Ellsworth Bunker | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Argentina | |
In office March 13, 1951 – March 12, 1952 |
|
President | Harry S. Truman |
Preceded by | Stanton Griffis |
Succeeded by | Albert F. Nufer |
United States Ambassador to Italy | |
In office May 7, 1952 – April 3, 1953 |
|
President | Harry S. Truman |
Preceded by | James Clement Dunn |
Succeeded by | Clare Boothe Luce |
United States Ambassador to India | |
In office November 28, 1956 – March 23, 1961 |
|
President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Preceded by | John Sherman Cooper |
Succeeded by | John Kenneth Galbraith |
United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States | |
In office 1964–1966 |
|
President | Lyndon B. Johnson |
Preceded by | deLesseps Story Morrison |
Succeeded by | Sol Linowitz |
United States Ambassador to South Vietnam | |
In office April 5, 1967 – May 11, 1973 |
|
President | Lyndon Johnson |
Preceded by | Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. |
Succeeded by | Graham Martin |
Personal details | |
Born |
Yonkers, New York |
May 11, 1894
Died | September 27, 1984 Brattleboro, Vermont |
(aged 90)
Nationality | American |
Spouse(s) | Harriet Allen Butler; Carol Laise |
Alma mater | Yale University |
Profession | Businessman, Diplomat |
Awards | Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction (twice) |
Ellsworth F. Bunker (May 11, 1894 – September 27, 1984) was an American businessman and diplomat (including being the ambassador to Argentina, Italy, India, Nepal and South Vietnam). He is perhaps best known for being a hawk on the war in Vietnam and Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s.
Born the eldest of three children of Jeanie Polhemus (née Cobb) and George Raymond Bunker in Yonkers, New York. His father was one of the founders and chairman of the board of National Sugar Refining Company. His younger brother, Arthur Hugh Bunker (July 29, 1895 – May 19, 1964), was also a noted businessman, chairman of the executive committee of the War Production Board (1941–1945) during World War II, and president and then board chairman of American Metal Climax (AMAX).
Ellsworth Bunker studied to be a lawyer, and graduated from Yale University with the class of 1916. During World War II he served as chairman of the War Production Board's cane sugar advisory committee.
Bunker first worked in his father's company, National Sugar Refining Company, eventually becoming the company's president, succeeding Horace Havemeyer Sr., in 1942. He retired as an active executive in 1951 and purchased a 600-acre dairy farm in Putney, Vermont. He remained a member of the board of National Sugar until 1966.
He then moved to government during the Harry S. Truman administration, when Truman appointed him ambassador to Argentina in April 1951. Next he was ambassador to Italy in February 1952. From November 1953 until November 1956 he was president of the American Red Cross. In November 1956 he was appointed ambassador to India and Nepal by Dwight D. Eisenhower, and sworn in December 1956, where he played a crucial role in the covert alliance between the two powers against China. He was replaced by John Kenneth Galbraith in 1961. During 1962 he acted as U.S. mediator in the New York Agreement over Western New Guinea.