Lester D. Mallory
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Lester DeWitt Mallory (April 21, 1904 – June 21, 1994) was an American
diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
. Mallory was born in
Houlton, Maine Houlton is a town in and the county seat of Aroostook County, Maine, United States, on the Canada–United States border. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 6,055. It is perhaps best known for being at the northern terminus of Int ...
. He received a
bachelor of science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in agriculture in 1927 and a Master of Science in agriculture degree in 1929 from the
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
. Mallory earned a
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in
agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...
from the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
in 1935.''Biographic Register of the Department of State'' The son of Enrique and May Mallory, Mallory spent his early years in Oregon, Alberta, and British Columbia, and attended Naramota and Oak Bay High Schools in British Columbia from 1919 to 1922.Copy of biographic sketch submitted to the Farm Credit Administration of Berkeley dated April 6, 1938, in personnel records of Lester D. Mallory at the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri From 1927 to 1928 Mallory was an assistant in horticulture at the University of British Columbia, and in 1929 worked as secretary of the British Columbia Fruit Growers. Mallory began working for the United States
federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
in 1931, initially for the
Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
as assistant agricultural commissioner in Marseille, to which position he was appointed June 15, 1931.Report on Probationary Appointee, Standard Form No. 17, dated November 14, 1931, in personnel records of Lester D. Mallory at the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri Mallory was selected for this position on the basis of his expertise in analysis of horticultural products.Memorandum for the Secretary, dated March 26, 1931, from Nils A. Olsen, Chief, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, in personnel records of Lester D. Mallory at the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri From July 1933 to August 1934 Mallory was assigned to Washington as an associate agricultural economist in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration of USDA, working on farm credit issues. In August 1934 he was assigned to Paris as assistant
agricultural attaché An agricultural attaché is a diplomat who collects, analyzes, and acts on information on agriculture, agribusiness, food, and other related spheres in a foreign country or countries. Agricultural attachés may be directly employed by the sending c ...
. Effective June 2, 1938, he was designated acting agricultural attaché, and as of June 1, 1939, he was appointed agricultural attaché at Paris. Mallory was evacuated to the United States with the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 and reassigned as the first U.S. agricultural attaché in Mexico City. At that time he was commissioned a
Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, cons ...
in the
Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the 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 ...
, as the
Foreign Agricultural Service The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is the United States Foreign Service#Foreign affairs agencies, foreign affairs agency with primary responsibility for the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) overseas programs – market develop ...
was abolished and agricultural attachés were transferred from USDA to State in that year. Mallory subsequently served in liberated Paris, from Christmas Eve 1944 until mid-1945. During his tour of duty in Paris, Mallory was granted permission by the Department of State to marry a foreign national, Eleanor Mercedes Struck y Bulnes, whom he had met in Mexico City. He then returned to the U.S., where he was liaison officer between USDA's Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations and the U.S. Department of State. Mallory was assigned to
Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
in the same capacity. On August 23, 1950, President Truman appointed Mallory to the personal rank of Minister.Letter to Lester D. Mallory from Harry S Truman dated August 23, 1950, personnel records of Lester Mallory in the National Archives, National Personnel Records Center Annex, Valmeyer, Illinois Mallory served as Ambassador to Jordan from 1953 to 1958 and to
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
in 1958 and 1959. During his tour of duty in Jordan, on July 20, 1955, Mallory was promoted to the then-highest Foreign Service rank, Career Minister. Mallory was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs in 1960 and retired from the State Department on October 31 of that year. Mallory then joined the
Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international development finance institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America. It serves as one of the leading sources of development financing for the countri ...
, working in Washington, D.C.,
Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
, and
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
, and helped establish the
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
department at the
University of Guadalajara The University of Guadalajara () is a public university, public research university located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was originally established in 1586 and officially founded on 12 February 1791 as the Royal and Pontifical University of Gu ...
, Mexico. In 1961 the Guatemalan government presented him with the
Order of the Quetzal The Order of the Quetzal () is Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the so ...
. He lived in
Lake Forest, California Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had be ...
and died following a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
at Saddleback Hospital in
Laguna Hills, California Laguna Hills (; ''laguna'' being ) is a city in southern Orange County, California, United States. Its name refers to its proximity to Laguna Canyon and the much older Laguna Beach. Other newer cities nearby—Laguna Niguel and Laguna Woods— ...
. The conference room of the Foreign Agricultural Service's office in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City is named in his honor. His oral history interview was published by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.


His role in the embargo against Cuba

As Deputy Assistant Secretary, he wrote an internal memo on April 6, 1960, suggesting an
embargo Economic sanctions or embargoes are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior throu ...
. He said that, since " st Cubans support Castro" and "there is no effective political opposition ... e only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship". Mallory proposed "denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government". Later that year, the Eisenhower administration instituted the embargo. The memo was declassified in 1991.https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499


References


External links

* (use the search engine for a "Full Text" search on "Lester Mallory" in quotes) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mallory, Lester DeWitt Ambassadors of the United States to Guatemala Ambassadors of the United States to Jordan 1904 births 1994 deaths Order of the Quetzal United States Foreign Service personnel