Whiting Willauer (1906–1962) was an American ambassador to

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

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. He is also considered as a key player during the 1954 operation against Arbenz in Guatemala.

Biography

Whiting Willauer was born on November 30, 1906, in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

. Willauer received his graduation from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and from the

Harvard University Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United States. Each class ...

. From 1931 to 1939, he practiced admiralty law in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He served as an attorney in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. From 1941 to 1944, he served as executive secretary of China Defense Supplies, Incorporated, and also served as director of the Far East and Special Territories Branch of the

Foreign Economic Administration In the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Foreign Economic Administration (FEA) was formed on September 25, 1943 to relieve friction between US agencies operating abroad. Establishment The FEA was organized and run by Leo Crowley w ...

during 1944 to 1945. Along with General Claire L. Chennault, Willauer founded the

Civil Air Transport Civil Air Transport (CAT) was a Nationalist Chinese airline, later owned by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that supported the United States' covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. During the Cold War, missions consi ...

(CAT) company in China in 1946. He was its executive vice president and later he became its president, he remained associated with the Civil Air Transport Company from 1946 until his resignation in 1954. In 1950, Whiting Willauer sold CAT to the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. He served as ambassador to Honduras from 1954 to 1958 and to Costa Rica from 1958 until his retirement in 1961. One of his key tasks while serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, after his appointment on 5 February 1954, was to provide the CIA team within neighboring Guatemala with any assistance that they required in the overthrow of that Government of Guatemala led by Jacobo Arbenz Guzman; he was even instructed to report to the CIA via the

Under Secretary of State Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the Assistant Secretaries and below the Deputy Secretary. From 1919 to 1972, the Under Secretary was the second-ranking of ...

Walter Bedell Smith General (United States), General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (5 October 1895 – 9 August 1961) was a senior officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forc ...

, who had previously been the

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1946 to 2004, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Se ...

. After a short retirement, Whiting Willauer died on 6 August 1962 at

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willauer, Whiting 1906 births 1962 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Costa Rica Ambassadors of the United States to Honduras Harvard Law School alumni Princeton University alumni Storm King School alumni