Donald R. Heath
Donald Read Heath (August 12, 1894 – October 15, 1981) was a member of the United States Foreign Service for more than four decades including service as the Minister to Laos (1950–1954), and Ambassador to Cambodia (1950–1954), Vietnam (1952–1955), Lebanon (1955–1957) and Saudi Arabia (1958–1961). During his tenure as Ambassador to Vietnam, Heath advocated and carried out American policy under Secretary of State John Foster Dulles that helped set the stage for American military involvement.[1]
Heath was born in Topeka, Kansas the son of Hubert A. and Estelle (Read) Heath. He was educated in Topeka public schools and graduated from Washburn University about 1915. He attended the University of Montpellier in France for one semester. While a student at Washburn, Heath was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity where among his chapter brothers was Arthur S. Champeny. On October 10, 1920, he married Sue Louise Bell.
In 1950, Washburn awarded Heath its Distinguished Service Award.[2] In 1958, the Washburn again honored him with an honorary doctorate of laws.[3]
Foreign service career
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2022) |
Heath was a White House correspondent for United Press International from February 1916 to August 1917 and then again from October 1919 to September 1920. From August 1917 to October 1919 he was first lieutenant in U.S. Army in World War I. In 1920 he began a career in the foreign service that would last four decades.
From 1920 to 1929, Heath held consular positions in
In 1944 Heath returned to Europe as an advisor to fellow Kansan General Dwight D. Eisenhower. He remained in Germany as an advisor on reconstruction until 1947 when he was posted as U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria. In 1949 Bulgaria charged deputy premier Traicho Kostov with plotting against the Communist regime and added Heath’s name to the charges to give the case "its proper anticapitalist flavor." The Bulgarian government declared Heath persona non grata and the U.S. promptly broke off diplomatic relations. In 1956 Bulgaria re-examined the case, exonerating Kostov years after he had been executed. In 1959 Bulgaria dropped all charges against Heath and diplomatic relations were restored.[4]
Following his expulsion from Bulgaria, Heath was posted as the first U.S. Ambassador to the newly independent countries in Indochina including
He was next the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon (1955–1958), Yemen (1957–1959), and, finally, Saudi Arabia (1958–1961).
Donald R. Heath Jr.
Donald R. Heath Jr. had been a
Post-diplomatic work
Following his retirement from the Foreign Service in 1961, he held a professorship at the
Personal life
Heath died in Orinda, California on October 15, 1981. He was survived by a daughter, Sue L. Brown; a son, Donald R. Heath Jr.; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
See also
References
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
- ^ See the Washburn Alumni Association list of recipients at http://www.washburn.edu/alumni/Awards/DSAAwards.htm Archived 2010-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ See the History of Phi Delta Theta at Washburn at http://phidelt.wikispaces.com/kansas%20beta Archived 2016-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "National Affairs: Back to Sofia," Time, April 6, 1959, Available at [1]. Accessed October 27, 2009.
- ^ "The Domino Theory", Edwin Moise, available online at http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/A-D/The-Domino-Theory.html. Accessed October 27, 2009.
- ^ LIFE. Time Inc. 1953-09-21.
- ^ Patrick, Bethanne (19 August 2021). "How a novelist cracked the real-life story of her Nazi-fighting ancestor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 February 2023.