Thomas Clifton Mann (November 11, 1912 – January 23, 1999) was an American diplomat who specialized in
Latin American affairs. He entered the
U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...
in 1942 and quickly rose through the ranks to become an influential establishment figure. He worked to influence the internal affairs of numerous Latin American nations, typically focusing on economic and political influence rather than direct military intervention. After
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
became President in 1963, Mann received a double appointment and was recognized as the U.S. authority on Latin America. In March 1964, Mann outlined a policy of supporting regime change and promoting the economic interests of U.S. businesses. This policy, which moved away from the political centrism of Kennedy's
Alliance for Progress
The Alliance for Progress ( es, Alianza para el Progreso, links=no), initiated by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on March 13, 1961, ostensibly aimed to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America. Governor Luis Muñoz Mar� ...
, has been called the Mann Doctrine. Mann left the State Department in 1966 and became a spokesperson for the Automobile Manufacturer's Association.
Early life
Born in
Laredo, an American city on the border with
Mexico, Mann grew up speaking English and Spanish. His father was a lawyer and a
Southern Baptist.
He attended
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...
and
Baylor Law School
Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas. Baylor Law School is affiliated with Baylor University and located in Waco, Texas. The school has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1931 and has been a member of the Associat ...
, both in
Waco
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the s ...
, Texas, where he met his wife, the former Nancy Aynesworth. He graduated from law school in 1934 and took a job at his father's law firm.
[LaFeber, "From the Good Neighbor to Military Intervention" (1993), p. 168.] He held various posts, as a lawyer in Laredo, in 1934 to 1942.
Early career
Mann was rejected from the Navy due to poor vision. He joined the
Diplomatic Service,
United States Department Of State in 1942, and was deployed to
Montevideo in Uruguay to investigate Nazi shipping. In 1943, he was promoted to do this job across Latin America. He was involved in creating the 1945
Act of Chapultepec The Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace informally known as the Chapultepec Conference, was held in Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City on February 21 to March 8, 1945, between the United States and 19 Latin American countries. A ...
treaty for mutual defense of trans-American nations.
Truman administration
After unsuccessfully coordinating US opposition to
Juan Perón in the
1946 Argentine election, he directed US diplomats in Latin America to avoid supporting particular candidates in elections—lest they suffer due to the perceived association. He commented during the
1950 Guatemalan election:
At election time it is just political suicide to try to defend the United States... I think on the whole people in the other American Republics understand and support us, but it isn't good politics to say so at election time. We are a sort of punching bag during elections. Everybody likes to take a swing at us, and makes sure he does every time you say something.
Mann sought military assistance from Latin American countries during the
Korean War, commenting "that if the Bolivians were complaining about spilling their blood for Yankees, a lot of Yankees were also complaining about American blood already being spilled in Korea for Bolivia and other countries of the hemisphere".
[LaFeber, "From the Good Neighbor to Military Intervention" (1993), p. 169.]
Mann believed that nationalism and Communism were related problems, and sought to prevent both as part of efforts to prevent Latin
nationalization of resources. In a surprise to many observers, he agreed to secure US aid for Bolivia following the 1952
Bolivian revolution
The Bolivian Revolution of 1952 (), also known as the Revolution of '52, was a series of political demonstrations led by the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (RNM, MNR), which, in alliance with liberals and communists, sought to overthrow the ...
, partly as a reward for the new government's agreement to compensate US tin companies for nationalized assets.
Eisenhower administration
Policy shift
In 1952, Mann welcomed the incoming Eisenhower administration with a 42-page memo on US relations with Latin America. The memo argued that the main issue for the US in this region was not a Communist invasion, but the problem of US control over "readily accessible essential
strategic material
Strategic material is any sort of raw material that is important to an individual's or organization's strategic plan and supply chain management. Lack of supply of strategic materials may leave an organization or government vulnerable to disru ...
s". These included
vanadium
Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer ( pass ...
as well as crude
petroleum, resources which the US imported mostly from Latin America. Mann advocated swift US intervention to retaliate against nationalizations, as a show of force to deter similar actions by other countries. This memo was a source for NSC 144/1, representing the incoming Eisenhower administration's new policy on Latin America.
Guatemala
In Guatemala, Mann attended the inauguration of President
Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán
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 professio ...
and pronounced him a communist. Although he resisted early overtures by
United Fruit
The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...
representatives to intervene, he opposed
Árbenz's land reform law, fearing that Guatemala would provide a test case for other nations. After the
CIA-backed military coup in 1954, Mann was recalled from Greece to Guatemala. He established
Norman Armour
Norman Armour (October 14, 1887– September 27, 1982) was a career United States diplomat whom '' The New York Times'' once called "the perfect diplomat". In his long career spanning both World Wars, he served as Chief of Mission in eight countr ...
as the US ambassador and sought to bolster the new military government of
Castillo Armas
Carlos Castillo Armas (; 4 November 191426 July 1957) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who was the 28th president of Guatemala, serving from 1954 to 1957 after taking power in a coup d'état. A member of the right-wing Nation ...
. Mann reportedly gained de facto veto power over Guatemalan policy; after Mann had rejected a new oil law, Armas said he would come to "no final decision without consulting with Mr. Mann."
Mann later reflected that US operatives in Guatemala had an "illusion of omnipotence", saying in 1975:
We were on the crest of a wave and nobody, literally nobody on the Hill or anywhere else ever questioned our ability to do anything if we wanted to do it ndif we were willing to spend the money and the effort to do it.
Economic aid
In late September 1957 Mann moved to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, to become Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs. Trans-American economic problems had created dissatisfaction and threatened to push Latin American countries away from the US. Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles blamed an "economic war" waged by Moscow. Vice President
Richard Nixon was mobbed by angry protestors in Venezuela and elsewhere. Mann advocated policies of robust economic assistance, establishing the
Inter-American Development Bank and promoting low-interest loans financed by the US government. Mann pushed for "a Marshall Plan for Latin America" which would also include private finance. Eisenhower concurred, and appointed Mann as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs in August 1960.
Kennedy administration
President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
promoted the
Alliance for Progress
The Alliance for Progress ( es, Alianza para el Progreso, links=no), initiated by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on March 13, 1961, ostensibly aimed to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America. Governor Luis Muñoz Mar� ...
, a centrist initiative to support Latin American economies and stave off communism through moderate reform.
Mann did not support the
Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly f ...
, which had been planned by the CIA before Kennedy took office. He doubted the possibility of a popular uprising and, with Kennedy, opposed involvement by the US Air Force. He resigned his position at the State Department just weeks before the invasion took place in April 1961.
[LaFeber, "From the Good Neighbor to Military Intervention" (1993), p. 184.] In general, Mann felt that military action against Cuba would be too damaging for the US image. Instead, he supported economic sanctions to create suffering and dissatisfaction among the Cuban poor.
Kennedy appointed Mann
United States Ambassador to Mexico where he successfully negotiated a settlement of the
Chamizal border between the US and Mexican governments, caused by a shift in the
Rio Grande.
Johnson administration
On December 14, 1963, new President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
re-appointed Mann Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. On December 21, Johnson also made Mann the head of the
US Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bil ...
(USAID), an organization created by President Kennedy two years earlier. The double-appointment was opposed by the Kennedys and their liberal supporters, including Senator
Hubert Humphrey and advisor
Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a s ...
Schlesinger wrote that Johnson's appointment of Mann constituted "a declaration of independence, even perhaps a declaration of aggression against the Kennedys." Members of the United States corporate establishment, generally felt they had a good relationship with Mann and supported the appointment.
Mann Doctrine
In March 1964, the new Johnson administration held a three-day policy conference for all U.S. diplomats in Latin America. On March 18, Mann gave a secret speech to U.S. officials which laid out the administration's policy for the region. Mann did not discuss the Alliance for Progress. His policy called for non-intervention against dictators if they were friendly to US business interests, but intervention against Communists regardless of their policies. The content of Mann's speech was leaked to the ''New York Times''. His comments were interpreted as prioritizing US economic interests over political reform, and the thrust of this policy became known as the "Mann Doctrine".
Brazil
Later that month, Mann supported the
military overthrow of the democratically elected government in Brazil, claiming a victory against Communism. Mann assisted this takeover directly by diverting US aid to Brazil away from the Goulart's central government. US operatives interpreted the March 18 Mann Doctrine as a "green light" for the coup to go forward. After the coup, Mann stated that "the frustration of Communistic objectives in Brazil was the single most important victory for freedom in the hemisphere in recent years".
Chile
In Chile, Mann ordered an intensive and coordinated campaign in favor of
Eduardo Frei against
Salvador Allende in the
1964 elections. In a May 1 memo to Secretary of State
Dean Rusk, Mann wrote:
Clearly, the September election will be determined by factors which are deeply rooted in the political, economic, and social fabric of the Chilean scene and by the campaign abilities of the major contenders. Given the consequences, however, if this major Latin American nation should become the first country in the hemisphere to freely choose an avowed Marxist as its elected president, the Department, CIA, and other agencies have embarked on a major campaign to prevent Allende's election and to support Frei, the only candidate who has a chance of beating him.
Mann described a ten-point plan, which included:
* threats of economic retaliation against Chile if Allende won;
* CIA and
USIA production and dissemination of
unattributed propaganda against Allende;
* $70 million in emergency loans to prop up the economy and reduce unemployment before the election; and
* secret contacts of US government and businesses with Chilean business, military, police, clergy, trade unions, and Masons, for the purpose of opposing Allende.
These efforts were successful in 1964 but
reversed in 1970.
Bolivia
In Bolivia, when General
René Barrientos Ortuño led a takeover of the popular
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) government, which had been in power for twelve years, Mann secured aid for the new military government.
Panama
Mann later served in
Panama during a period of intense agitation waged by Panamanians against the
Panama Canal Zone. Mann began some successful negotiations with Panama, but was undercut by Johnson, who did not want to capitulate for political reasons.
Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, Mann labeled democratically elected President
Juan Bosch a communist and supported the
US invasion in 1965. In April 1965, Mann personally insisted on the production of a cable which would describe danger to American citizens in the Dominican Republic. At the same time, Mann pressured the military government to crack down on insurgents in
Santo Domingo. Mann described the popular rebellion as Communist infiltration enabled by Castro and supported the U.S. invasion as a necessary response.
Promotion and resignation
Mann became the Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs in 1965. He resigned from the State Department in 1966 and served as President of the Automobile Manufacturer's Association from 1967 through 1971.
Personal life
Mann was a brother of the late Laredo attorney Samuel Edward "Ed" Mann, a 1923 graduate of the
University of Texas Law School
The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest a ...
and an inductee into the prestigious legal honor society, Crossroads.
He died on January 23, 1999, in
Lubbock
Lubbock ( )
is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the north ...
, Texas.
Mann Road in Laredo is named for the Mann family. Thomas Mann is interred at
Laredo City Cemetery.
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References
Bibliography
* Brockett, Charles D.
An Illusion of Omnipotence: U.S. Policy toward Guatemala, 1954–1960'. ''Latin American Politics and Society'' 44(1), Spring 2002.
*
LaFeber, Walter. "Thomas C. Mann and the Devolution of Latin American Policy: From the Good Neighbor to Military Intervention". In ''Behind the Throne: Servants of Power to Imperial Presidents, 1898–1968'', ed. Thomas J. McCormick & Walter LaFeber. University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.
* Muller, Edward N. "Dependent Economic Development, Aid Dependence on the United States, and Democratic Breakdown in the Third World". ''International Studies Quarterly'' 29(4), December 1985. Accesse
via JStor October 10, 2013.
* Pérez Jr., Louis A.
Fear and Loathing of Fidel Castro: Sources of US Policy toward Cuba. ''Journal of Latin American Studies'' 34(2), May 2002. Accessed
* Power, Margaret.
The Engendering of Anticommunism and Fear in Chile’s 1964 Presidential Election. ''Diplomatic History'' 32(5), November 2008.
* Walker III, William O. "Mixing the Sweet with the Sour: Kennedy, Johnson, and Latin America". In ''The Diplomacy of the Crucial Decade: American Foreign Relations During the 1960s'', ed Diane B. Kunz. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
External links
*
*
ttps://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/mann-thomas-clifton List of official positions State Department Office of the Historian
Newspaper articles
*
Reds' Work in Cuba Outlined: State Dept. Aide Says Technicians Imported, ''Daytona Beach Morning Journal'',
*
Latin-American Ties Jolted, ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'', March 20, 1964.
*
Castro End Well Begun, William S. White, ''Sarasota Journal'', August 1, 1964.
*
Pan-American Squeeze Is Hurting Fidel Castro, William S. White, ''Morning Record'', September 14, 1964.
*
U.S. Offering Countries Population Problems Aid, ''St. Petersburg Times'', November 12, 1964.
*
Mann to Replace Harriman in State Department Shakeup, ''Meriden Journal'', February 12, 1965.
*
Latin Policy Protest Halts Senate Vote, ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'', February 8, 1966
*
Automakers Sued Over Air Pollution, ''Meriden Journal'', January 11, 1969.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Thomas C.
People from Laredo, Texas
1912 births
1999 deaths
Baylor University alumni
Texas lawyers
People from Lubbock, Texas
United States Assistant Secretaries of State
Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico
Ambassadors of the United States to El Salvador
20th-century American lawyers
Recipients of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service