Henry Alfred Byroade, (July 24, 1913 – December 31, 1993) was an American career diplomat. Over the course of his career, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Egypt (1955–1956), South Africa (1956–1959), Afghanistan (1959–1962), Burma (1963–1968), Philippines (1969–1973), and Pakistan (1973–1977). Byroade graduated from West Point military academy in 1937 and began a career as an Army officer. His first post in army was on the

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as a member of the Corps of Engineers from 1937 to 1939. The Corps sent him back in 1939 to engineering college. He got his master's degree in civil engineering from Cornell University in 1940, and was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia, helping to form the first aviation engineer regiment. In 1946, at the age of 32, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1949 he was seconded to the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

, where he headed the Office of German Affairs. In 1952, he resigned from the Army and was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East, South Asia, and Africa—a post he held until 1955. In 1954, he attracted criticism from both Israel and the Arab world for the

US administration The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to the jurisdiction under which it operates. In general terms, administration can be described as a decision making body. United States In American usage, the term ...

's policy declaration in which he told the Israelis, "You should drop the attitude of a conqueror and the conviction that force is the only policy that your neighbors will understand" and told the Arabs, "You should accept this state of Israel as an accomplished fact". That same year, he referred to Israel's Zionist ideology and its free admission of Jews through the Law of Return as "a legitimate matter of concern both to the Arabs and to the Western countries". Byroade had been Ambassador to Egypt for more than a year when it was announced that he was being transferred. He was considered a friend of Arab causes but unable, during his Egyptian assignment, to prevent an arms deal between Czechoslovakia and Egypt, or to dissuade the Egyptian government of

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

from expanding its campaigns against the West. Criticism of his effectiveness in Cairo in the Eisenhower Administration led to his reassignment to South Africa. Emanuel Neumann, chairman of the executive of the Zionist Organization of America urged that he be removed from Cairo, claiming he had been an apologist for the Egyptian government. He retired from the Foreign Service in 1977, and died in Bethesda, Maryland on December 31, 1993, at the age of 80.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20080314214120/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/10404.htm
Obituary
* ttp://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/byroade.htm Oral History Interview with Henry Byroadefrom the

Truman Library The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and resting place of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States (1945–1953), his wife Bess and daughter Margaret, and is located on U.S. Highwa ...

The State Department's Campaign Against the Jewish State Idea in 1954
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byroade, Henry A 1913 births 1993 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Afghanistan Ambassadors of the United States to Egypt Ambassadors of the United States to Myanmar Ambassadors of the United States to Pakistan Ambassadors of the United States to South Africa Ambassadors of the United States to the Philippines Cornell University College of Engineering alumni United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni United States Foreign Service personnel 20th-century American diplomats