Walter Patrick McConaughy Jr. (September 11, 1908 – November 10, 2000) was a career American diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to a number of countries.

Walter P. McConaughy
McConaughy in 1953
United States Ambassador to the Republic of China
In office
June 28, 1966 – April 4, 1974
PresidentLyndon B. Johnson
Richard M. Nixon
Preceded byJerauld Wright
Succeeded byLeonard S. Unger
United States Ambassador to Pakistan
In office
March 20, 1962 – May 27, 1966
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byWilliam M. Rountree
Succeeded byEugene M. Locke
6th Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs
In office
April 24, 1961 – December 3, 1961
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy
Preceded byJ. Graham Parsons
Succeeded byW. Averell Harriman
5th United States Ambassador to Korea
In office
December 17, 1959 – April 12, 1961
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Preceded byWalter C. Dowling
Succeeded bySamuel D. Berger
United States Ambassador to Burma
In office
August 20, 1957 – November 2, 1959
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byJoseph C. Satterthwaite
Succeeded byWilliam P. Snow
Personal details
Born
Walter Patrick McConaughy Jr.

(1908-09-11)September 11, 1908
Montevallo, Alabama, U.S.
DiedNovember 10, 2000(2000-11-10) (aged 92)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
SpouseDorothy Davis
Children2
EducationBirmingham–Southern College
Duke University
ProfessionDiplomat

Education

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McConaughy attended Birmingham–Southern College and Duke University, graduating in 1930.

Career

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McConaughy joined the US State Department after graduation. He first served in Tampico, Mexico and then in 1933 was posted to Kobe, Japan, where he served for seven years with brief spells in Taiwan and Nagasaki. He was transferred to Beiping in 1941. When the Pacific War commenced he was interned and then repatriated. He then served in La Paz, Bolivia as a commercial attache, and then Rio de Janeiro.

In 1948, was posted to as Consul at the United States Consulate General in Shanghai and was promoted to Consul General in 1949. Following the Communist victory in China, he closed the Shanghai Consulate and moved to Hong Kong. McConaughy's reports from that period show a burning clarity in their analysis of Chinese Communist propaganda and the currents of information available in Hong Kong.

After returning to Washington to serve alongside Edwin M. Martin and O.E. Clubb in the Office of Chinese Affairs, he served as the ambassador to Burma from May 1957 to November 1959. He then accepted an offer to become the ambassador to South Korea, a post he held from 1959 to 1961, later becoming the ambassador to Pakistan from 1962 to 1966 and the ambassador to the Republic of China from 1966 to 1974.[1]

McConaughy died in 2000.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Walter Patrick McConaughy - People - Department History - Office of the Historian". state.gov. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Walter McConaughy, 92, Envoy in Asia, Dies". The New York Times. 14 November 2000. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by U.S. Ambassador to Burma
1957–1959
Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. Ambassador to South Korea
1959–1961
Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan
1962–1966
Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of China
1966–1974
Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs
April 24, 1961 – December 3, 1961
Succeeded by