Whiting Willauer (1906–1962) was an American ambassador to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. He is also considered as a key player during the 1954 operation against Arbenz in Guatemala.

Biography

Whiting Willauer was born on November 30, 1906, in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Willauer received his graduation from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and from the

Harvard University Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. From 1931 to 1939, he practiced admiralty law in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as an attorney in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. From 1941 to 1944, he served as executive secretary of China Defense Supplies, Incorporated, and also served as director of the Far East and Special Territories Branch of the

Foreign Economic Administration In the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Foreign Economic Administration (FEA) was formed to relieve friction between US agencies operating abroad on September 25, 1943. As described by the biographer of the FEA's chief, Leo Crowley ...

during 1944 to 1945. Along with General

Claire L. Chennault Claire Lee Chennault (September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958) was an American military aviator best known for his leadership of the "Flying Tigers" and the Chinese Air Force in World War II. Chennault was a fierce advocate of "pursuit" or fighter ...

, Willauer founded the

Civil Air Transport Civil Air Transport (CAT) was a Nationalist Chinese airline, later owned by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. During the Cold War, missions consisted in ...

(CAT) company in China in 1946. He was its executive vice president and later he became its president, he remained associated with the Civil Air Transport Company from 1946 until his resignation in 1954. In 1950, Whiting Willauer sold CAT to the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

.https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000134974.pdf He served as ambassador to Honduras from 1954 to 1958 and to Costa Rica from 1958 until his retirement in 1961. One of his key tasks while serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, after his appointment on 5 February 1954, was to provide the CIA team within neighboring Guatemala with any assistance that they required in the overthrow of that Government of Guatemala led by

Jacobo Arbenz Guzman Jacobo is both a surname and a given name of Spanish origin. Based on the name Jacob. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Alfredo Jacobo (born 1982), Olympic breaststroke swimmer from Mexico * Cesar Chavez Jacobo, Dominican profession ...

; he was even instructed to report to the CIA via the

Under Secretary of State Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the Assistant Secretaries and below the Deputy Secretary. From 1919 to 1972, the Under Secretary was the second-ranking off ...

Walter Bedell Smith General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (5 October 1895 – 9 August 1961) was a senior officer of the United States Army who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) during the Tunisia Campai ...

, who had previously been the

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Security C ...

. After a short retirement, Whiting Willauer died on 6 August 1962 at

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

. Whiting Willauser was then buried at the New North Cemetery, Nantucket, County of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willauer, Whiting 1906 births 1962 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Costa Rica Ambassadors of the United States to Honduras Harvard Law School alumni Princeton University alumni Storm King School alumni