WASHINGTON, Jan 13: Former US secretary of state Cyrus Vance, who resigned two decades ago over the government’s aborted attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran, died on Saturday at the age of 84.

Vance died at 4:15 pm (2115 GMT) on Saturday at New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

The soft-spoken, understated World War II veteran won renown as a tireless advocate of quiet diplomacy, dialogue and compromise rather than use of force.

Born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on March 27, 1917, he graduated from Yale University and earned a law degree from Yale Law School.

He began his career in government in 1957 Vance when became legal counsel to the US Senate Armed Services Committee.

Four years later, president John F. Kennedy appointed him secretary of the army while Kennedy’s successor, president Lyndon Johnson, named him deputy secretary of defence.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter named him secretary of state, making him the administration’s point man in the Camp David negotiations which resulted in a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, efforts to reach the Panama Canal Treaty and the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union.—AFP