Lawrence S. Eagleburger, the only career foreign service officer to rise to the position of secretary of state, was remembered Saturday for strengthening ties with allies and dealing with despots.

The diplomat died at 80, according to a statement from former President George H.W. Bush, who was Eagleburger's boss in late 1992 and January 1993.

Details of Eagleburger's death were not immediately available.

Eagleburger's historic assignments over a long career included the first Gulf War, bloody strife in the Balkans and the collapse of the Soviet empire....