Robert Daniel Murphy (October 28, 1894 – January 9, 1978) was an American

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He served as the first United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs when the position was established during the

Eisenhower administration Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following a landslide victory ov ...

Early life and career

Born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, Murphy began his federal career at the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

(1916) and moved to be cipher clerk at the

American Legation The Tangier American Legation ( ar, المفوضية الأميركية في طنجة; french: Légation américaine de Tanger), officially the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIMS), is a building in the ''medina'' of ...

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

(1917). He was admitted to the US Foreign Service in 1921. Among the several posts that he held were Vice-Consul in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, consul in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

from 1930 to 1936, and

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

to the Vichy government. He was also the one-time

State Department 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 ...

specialist on

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

World War II

In February 1941, Murphy negotiated the Murphy-

Weygand Weygand is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Conrad Weygand (1890–1945), German chemist * Maxime Weygand (1867–1965), French military commander * Robert Weygand (born 1948), American politician * Zina Weygand, French histor ...

Agreement, which allowed the United States to export to

French North Africa French North Africa (french: Afrique du Nord française, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is the term often applied to the territories controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. In ...

in spite of the British blockade and trade restrictions against the Vichy-governed area.

Gabriel Kolko Gabriel Morris Kolko (August 17, 1932 – May 19, 2014) was an American historian. His research interests included American capitalism and political history, the Progressive Era, and U.S. foreign policy in the 20th century. One of the best-known ...

(1968; 1990 edition with new afterword), ''The Politics of War: The World and United States Foreign Policy, 1943-1945'', ASIN B0007EOISO. Chapter 4. In autumn of 1942, at President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's behest, Murphy investigated conditions in French North Africa in preparation for the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

landings,

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

, the first major Western Allied ground offensive during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was appointed the President's personal representative with the rank of Minister to French North Africa. Murphy made contact with various French army officers in Algiers and recruited them to support the Allies when the invasion of French North Africa came. During this time,

Kenneth Pendar Kenneth W. Pendar (December 22, 1906 - December 5, 1972) was a United States diplomat who served as Vice-Consul in Marrakech and Casablanca in 1942 and 1943. He published his memoirs, where he recounts his wartime experiences and activities, in two ...

served as his second. Prior to the November 8 invasion, Murphy, along with U.S. General Mark W. Clark, had worked to gain the cooperation of French General Henri Giraud for the attack. The Americans and British hoped to place Giraud in charge of all French forces in North Africa and command them for the Allied cause. Giraud, however, mistakenly believed that he was to assume command of all Allied forces in North Africa, which put Murphy's diplomatic skills to the test to keep Giraud on board. Murphy and Clark jointly convinced the French in North Africa to accept Admiral François Darlan, the commander of all French military Forces loyal to the Vichy regime and coincidentally in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, as the highest authority in French North Africa and Giraud as Commander of all French military in North Africa. Murphy used his friendly contacts with the French in North Africa to gain their co-operation in re-entering the war against the Axis. He also needed all his diplomatic skills to steer Clark away from confrontation with the French, especially Darlan. When Darlan was assassinated in late December, an irritant to good relations was removed. Keeping the French united and aligned with the Allies into 1943 taxed Murphy's skills to their limit. He gained a powerful ally in British politician (and future Prime Minister)

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

, also posted to Algiers in January 1943. The two diplomats worked together amiably to ensure that the Casablanca Conference went smoothly in January 1943 and that Giraud and de Gaulle would join forces to unite the French among the Allies. Keeping the quarrelsome French united and working with the Americans and British exasperated and exhausted Murphy. When Eisenhower needed a civilian from the State Department to assume a similar role in Italy in 1943, Murphy gladly accepted it and left Algiers behind.

Later career

*1948 advisor for General

Lucius D. Clay General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D ...

, American military governor of American-occupied Germany, during the Soviet Russian Blockade of Berlin, and the Berlin Airlift, "Operation Vittles" *1949 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

*1952 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(first American ambassador to Japan after World War II) *1953 Assistant Secretary for United Nations Affairs *1953 Deputy Under Secretary for Political Affairs (Assistant Secretary) *1955 Deputy Under Secretary for Political Affairs *1956

Career Ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service Officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the President and confirmation by the United States Sena ...

*1958 Personal representative of President

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, ...

during the

1958 Lebanon crisis The 1958 Lebanon crisis (also known as the Lebanese Civil War of 1958) was a political crisis in Lebanon caused by political and religious tensions in the country that included a United States military intervention. The intervention lasted for aro ...

*1959 Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs

Later life

Murphy retired from the State Department in December 1959 but became an adviser to Presidents

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

, Lyndon B. Johnson, and

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 ...

. He served on President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board The President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) is an advisory body to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. According to its self-description, it "provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of ...

. He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group. In 2006, Murphy was featured on a United States

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

, one of a block of six featuring prominent diplomats.

Works

* ''The Bases of Peace'', ashington

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 n ...

, 1958 * ''Diplomat among Warriors'',

st ed. ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1964.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

*
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XX
*
Register of the Robert Daniel Murphy Papers, 1913-1978
an
selected documents online
at the Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University. , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Robert Daniel 1894 births 1978 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Belgium Ambassadors of the United States to Japan American expatriates in Switzerland George Washington University Law School alumni Laetare Medal recipients Marquette University alumni Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group Politicians from Milwaukee Under Secretaries of State for Political Affairs United States Assistant Secretaries of State United States Career Ambassadors United States Foreign Service personnel American expatriates in Germany Recipients of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service 20th-century American diplomats