The State Department Soviet expert who turned Kennan's and Clayton's policy memos into Marshall's Harvard speech
"After Potsdam, there was little that could be done to induce the Soviet Union to become a reasonable and cooperative member of the world community," from his memoir, Witness to History.
An American diplomat and Soviet specialist who was present at nearly every pivotal moment in U.S.-Soviet relations from the opening of the Moscow embassy in 1934 through the Cold War. As Roosevelt's and Truman's interpreter, he sat beside them at Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam; in 1947, at Secretary of State George C. Marshall's request, he drafted the Harvard commencement address that launched the Marshall Plan, synthesizing policy memoranda from George F. Kennan and William Clayton. He survived a brutal McCarthy-era confirmation battle to become ambassador to Moscow in 1953, later serving as ambassador to France and as one of the nonpartisan 'Wise Men' advising presidents from FDR to LBJ.
Career Timeline
- 1929Entered the U.S. Foreign Service
- 1934–1940Third Secretary, U.S. Embassy Moscow; received Nazi-Soviet Pact text
- 1943–1945White House Soviet adviser; interpreter at Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam
- 1947–1949State Department Counselor; drafted Marshall Plan speech
- 1949–1951U.S. Minister to France
- 1953–1957U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union
- 1957–1959U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines
- 1962–1968U.S. Ambassador to France
Related historical events
- 1945.02–08The Yalta and Potsdam ConferencesPresidential interpreter and Soviet policy adviser at YaltaHe served as Roosevelt's interpreter and Soviet policy adviser at the Yalta Conference, and also remains a key source for the conference record.
- 1947–1948The Marshall Plan and the Cold WarDrafter of Marshall's Harvard speechHe drafted Marshall's Harvard speech based on policy memos by Kennan and Clayton.