William J. Porter
| William J. Porter | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Ambassador to Algeria | |
|
In office November 29, 1962 – July 29, 1965 |
|
| President |
John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Succeeded by | John D. Jernegan |
| United States Ambassador to South Korea | |
|
In office 1967–1971 |
|
| President |
Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Winthrop G. Brown |
| Succeeded by | Philip C. Habib |
| United States Ambassador to Canada | |
|
In office March 13, 1974 – December 16, 1975 |
|
| President |
Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Adolph W. Schmidt |
| Succeeded by | Thomas O. Enders |
| United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia | |
|
In office December 22, 1975 – May 27, 1977 |
|
| President |
Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | James E. Akins |
| Succeeded by | John C. West |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 1, 1914 Stalybridge, England |
| Died | March 15, 1988 (aged 73) Fall River, Massachusetts |
| Profession | Diplomat, Career Ambassador |
William James Porter (September 1, 1914 – March 15, 1988) was an American diplomat who from 1971 to 1973 headed the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Talks to end the Vietnam War. Porter was the first-ever United States Ambassador to Algeria, and also served as Ambassador to South Korea, Canada, and Saudi Arabia.
William J. Porter was born in Stalybridge, England on September 1, 1914, the son of a Royal Navy officer who died during World War I. After his father's death, his mother moved to Fall River, Massachusetts to join relatives. He graduated from Boston College in 1930 and took a secretarial course at the Thibodeau College of Business Administration in Fall River 1930–32. Porter became a naturalized American citizen in 1936.
After a chance meeting with United States Minister to Hungary John Flournoy Montgomery, Montgomery invited Porter to come with him to Budapest as his private secretary in 1936. The next year, 1937, Porter joined the United States Foreign Service. As a Foreign Service Officer, Porter served in Baghdad 1937–41; Beirut 1941–43; and Damascus 1943–46. While serving in Syria, he met and married Eleanore Henry, a United States Army nurse from Philadelphia, who was posted in Cairo. He spent 1946–47 at the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C. as Palestine Desk Officer. He returned to the field in Nicosia 1947–50. In 1951, he was special assistant to the Chief of Voice of America, and then spent 1951–53 as Officer-in-Charge of Greek Affairs at the State Department.
...
Wikipedia