Charles Appleton Meyer (June 27, 1918 – August 15, 1996) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs from 1969 to 1973.

Biography

Meyer was born in 1918 and attended

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

, graduating in 1935.Phillips Academy Alumni Profile
He then attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, graduating in 1939. After college, Meyer took a job with Sears in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Meyer rose through the ranks at Sears to become Vice President responsible for Sears' operations in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. His first foray into government service came in 1960 when

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

appointed Meyer as one of six members of the National Advisory Committee on Inter-American Affairs."The Americas: Ike's Eyes and Ears", ''Time'', Mar. 14, 1960
/ref> This committee, headed by

Milton S. Eisenhower Milton Stover Eisenhower (September 15, 1899 – May 2, 1985) was an American academic administrator. He served as president of three major American universities: Kansas State University, Pennsylvania State University, and Johns Hopkins Universit ...

, was designed to be Eisenhower's "eyes and ears" in Latin America and traveled throughout the region meeting with Latin American leaders. Meyer continued working as a Sears executive until March 1969, when President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

appointed him Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.Profile from State Department Office of the Historian
/ref> Meyer held this office from April 2, 1969 until March 2, 1973. As Assistant Secretary, Meyer has been accused of intervening in the 1970 Chilean election; Meyer denied that this was the case, saying that the U.S. State Department "financed no candidates, no political parties before or after September 4

970 Year 970 (Roman numerals, CMLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 970th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' designations, the 970th year of the 1st millennium, ...

" Meyer left the State Department in 1973 and returned to Sears, where he worked as an executive until his retirement in 1980. He also served on the board of directors of

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...

. Lake Forest College awarded Meyer an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

in 1983.List of Individuals Awarded Honorary Degrees by Lake Forest College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Charles A. 1918 births 1996 deaths United States Assistant Secretaries of State Phillips Academy alumni Harvard College alumni Sears Holdings people 20th-century American businesspeople