Compton Packenham

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Compton Packenham
Founding member of American Council on Japan
Personal details
Born11 May 1893
Kobe, Japan
Died17 August 1957(1957-08-17) (aged 64)

Thomas Compton Packenham,

First World War
, and worked at the American Council on Japan.

Early life

Packenham was born 11 May 1893 in

mentioned in despatches.[1][4]

Career

Packenham worked in the New York Times in the 1920s.[2] He was the author of The Rearguard (1930.) [5] He was the Tokyo Correspondent of Newsweek after World War II.[6] In 1946 he was appointed the bureau chief of Newsweek in Japan.[2] He was part of the American Council on Japan.[3] He helped found the council in late June 1948 in Harvard Club in New York City.[7] Upon the recommendation the Emperor of Japan, Packenham helped John Foster Dulles meet Japanese politicians and businessmen.[8] In 1947 he engaged in bitter criticism of Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.[9]

He along with others of the American Council on Japan taught Nobusuke Kishi English and helped him improve his image. They helped him become Prime Minister of Japan.[10] In Japan during the occupation period, he helped Japanese government officials communicate with senior US politicians and officials. The Japanese government was able to circumvent MacArthur's communication blockade.[11] Compton Packenham died 17 August 1957.[1]

Personal life

In 1915, Packenham married Phyllis Price. Their daughter, Simona, was born in 1916; she never met her father. They soon separated as "he had taken no time at all to reveal himself as a most unsatisfactory choice".[12]

In January 1918, Packenham was on leave from the Army in London, and he met and began a relationship with Alma Dolling, a war widow. In October 1918, Packenham wrote a letter to his first wife informing her their marriage was over.[12] Alma was cited in the Pcakenham's divorce in 1920, and she married him in 1921.[13] However, once again, his marriage failed and Alma left him to return to her native Canada: their marriage formally ended in divorce in 1925.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Person Page".
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780873383820
    . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9780195069167
    . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  4. ISBN 9780520069091
    . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  5. ^ Rearguard. A.A. Knopf. January 1930.
  6. ISBN 9780199878840
    . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  7. ISBN 9780826415219
    . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  8. ISBN 978-0813136950
    .
  9. ISBN 9780844817149
    . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  10. ISBN 9781859845424
    . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  11. ISBN 9781462903702
    . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  12. ^ a b O'Connor, Sean (2019). The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury. London: Simon & Schuster.
  13. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58841. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)

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