Joseph Palmer II

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Joseph Palmer II (born June 16, 1914 in Detroit , Michigan , † August 15, 1994 in Bethesda , Maryland ) was an American diplomat , who was ambassador to Nigeria between 1960 and 1964 and director general of the diplomatic service from 1964 to 1966 , was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs between 1966 and 1969 and was most recently Ambassador to Libya from 1969 to 1972 .

Life

Studies, beginning of diplomatic career and ambassador

After completing his schooling in Boston, Palmer completed an undergraduate degree at Harvard University , which he graduated in 1937. He was then a student at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and entered the foreign service of the US State Department in 1939 . It found its first use in Africa when he worked as a consular officer at the consulate in Nairobi between 1941 and 1945 . From 1945 to 1949 he was Deputy Head of the Africa Department in the Foreign Ministry. After later assignments at the embassy in the United Kingdom in the early 1950s, he worked at the embassy in what was then Southern Rhodesia , now Zimbabwe , between 1958 and 1960 .

After numerous African states obtained their independence from the previous colonial powers as part of the so-called " African Year " 1960, Palmer was appointed the first US ambassador to Nigeria on September 23, 1960 during a break in the US Senate's session obtained its independence from the United Kingdom. He formally handed over his accreditation on October 4, 1960 , which was confirmed by the Senate on February 6, 1961. After Nigeria became a republic on October 1, 1963 under Nnamdi Azikiwe as President and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister, he submitted a new letter of accreditation on December 12, 1963 and remained as Ambassador to Nigeria until January 26, 1964.

Director General of the Foreign Service and Assistant Secretary of State

After his return to the United States, Palmer took over from Tyler Thompson on February 16, 1964 as Director General of the Foreign Service . In this function he was Director General of the Foreign Service until April 10, 1966 and was therefore responsible for staffing the missions abroad. He himself succeeded G. Mennen Williams on April 11, 1966 as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and as such head of the Africa Department (Bureau of African Affairs) . He held this office until July 7, 1969 and was replaced on July 17, 1969 by David D. Newsom , who was previously ambassador to Libya.

Thereupon Palmer, who was honored for his professional services with the Distinguished Honor Award of the State Department, took over again on October 9, 1969 from Newsom the post of ambassador to Libya. Five weeks before he took office as ambassador to Libya, King Idris was overthrown on September 1, 1969 by a military coup, from which Muammar al-Gaddafi emerged as the new ruler as leader of the revolution and chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. At that time, the US was operating a large air base in Libya, and numerous US oil companies were making large investments there. As ambassador, he helped with the proper closure of the US Air Force base , while on the other hand protecting US economic interests. He remained in this diplomatic post until November 7, 1972 when he was recalled because of al-Gaddafi's increasingly anti-American stance and his support for international terrorism .

After his subsequent retirement, Palmer was intermittently, among other things, advisor for international relations at the Seven Springs Center in Mount Kisco , director of the Council of the International Student Service, secretary and treasurer of the interests of the employees of the diplomatic service AFSA (American Foreign Service Association) , chairman of the editorial board of the Foreign Service Journal and member of the pension association of former diplomats and consular officers DACOR (Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired) .

From Palmer's 1941 marriage to Margaret Jones Palmer, the daughter Heather Palmer Jafari and the two sons Joseph Woodbury Palmer and Thomas Jones Palmer were born. Palmer died of complications from a stroke .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nigeria since 1947 , in: The great Ploetz. The encyclopedia of world history , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-525-32008-2 , p. 1948
  2. ↑ He was succeeded as ambassador to Nigeria on April 11, 1964 by Elbert G. Mathews , who was ambassador to Liberia from 1959 to 1962 .
  3. ↑ Successor as Director General of the Foreign Service on August 1, 1966, was the previous ambassador to Afghanistan, John M. Steeves .
  4. ↑ After Palmer's dismissal of the post of ambassador was not reoccupied in Libya, but until 8 February in 1980 by a provisional chargé (charge d'affaires ad interim) perceived before the embassy was closed on 2 May 1980th
personal data
SURNAME Palmer, Joseph II
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH June 16, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Detroit , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1994
Place of death Bethesda , Maryland