John Emil Peurifoy

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John Emil Peurifoy (born August 9, 1907 in Walterboro , Colleton County , South Carolina , † August 12, 1955 in Hua Hin ), aka Sleepless Jack , was an American diplomat . He served as the United States Ambassador to Greece , Guatemala and Thailand .

childhood and education

Peurifoy's mother died when he was six years old and his father died when Peurifoy was a teenager. In 1926 he was accepted into the US Military Academy at West Point . In 1928 he was retired there because of pneumonia . He was Fulbright - scholarship and joined the Fletcher School of Law Diplomacy at Tufts University from.

Professional career

He worked as a tutor and insurance agent and started as a clerk in the Department of Economic Warfare and War Production, as a lift boy in the US Senate building during World War II . His duties included cleaning the sidewalks in Washington, DC. He worked with Senator for South Carolina , Burnet R. Maybank , to get a job with the United States Department of State . In 1945 Peurifoy was head of the security department. In 1945 Peurifoy participated in the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco , chaired by Alger Hiss . With a commitment in the " Committee for Un-American Activities " chaired by Senator Joseph McCarthy , he becomes State Secretary in the US State Department in the personnel department .

Greece

In 1950 Peurifoy was appointed ambassador for Greece. During his three-year tenure in Greece, he installed the government of Marshal Alexandros Papagos and contributed significantly to the continued existence of this Greek government, to which the royal family belonged. For this purpose, the Greek electoral system had to be changed. Because of his direct and undiplomatic involvement in the internal relations of Greece, his name became a household name, so that any attempt to interfere in Greek politics is referred to as a peurifoy .

Guatemala

Under the government of Dwight D. Eisenhower , Peurifoy replaced Rudolf Schoenfeld in October 1953 as ambassador to Guatemala in charge of Operation PBSUCCESS . On December 16, 1953, Peurifoy made the US government's position clear. Whether he did not know that the agrarian reform had also been introduced in China and that China was known to be communist, he ruled Foreign Minister Dr. Raul Osegüeda. To his answer that he was by no means a communist, Peurifoy replied threateningly that he knew better, after all, he had seen him pictured in a magazine together with communists! The new ambassador behaved in a similar way during a meeting with the President, after which he hastily telegraphed to Washington that "normal measures in Guatemala are unlikely to work." And he closed his appeal with: "The candle is burning slowly but surely, and it is only a matter of time before extensive American interests are completely pushed out." In January 1954, Peurifoy told Time Magazine that the US could be forced "To take measures to save Guatemala from falling into the lap of international communism." Peurifoy later stated that planning the eviction of Arbenz took 45 minutes. On July 27, 1954, Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán was replaced by a military junta made up of captains. Peurifoy found approval among the military to make Captain Castillo Armas the new head of government. On July 3, 1954 Carlos Castillo Armas landed the plane of the Ambassador Peurifoy at the military part of the airport Aurora of Guatemala City . With the exception of the cadets of the Escuela Politécnica , who made a heroic gesture, all the military had turned. Peurifoy rhymed for Time Magazine July 28, 1954:

Sing a song of quetzals, pockets full of peace! The junta's in the palace, they've taken out a lease. The Commies are in hiding, just across the street; To the embassy of Mexico they beat a quick retreat. And pistol-packing Peurifoy looks mighty optimistic For the land of Guatemala is no longer Communistic.

Sing the Quetzal's happy songs, For peace returned home. In the palace the mighty junta will be his keeper. All the communists fled that terrified us once; Have now fled, hid in Mexico . And the brave Peurifoy is now optimistic again, because beautiful Guatemala is no longer communist!

Great Britain's Labor leader Clement Attlee was shocked "about the joy and approval ... in view of the success of the coup ".

Thailand

Peurifoy was transferred to Thailand. On August 12, 1955, he and one of his sons died in a car accident near Hua Hin.

swell

1. ↑ Cadet Institute . In: Der Spiegel . No. 20 , 1950 ( online - May 18, 1950 ).
2. ^ Time Mar. 13, 1950 Act of Humiliation [1]
3. ↑ Time Jul. 24, 1950 New Stripes
4. ^ Time Jun. 18, 1951 What, No Yacht?
5. ↑ Time Oct. 26, 1953 The King's Wife
6. ↑ Time Jan. 11, 1954 The Problem of Guatemala
7. ↑ Time Jul. 05, 1954 Exit the Colonel, Complaining
8. ^ Time Nov. 14, 1955 State Visit
9. ↑ Time Sep. 06, 1954 Top of the Batting Order
10. ^ TIME Aug. 22, 1955 Smiling Jack

predecessor	Office	successor
Henry F. Grady	US ambassador to Athens 1950 to 1953	Cavendish W. Cannon
Rudolf E. Schoenfeld	U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala November 4, 1953 to October 2, 1954	Norman Armor
William Joseph Donovan	U.S. Ambassador to Bangkok December 3, 1954 to August 12, 1955	Max Waldo Bishop