Llewellyn E. Thompson

Background

Thompson was born in Las Animas, Colorado, in 1904. He was one of five children of Llewellyn E. Thompson, Sr. , a sheep rancher, and Lula L. Butcher.

Education

Thompson graduated from Bent County High School in 1922. On returning home from a summer job one year, Thompson met a retired diplomat who shared his experiences with the young man, inspiring Thompson to pursue a like career. He worked his way through the University of Colorado at Boulder, earning a B. A. in economics in 1928.

Career

Following his graduation, Thompson attended a foreign service tutoring group in Washington, D. C. , while working as an accountant for Price, Waterhouse. He received an appointment as a Foreign Service officer in January 1929. His first post was as vice-consul in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In 1933, Thompson was transferred to Geneva, Switzerland, where he was promoted to consul in 1937.

While in Switzerland he served as an American adviser to the International Labor Office. Transferred back to the United States in 1940, Thompson attended the Army War College in Washington, D. C. , as the conflicts in Europe and the Pacific intensified. Sent to Moscow as second secretary and consul in 1941, Thompson began to demonstrate what would become his most important contribution to American diplomacy, his profound insight into the Soviet Union. He remained in Moscow throughout the Nazi siege of 1941 and 1942. He reportedly used these months to achieve fluency in the Russian language, but his stay in the capital during the crisis also endeared the diplomat to many Soviets.

The United States awarded Thompson the Medal of Freedom for his courage in remaining at the embassy. Thompson continued his duties in Moscow until 1944 when he was assigned, in the same capacity, to London. He remained in London for two years before returning to Washington, D. C. , where he held several administrative posts: chief of Division of Eastern European Affairs, deputy director of the Office of Eastern European Affairs, and deputy assistant secretary of state for European Affairs.

Throughout the postwar years Thompson was present at almost every conference concerning Soviet-Western relations, beginning with Potsdam in July 1945. President Harry S Truman sent Thompson to Rome in mid-1950 as embassy counselor and to Vienna in 1952, first as high commissioner and then as ambassador to Austria. Thompson became pivotal in resolving the Trieste dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia, and in negotiating the Austrian State Treaty. The Trieste settlement of 1954 divided the Adriatic port territory of Trieste in a manner agreeable to both countries. The decision culminated nine years of debate, and as with the 1955 Austrian State Treaty, which granted Austria independence in return for a pledge of neutrality, Thompson's quiet, tenacious diplomacy proved instrumental.

His patience and ability to judge opponents also brought him success at the poker table with fellow embassy personnel. Because of his Soviet expertise and because Moscow had given its approval to both the Trieste settlement and the Austrian State Treaty, President Dwight D. Eisenhower named Thompson ambassador to Moscow in June 1957. At Thompson's behest a historic visit to the United States by Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev became a reality in 1959 and resulted in reduced Cold War tensions. Thompson then prepared the way for a summit meeting between Khrushchev and Eisenhower in Paris, but the conference failed to materialize after the Soviets shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft in 1980.

Despite international tensions, during his tenure Khrushchev came to trust Thompson. The two men spent a great deal of time together, both professionally and socially. Thompson did not grant interviews or write of his experiences with the Soviets; instead he kept Soviet trust by maintaining the confidentiality of his discussions with Soviet leaders. In appreciation of his distinguished service he received the title of career ambassador in June 1960.

Thompson remained in Moscow after President John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, and Kennedy even more than Eisenhower came to rely on Thompson's advice in Soviet matters, seeking Thompson's counsel during the 1961 Berlin crisis. In the summer of 1962 Thompson left Moscow and returned to Washington in order to retire. He remained in Washington at Kennedy's wishes, however. In October, 1962, he received Senate confirmation as ambassador at large. During the four years in his new capacity he was responsible for advising the president and the secretary of state on all matters relating to the Soviet Union.

Thompson was instrumental in the resolution of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis as the resident Russian expert. He gave the National Security Council Executive Committee the insight, which few other people could have given, into Khrushchev's unwillingness to take on a nuclear risk. He also stressed the importance of allowing the Soviets to save face in concluding the crisis. Because of the importance of Soviet-American relations Kennedy also relied on Thompson's expertise in Vietnam to prevent further conflicts. President Lyndon B. Johnson retained Thompson in the same capacity, ambassador at large, with a brief stint as acting deputy under secretary of state for military-political affairs, until 1966 when Thompson was named ambassador to Moscow for the second time. Thompson arranged the 1967 meeting between President Johnson and Soviet Premier Aleksey N. Kosygin in the United States. He expended a great deal of energy trying to limit the Soviet-American nuclear arms race. Most of his second tour, however, was troubled with repercussions of American involvement in Vietnam.

Thompson returned to Washington in January 1969, having served as the United States ambassador to Moscow longer than any ambassador to date. In the last years of his life Thompson was on the Central Intelligence Agency's Board of National Estimates. He was a delegate to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, attending the Helsinki and Vienna negotiations with the Soviets that resulted in the 1972 SALT I Treaty. Thompson died at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

Achievements

• In June 1962 Thompson was presented with the government's highest civilian honor, the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service. He is best known for his advice to President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Connections

On one of his many transatlantic trips Thompson met Jane Monroe Goelet, an artist. They were married on October 2, 1948. Mrs. Thompson had a daughter from her first marriage, and together the Thompsons had two children.

Father:

Llewellyn E. Thompson

1863–1953

Mother:

Lula Lorena Butcher Thompson

1870–1962

Spouse:

Jane Potter Monroe Thompson

1920–1999