Colonel William A. Phillips

Leonard Seidman Unger (December 17, 1917 – June 3, 2010) was a diplomat and United States Ambassador to Laos (1962–64), Thailand (1967–73), and was the last US ambassador to the Republic of China on Taiwan (1974–79).[1]

Personal life

Unger was born in San Diego, California and graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1939.[2] 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 at Tufts University.[3] He died on June 3, 2010, in Sebastopol, California.[4]

Diplomacy career

Unger was a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and Council on Foreign Relations. He was also the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs in the Johnson administration.[5] 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 escalated.[6][7] Prior to his involvement in South-East and East Asia, Unger was the United States Political Advisor to the Free Territory of Trieste.[8]

References

  1. ^ "U. S. Envoy in Taiwan Defends Policy on Peking". The New York Times. June 23, 1974.
  2. ^ "Dr. Conant Twits Alumni 'Wailers'; A Couple Of Old Classmates Get Together". The New York Times. June 22, 1939.
  3. ^ Roosa, John (Winter 1985). "Tufts University: Students Counter Spies". The National Reporter. CIA at Tufts University. Archived from the original on 2002-11-13. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  4. ^ "State Magazine". U.S. Department of State. December 2010 – via Scribd.
  5. ^ "Raids Will Go on, Rusk Reasserts; Shift by Reds Could Bring Halt, He Says in Detroit". The New York Times. April 20, 1965.
  6. ^ "Ex-Envoy to Laos Named To Special Vietnam Panel". The New York Times. January 9, 1965. Archived from the original on Apr 12, 2022.
  7. ^ Helsing, Jeffrey W. (2000). Johnson's war/Johnson's great society: the guns and butter trap. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 24.
  8. ^ "THE-CONSULATE-OF-THE-UNITED-STATES-OF-AMERICA-IN-TRIESTE". docstoc.com. Retrieved August 1, 2011.[dead link]
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Laos
1962–1964
Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Thailand
1967–1973
Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to the Republic of China on Taiwan
1974–1979
Succeeded by