this proposal to President Ronald Reagan . Since then, the US Greek community annually celebrates this holiday in the White House with the participation of, among others, the US President ^{[22] [37] [38]} .

Former Massachusetts governor and US presidential candidate Michael Dukakis called Manatos the leader of the Greeks in Washington ^{[10] [39]} .

Andrew Manatos is the founder and president of the non-profit organization The Washington Oxi Day Foundation, whose mission is to convey to US politicians and the public about the important role Greece played in achieving the results of World War II , as well as in glorifying contemporary heroes who display courage similar to the Greeks in the struggle to preserve and promote freedom and democracy throughout the world ^{[40] [41]} . He is also a member of the Archbishop's Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ^[12] , a member of the board of directors and treasurer of the Society for the Preservation of the Greek Heritage (SPGH), a member of the board of directors / member of the non-profit charitable organization THEA Foundation ^[42] , a member of AHEPA , National Coordinated Effort of Hellenes ^[43] , UHAC, Justice for Cyprus International Coordinating Council (PSEKA) and other organizations of the US Greek community ^{[44] [45]} . For many years, he is a member of the Leadership 100 Charitable Foundation of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ^[21] , which provides support to organizations of the American Archdiocese in promoting and developing Greek Orthodoxy and Hellenism in the United States. The foundation was established in 1984 under the auspices of Archbishop Jacob ^[46] .

Manatos was awarded the highest award from the Archbishop of America, the Order of St. Paul, and the Patriarch of Constantinople was admitted to the Order of St. Andrew , receiving the title (title) of Archon Depotatos of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople for services to the Church ^{[12] [47]} . Among other awards of Manatos are the Medal of Honor of Ellis Island (1999) ^[16] , the Award from the Greek non-profit organization “The Smile Of The Child” (2013) ^[28] , the Award “Outstanding Public Advocacy” from the American-Greek Progressive Educational Alliance for decades of work in Washington for the benefit of Hellenism and Orthodoxy (2013) ^{[35] [48]} , Life Achievement Award from the Greek organization Alpha Omega Council (2016) ^{[10] [49]} and others.

Since 1967, he has been married to Tina J. Weber, with whom he has sons Mike, Nick, Tom and George ^[1] . Have eight grandchildren. They live in Washington, DC ^{[6] [49]} .