Dixon Donnelley (July 29, 1915 – January 1982) was

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV seri ...

from 1966 to 1969.

Biography

Donnelley was born in Forest Hills, New York on July 29, 1915. He was a student at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

from 1934 to 1937. During the 1936-37 academic year, he also worked as a junior

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

for the New York ''Daily News''. In 1937, Donnelley moved to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

becoming city editor of the Havana ''Post''. He returned to the U.S. in 1941 as assistant city editor of '' The Washington Daily News''. In 1942, he worked as news editor in the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. After the war, Donnelley spent 1946-47 as press attaché at the United States Embassy in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. From 1947 to 1948, he was assistant public affairs officer at the U.S. embassy in Santiago, Chile, and was then press attaché at the U.S. embassy in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

1948-49. In 1950, he moved to Washington, D.C. to become an information officer at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

focused on the Americas area. During the 1956 Democratic presidential primaries, Donnelley was the press secretary for Sen. Estes Kefauver ( D— TN) to become

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 Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, with Kefauver losing the primaries to Adlai Stevenson. From 1958 to 1961, Donnelley served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State ( Christian Herter and later C. Douglas Dillon). When C. Douglas Dillon was named

United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, Donnelley remained Dillon's assistant, moving with his boss to the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson nominated Donnelley as

and Donnelley held this office from March 22, 1966 until January 31, 1969. As such, he was the spokesman of the

at the height of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

External links

Photo of Dixon Donnelley from Life magazine

References

Oral History Interview of Dixon Donnelley at the Miller Center website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelley, Dixon 1915 births 1982 deaths American newspaper reporters and correspondents United States Assistant Secretaries of State People from Forest Hills, Queens Columbia University alumni New York Daily News people 20th-century American non-fiction writers