William Phillips Talbot (June 7, 1915 – October 1, 2010) was a United States Ambassador to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

(1965–69) and, at his death, member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Council of American Ambassadors and the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

Early life

Talbot was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Career

Journalism

After graduating from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

in 1936, Talbot started as a reporter for the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

'', where he remained from 1936 to 1938. In 1939, having been turned down for a foreign correspondent position, he left the ''Chicago Daily News'' to take a position with the Institute of Current World Affairs in India where he reported on the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. The Phillips Talbot Fellowship was named in his honor and is awarded yearly by the Institute to promising young journalists.

Politics

Talbot was the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs from 1961-65 during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Talbot served as President of

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Ma ...

from 1970-1982 and was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

in March 2002 for his efforts in fomenting peace between India and America during his tenure as President.

References

External links

Phillips Talbot Papers 1915-1968
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Phillips 1915 births 2010 deaths Writers from Pittsburgh University of Illinois alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Greece United States Navy personnel of World War II Place of death missing Greek junta Recipients of the Padma Shri in public affairs