Walter Cecil Dowling (August 4, 1905 – July 1, 1977) was the United States Ambassador to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

from 1959–1963 and the US Ambassador to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

from 1956-1959. Dowling was born in

Atkinson County, Georgia Atkinson County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,375. The county seat is Pearson. The county was formed in 1917 from parts of Coffee and Clinch Counties ...

. He received a bachelor's degree from

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 s ...

in 1925. In 1932 he became the vice consul in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. He worked his way through various foreign postings and postings at the State Department before becoming

United States Ambassador to South Korea The United States Ambassador to South Korea () is the chief diplomatic representative of the United States accredited to the Republic of Korea. The ambassador's official title is "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States ...

in 1956. Picked by President Dwight Eisenhower to become

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs is a position within the United States Department of State that leads the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs charged with implementing American foreign policy in Europe and Eu ...

, he was confirmed by the Senate, but diverted to

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, where he served as

United States Ambassador to West Germany The United States has had diplomatic relations with the nation of Germany and its principal predecessor nation, the Kingdom of Prussia, since 1835. These relations were broken twice (1917 to 1921, and 1941 to 1955) while Germany and the United St ...

up to and through the Berlin Crisis of 1961. Appointed a Career Ambassador in 1962, an operation cut short his career; in 1963, he retired from the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

. After he left the State Department, he became Director-General of the

Atlantic Institute The Atlantic Institute (full name, Atlantic Institute for International Affairs) was an independent, non-governmental institute that promoted economic, political, and cultural relations among NATO alliance members and the international community in ...

, before returning to Mercer University and teaching political science. He died in 1977.

References

External links

Walter Cecil Dowling
at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowling, Walter Cecil 1905 births 1977 deaths Mercer University alumni Ambassadors of the United States to South Korea Ambassadors of the United States to West Germany United States Career Ambassadors 20th-century American diplomats