Charles E. Bohlen

Charles "Chip" Eustis Bohlen (August 30, 1904 – January 1, 1974) was an American diplomat, ambassador, and expert on the Soviet Union. He helped shape United States foreign policy during World War II and the Cold War and helped develop the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe.

In 1934, he served as a diplomat in the first US embassy to the Soviet Union in Moscow as well as during and after World War II. He succeeded George F. Kennan as ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1957. He served as ambassador to the Philippines from 1957 to 1959 and to France from 1962 to 1968. He was an advisor to every U.S. President from 1943 to 1968 and one of the nonpartisan foreign policy advisers who were known colloquially as "The Wise Men."

Early life and education

Bohlen was born in Clayton, New York, on August 30, 1904, to Celestine Eustis Bohlen, the daughter of James B. Eustis, a senator from Louisiana and ambassador to France, and Charles Bohlen. His father had inherited a fortune and was a banker and sportsman. The second of three Bohlen children, Charles Eustis was raised in Aiken, South Carolina, and moved with his family at age 12 to Ipswich, Massachusetts. He graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire.^[1] He acquired an interest in foreign countries by traveling in Europe as a boy.^[2] Bohlen graduated from Harvard College in 1927. He was a member of the Porcellian Club, where he gained the nickname "Chipper" which was later shortened to "Chip."^[3]

Family

Bohlen's great-grand uncle was

In 1935, Bohlen married Avis Howard Thayer, born September 18, 1912, in

Her brother, Charles W. Thayer, was also a diplomat and worked closely with his brother-in-law, Charles, as US vice-consul in Moscow.

Charles and Avis Bohlen had two daughters,

Bohlen joined the

A week later, the plan was realized by the German and Soviet invasions of Poland, and World War II started.

In 1940 and 1941, he worked in the American embassy in Tokyo, where he was interned for six months before his release by the Japanese in mid-1942.

In 1943, he became head of the East European Division, the first of the six specialists who started the Russian-language program in the late 1920s to become the head of a division of the State Department. He then worked on Soviet issues in the State Department during the war, accompanying

In 1946, he disagreed with his friend and mentor, Ambassador George F. Kennan, on how to deal with the Soviets.^[10] Kennan proposed a strategy of containment of Soviet expansion, but Bohlen was more cautious and recommended accommodation by allowing Stalin to have a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe without it being disturbed by the US.

Bohlen, criticized by some of the

Bohlen, at George C. Marshall's request and guidance,^[12] wrote Marshall's June 5, 1947 speech that led to the Marshall Plan.

Bohlen was US minister to France from 1949 to 1951.^[13]

Kennan, declared

.

On January 20, 1953,

Dwight Eisenhower

became US President. When Stalin died in March 1953, the post of ambassador was still vacant, and the embassy was still being led by Beam.

In April 1953, Eisenhower named Bohlen as ambassador to the Soviet Union. He was confirmed 74–13 despite criticisms from US Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had also criticized Bohlen's brother-in-law, also an affiliate of the US embassy in Moscow, Charles W. Thayer.^[14]

Bohlen oversaw several key events during his time as ambassador to the Soviet Union, including the rise of Georgy Malenkov to the premiership, the arrest and execution of Lavrentiy Beria, the ascendency of Nikita Khrushchev, the Hungarian Revolution and the Suez Crisis.^[3]

Bohlen's relationship with US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles soured.^[3] He was demoted on April 18, 1957 by Eisenhower after Dulles forced Bohlen's resignation.

Bohlen later served as ambassador to the Philippines from 1957 to 1959. He returned to the US in 1959 by request of Secretary of State Christian Herter to serve in the newly-formed Bureau of Soviet Affairs.^[15]

He served as ambassador to France from 1962 to 1968 under Presidents

Lyndon Johnson

.

According to the Kennedy advisor

Theodore Sorensen, Bohlen participated in early discussions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. During an ExComm meeting on October 18, 1962, Dean Rusk read a letter he wrote the previous night during deliberations in which he advocated for dealing with Khrushchev through firm diplomatic action, followed by a declaration of war if his response was unsatisfactory.^[16]

To everyone's surprise, he kept reservations aboard an ocean liner that would take him to his Paris post as ambassador, rather than waiting until after the crisis had been resolved. He was thus absent for most of what was arguably the most important confrontation between the two superpowers of the Cold War.

He was a consultant in 1968 and 1969 to the transition at the State Department from Secretary of State

Secretary of State, William P. Rogers

.

Bohlen served as Acting Secretary of State in January 1969. ^[17]

Bohlen retired in January 1969.

Death

Bohlen died of pancreatic cancer in Washington, D.C., on January 1, 1974, at the age of 69.^[3] His funeral services, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.,^[3] on January 4, 1974, were followed by burial at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.^[3]

Legacy

In May 2006, Bohlen was featured on a US postage stamp, one of a group of six prominent diplomats who was thus honored.^[18][19][20]

References

1. ^ "Charles (Chip) Bohlen Biography". www.bookrags.com. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
2. ^ Charles E. Bohlen, Witness to History, 1929–1969, New York: Norton, 1973, p. 4.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Phelps, Robert H. "Charles Bohlen, Diplomat, 69, Dies". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
4. ^ "Bohlen, Avis Howard Thayer, 1912–1981". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
5. ^ "AFSA Awards".
6. ^ Charles E. Bohlen, Witness to History, 1929–1969, New York: Norton, 1973, p.37-38, 100, 270, 297.
7. ISBN 0-393-07476-5
8. ^ "Charles E. Bohlen". www.2001-2009.state.gov. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
9. ISBN 0-8117-0482-3
   . Retrieved August 12, 2020.
10. ISSN 0740-2775
    Fulltext: in Ebsco
11. ^ T. Michael Reddy, "Charles E. Bohlen: Political Realist," in Perspectives in American Diplomacy, ed. Jules Davids, New York: Arno Press, 1976.
12. ISBN 978-0-671-42149-6
    .
13. ISBN 0-8014-3711-3
    .
14. ISBN 0-8420-2942-7
    . Retrieved August 12, 2020.
15. ^ Blumenthal, David. "Charles Bohlen". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
16. ^ The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis, edited by Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow
17. ^ "Charles Eustis Bohlen (1904–1974)". Office of the Historian. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
18. ^ "Six distinguished diplomats honored on U.S. postage stamps" (Press release). United States Postal Service. May 30, 2006. Archived from the original on October 27, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2008. A renowned expert on the Soviet Union, Charles E. Bohlen helped to shape foreign policy during World War II and the Cold War. He was present at key wartime meetings with the Soviets, he served as ambassador to Moscow during the 1950s and advised every U.S. president between 1943 and 1968.
19. ^ Charles E. Bohlen – U.S. Postage Stamps Commemorate Distinguished American Diplomats, US Department of State
20. ^ William J. Gicker, ed. (2006). "Distinguished American Diplomats 39¢". USA Philatelic (print). 11 (3): 14.

Further reading

• Harper, John L. "Friends, Not Allies: George F. Kennan and Charles E. Bohlen." World Policy Journal 12.2 (1995): 77-88. Online
• Walter Isaacson. The Wise Men: Six friends and the world they made: Acheson, Bohlen, Harriman, Kennan, Lovett, McCloy (1986)
• Mark, Eduard. "Charles E. Bohlen and the Acceptable Limits of Soviet Hegemony in Eastern Europe: A Memorandum of 18 October 1945." Diplomatic History 3.2 (1979): 201-214.
• Ruddy, T. Michael. The Cautious Diplomat: Charles E. Bohlen and the Soviet Union, 1929-1969 (1987)
• Bohlen, Charles E. (1973). Witness to History, 1929-1969. New York: W.W. Norton & Company – via Internet Archive.

External links

• Charles E. Bohlen Oral History Interview 5/21/1964, JFK Library
• Charles E. Bohlen papers, Library of Congress
• Office of the Historian. "Charles Eustis Bohlen (1904–1974)". Department of State.
• Encyclopedia of World Biography
• Avis Howard Thayer Bohlen papers - Harvard University Library
• Works by or about Charles E. Bohlen at Internet Archive

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by George F. Kennan	United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union April 20, 1953 – April 18, 1957	Succeeded by Llewellyn Thompson
Preceded by Albert F. Nufer	United States Ambassador to the Philippines June 4, 1957 – October 15, 1959	Succeeded by John D. Hickerson
Preceded by James M. Gavin	United States Ambassador to France October 27, 1962 – February 9, 1968	Succeeded by Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.