J. Graham Parsons

James Graham Parsons (October 28, 1907 in New York City – October 20, 1991 in Lyme, Connecticut) was an American career diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Laos (1956–58), Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (1959–61), and United States Ambassador to Sweden (1961–67).

J. Graham Parsons was born in New York City on October 28, 1907. He was educated at Groton School, graduating in 1925, and Yale University, receiving his B.A. in 1929.

Upon graduation, he entered the United States Foreign Service, and served from 1932 to 1936 as private secretary to Joseph Grew, United States Ambassador to Japan. In 1934, he was on a train in the far north of China in which he survived a shootout between guards and bandits. He left Japan in 1936, upon being promoted to vice consul, holding that position first in Cuba, then in Manchuria, then in Canada. Parsons spent 1943-47 at the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C. as part of the British Commonwealth Affairs Section.