Leonard Seidman Unger (December 17, 1917 – June 3, 2010) was a diplomat and

United States Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S ...

to Laos (1962–64),

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

(1967–73), and was the last US ambassador to the

Republic of China on Taiwan Republic of China on Taiwan () is a political term as well as discourse regarding the present status of the Republic of China. It is proposed by former President of the Republic of China Lee Teng-hui, the first locally-born president (i.e., t ...

(1974–79).

Personal life

Unger was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

and graduated from

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 ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1939. He was the co-author of ''The Trieste negotiations'' and co-editor of ''Laos : beyond the revolution''. After retiring from the foreign service, he taught at the

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

. He died on June 3, 2010, in Sebastopol, California.

Diplomacy career

Unger was a member of the

American Academy of Diplomacy The American Academy of Diplomacy is a private, nonprofit, non-partisan, elected organization whose active membership is limited to men and women who have held positions of high responsibility in crafting and implementing American foreign policy. ...

and Council on Foreign Relations. He was also the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs in the Johnson administration. and the head of the Interdepartmental Vietnam Coordinating Committee, a committee set up by President Johnson to explore various 'use of force' options in the period before United States involvement in the

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by 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 Vietnam a ...

escalated. Prior to his involvement in South-East and East Asia, Unger was the United States Political Advisor to the

Free Territory of Trieste The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory in Southern Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unger, Leonard S. 1917 births 2010 deaths People from San Diego Ambassadors of the United States to Thailand Ambassadors of the United States to Laos Ambassadors of the United States to Taiwan Harvard College alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University faculty