Elbridge Durbrow
Encyclopedia
Elbridge Durbrow was an American
Foreign Service
officer and diplomat who served as the Counselor of Embassy and Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow in the late 1940s and later the US ambassador to South Vietnam
from March 1957 to April 1961.
, California
. Durbrow graduated from Yale University
in 1926 with a degree in philosophy
. He then continued his education at Stanford University
, the University of Dijon
in France, the Hague Academy of International Law
in the Netherlands, the École Libre des Sciences Politiques
in Paris and finally the University of Chicago
, where he studied international economics
and finance
.
by serving as Vice Consul
at the American embassy in Warsaw, Poland
. He rose through the service's ranks over the next decade while serving in the embassies in Bucharest
, Naples
, Rome
, Lisbon
and Moscow
. In 1941, Durbrow became the assistant chief of State Department's Eastern European affairs division.
In 1944, Durbrow was appointed as the chief of the Eastern Europe
an division of the US State Department
in Washington, D.C.
. That year, he was also one of the American delegates at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference
, which set up the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT), the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the Bretton Woods system
of money management. After World War II
, Durbrow was vocal in his opposition for the diplomatic recognition of newly formed governments in Hungary
, Romania
and Bulgaria
because of their Communist origins. In 1946, he left this position to succeed George F. Kennan
as the Counselor of Embassy and Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow, under the US ambassador to the Soviet Union and future Central Intelligence Agency
Director
, Walter Bedell Smith
. In this role, he warned Smith and others of Soviet expansionism
and efforts to break up the Western world
. From 1948 to 1950, he served as an adviser to the National War College
in Washington, D.C., and then spent the next two years as director of the Foreign Service's personnel division. In 1952, he was sent to Italy
where he served as deputy chief of mission to the US Ambassador to Italy, Clare Boothe Luce
. Two years later, he was promoted to the diplomatic rank of Career Minister
.
On March 14, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower
named Durbrow as the United States Ambassador to South Vietnam
. At the time, the US had a minor military and political presence in Vietnam due to government's goal of preventing Communism
from taking over the region. Durbrow had a difficult time in his ambassadorial role. He had to frequently work with the authoritarian regime of Ngo Dinh Diem
and the corruption and ineffective policymaking that accompanied it. Vietnamese officers, disgruntled with Diem's government, tried to persuade Durbrow into joining anti-Diem groups. Durbrow, who began to feel uneasy about Diem's authority, had to refuse because the US government was still in support of Diem.
In 1960, Diem and his younger brother and chief political adviser Ngo Dinh Nhu
accused Durbrow of supporting a failed coup attempt
by paratroopers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
. Durbrow later recalled receiving a phone call from one of Diem's aides, asking him to tell Diem to surrender or face a howitzer
attack on the presidential palace. Durbrow refused and no attack occurred. He later learned that the aide had been forced to make the call.
In April 1961, the newly elected American President John F. Kennedy
formed a committee to assess the political, military and socioeconomic situation in Vietnam, with the hope of determining what it would take to keep Communism out of South Vietnam. On April 16, Kennedy replaced Durbrow with Frederick Nolting
, who pursued a policy of appeasement. Afterwards, Durbrow served as a delegate to the NATO council in Paris and later as a government adviser to the National War College and the Air University.
. Through the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Foreign Policy Institute and as the director of the Center for International Strategic Studies and the Freedom Studies Center in South Boston
, Virginia
.
Durbrow died at his home in Walnut Creek
, California
on May 16, 1997 from complications
of a stroke
. He was survived by his second wife, Benice Balcom Durbrow, and two sons from his first marriage, Chandler and Bruce.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Foreign Service
United States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
officer and diplomat who served as the Counselor of Embassy and Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow in the late 1940s and later the US ambassador to South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
from March 1957 to April 1961.
Early life
Durbrow was born in San FranciscoSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Durbrow graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1926 with a degree in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. He then continued his education at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, the University of Dijon
University of Burgundy
The University of Burgundy is a university located in Dijon, France.The University of Burgundy is situated on a large campus called Campus Montmuzard, 15 minutes by bus from the City Centre...
in France, the Hague Academy of International Law
Hague Academy of International Law
The Hague Academy of International Law is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands...
in the Netherlands, the École Libre des Sciences Politiques
École Libre des Sciences Politiques
École Libre des Sciences Politiques , often referred to as the École des Sciences Politiques or simply Sciences Po was created in Paris in February 1872 by a group of European intellectuals, politicians and businessmen, which included Hippolyte Taine, Ernest Renan, Albert Sorel, Pierre Paul...
in Paris and finally the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he studied international economics
International economics
International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity of international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the institutions that affect them...
and finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
.
Foreign Service career
Durbrow began his career in the United States Foreign ServiceUnited States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
by serving as Vice Consul
Vice Consul
A vice consul is a subordinate officer, authorized to exercise consular functions in some particular part of a district controlled by a consulate....
at the American embassy in Warsaw, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. He rose through the service's ranks over the next decade while serving in the embassies in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. In 1941, Durbrow became the assistant chief of State Department's Eastern European affairs division.
In 1944, Durbrow was appointed as the chief of the Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an division of the US State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. That year, he was also one of the American delegates at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference
United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference
The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, commonly known as the Bretton Woods conference, was a gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to regulate the international monetary and financial order after...
, which set up the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is one of five institutions that compose the World Bank Group. The IBRD is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by World War II. Now, its mission has expanded to fight...
, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was negotiated during the UN Conference on Trade and Employment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization . GATT was signed in 1947 and lasted until 1993, when it was replaced by the World...
(GATT), the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(IMF) and the Bretton Woods system
Bretton Woods system
The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the world's major industrial states in the mid 20th century...
of money management. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Durbrow was vocal in his opposition for the diplomatic recognition of newly formed governments in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
because of their Communist origins. In 1946, he left this position to succeed George F. Kennan
George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan was an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War...
as the Counselor of Embassy and Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow, under the US ambassador to the Soviet Union and future Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
Director
Director of Central Intelligence
The Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the principal intelligence advisor to the President and the National Security Council, and the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various United...
, Walter Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith was a senior United States Army general who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy...
. In this role, he warned Smith and others of Soviet expansionism
Expansionism
In general, expansionism consists of expansionist policies of governments and states. While some have linked the term to promoting economic growth , more commonly expansionism refers to the doctrine of a state expanding its territorial base usually, though not necessarily, by means of military...
and efforts to break up the Western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
. From 1948 to 1950, he served as an adviser to the National War College
National War College
The National War College of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. It was officially established on July 1, 1946, as an upgraded replacement for the...
in Washington, D.C., and then spent the next two years as director of the Foreign Service's personnel division. In 1952, he was sent to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
where he served as deputy chief of mission to the US Ambassador to Italy, Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce was an American playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and U.S. Congresswoman, representing the state of Connecticut.-Early life:...
. Two years later, he was promoted to the diplomatic rank of Career Minister
Diplomatic rank
Diplomatic rank is the system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. Over time it has been formalized on an international basis.-Ranks:...
.
On March 14, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
named Durbrow as the United States Ambassador to South Vietnam
United States Ambassador to South Vietnam
After World War II, France attempted to regain control of Vietnam, which they had lost to Japan in 1940. Following the First Indochina War, the country was split into two parts, the north and the south. The southern part was named The State of Vietnam under the leadership of Bảo Đại...
. At the time, the US had a minor military and political presence in Vietnam due to government's goal of preventing Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
from taking over the region. Durbrow had a difficult time in his ambassadorial role. He had to frequently work with the authoritarian regime of Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
and the corruption and ineffective policymaking that accompanied it. Vietnamese officers, disgruntled with Diem's government, tried to persuade Durbrow into joining anti-Diem groups. Durbrow, who began to feel uneasy about Diem's authority, had to refuse because the US government was still in support of Diem.
In 1960, Diem and his younger brother and chief political adviser Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngô Ðình Nhu was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Diệm. Nhu was widely regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's nepotistic and autocratic rule over South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963...
accused Durbrow of supporting a failed coup attempt
1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt
On November 11, 1960, a failed coup attempt against President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam was led by Lieutenant Colonel Vuong Van Dong and Colonel Nguyen Chanh Thi of the Airborne Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ....
by paratroopers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
. Durbrow later recalled receiving a phone call from one of Diem's aides, asking him to tell Diem to surrender or face a howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
attack on the presidential palace. Durbrow refused and no attack occurred. He later learned that the aide had been forced to make the call.
In April 1961, the newly elected American President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
formed a committee to assess the political, military and socioeconomic situation in Vietnam, with the hope of determining what it would take to keep Communism out of South Vietnam. On April 16, Kennedy replaced Durbrow with Frederick Nolting
Frederick Nolting
Frederick Ernst Nolting , was a World War II naval officer and United States diplomat.-Early life and education:...
, who pursued a policy of appeasement. Afterwards, Durbrow served as a delegate to the NATO council in Paris and later as a government adviser to the National War College and the Air University.
Retirement
Durbrow retired from his 38-year diplomatic career in 1968. He spent the next two decades writing and lecturing on foreign affairsForeign Affairs
Foreign Affairs is an American magazine and website on international relations and U.S. foreign policy published since 1922 by the Council on Foreign Relations six times annually...
. Through the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Foreign Policy Institute and as the director of the Center for International Strategic Studies and the Freedom Studies Center in South Boston
South Boston, Virginia
South Boston is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,142 at the 2010 census.- History :On December 8, 1796, the General Assembly authorized eight commissioners to establish at Boyd's Ferry on the south side of the Dan River the town of South Boston, named for...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
Durbrow died at his home in Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on May 16, 1997 from complications
Complication (medicine)
Complication, in medicine, is an unfavorable evolution of a disease, a health condition or a medical treatment. The disease can become worse in its severity or show a higher number of signs, symptoms or new pathological changes, become widespread throughout the body or affect other organ systems. A...
of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. He was survived by his second wife, Benice Balcom Durbrow, and two sons from his first marriage, Chandler and Bruce.