William S. B. Lacy

William Sterling Byrd Lacy (February 5, 1910 – December 11, 1978) was an American diplomat who served as the third United States Ambassador to Korea from May to October 1955.

William Sterling Byrd Lacy
3rd United States Ambassador to Korea
In office May 12, 1955 – October 20, 1955
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Ellis O. Briggs
Succeeded by	Walter C. Dowling
Personal details
Born	February 5, 1910 Mesa County, Colorado
Died	December 11, 1978 (aged 68) Washington, D.C.
Cause of death	Cardiac arrest
Resting place	Rock Creek Cemetery 38°56′52″N 77°0′47″W
Children	2
Father	Sterling Byrd Lacy
Education	University of Colorado
Profession	Diplomat

He negotiated a series of cultural exchanges with the Soviet Union, which indirectly created the setting of the Kitchen Debate between Richard Nixon, the Vice President of the United States, and Nikita Khrushchev, the Premier of the Soviet Union.

Biography

Lacy, the son of politician Sterling Byrd Lacy, was born in Mesa County, Colorado. His ancestral home was in Virginia, where he spent parts of his childhood. Lacy graduated from the University of Colorado.[1]

Career at the State Department

Trained as an economist, Lacy joined the State Department in 1944 [2] or in 1946, after working at the War Production Board and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.[1]

In 1950, while serving as the chief of Philippines and South Asian affairs, he met with Bishop Ngô Đình Thục and Cardinal Francis Spellman to discuss Catholicism in the State of Vietnam, a policy the State Department would later support,[3] which would later come to fruition in the policies of Thục's brother, Ngô Đình Diệm, as head of South Vietnam.

Ambassador to Korea

On March 15, 1955, he was nominated as ambassador to Korea, to succeed Ellis O. Briggs; previously, he had served as deputy chief of mission in Manila for several years.[4] Sworn in on March 28,[5] he arrived in Seoul on May 8.[6] By the end of the week, he had presented his credentials to Syngman Rhee.[7]

His tenure as ambassador was strained, as tensions were high: riots and unrest occurred against the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, as South Koreans considered the commission to be tainted by Communist influence,[8] and demonstrations rocked the United States Embassy and his residence;[9] the Eighth Army began tightening restrictions on the black market, which Korean men saw as unfairly targeting them;[10] and foreign businessmen, including Americans, charged that they were being unfairly taxed by the South Korean government;[11] all of which contributed to an inability to work with Rhee.[12]

Thus besieged on all sides, Lacy soon began his early departure as ambassador to Korea: on October 15, President Eisenhower accepted his resignation due to "ill health",[13] a contrived excuse.[1][12] He was succeeded by Walter C. Dowling in mid-1956.[14] (Indeed, after Lacy left, it was noted that U.S. policy at the time seemed specifically tailored to angering Rhee and South Koreans.[15])

Later career

After his time as ambassador, Lacy worked as a special assistant to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.[1]

In 1958, while serving as the President's Special Assistant to East-West Exchanges,[16] he negotiated with the Soviet diplomat, G.N. Zaroubin, to begin a series of cultural and scientific exchanges between the two nations:[17] these would lead to, in the words of Glenn T. Seaborg, "cooperation in peaceful nuclear applications" and "exchanges in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy".[18] It was also considered to be a "major cultural agreement" for which Lacy received much credit.[1]

By establishing a means of meeting and exhibition, exchanges also lead to the Kitchen Debate between Nikita Khrushchev, then the Premier of the Soviet Union, and Richard Nixon, in 1959.[19][20]

Before he retired in 1961, he served as deputy commandant of the National War College.[1]

Personal life

In 1943, he married a British widow, Margaret Innes Franks, whose husband had died at the Battle of Dunkirk.[21] With her, he had a son before their divorce; he later married Kirsten Magelssen, with whom he had a daughter;[12] before marrying a third time, to Elizabeth.[1]

William Sterling Byrd Lacy died on December 11, 1978, at the age of 68, survived by his third wife and children.[1]

References

1. Pearson, Richard (December 14, 1978). "Ex-Ambassador William Lacy Dies". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
2. "DIPLOMAT BREAKS HIP; Lacy, Aide to the Secretary of State, Hurt in Fall at Home". The New York Times. July 18, 1961. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
3. Ngô, Ngọc Trung (2011). Tucker, Spencer C. (ed.). The encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: a political, social, and military history (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851099603. OCLC 729629958.
4. "Envoy to Peru Nominated". The New York Times. March 17, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
5. "Ambassador to Korea Sworn". The New York Times. March 29, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
6. "New U. S. Envoy Reaches Seoul". The New York Times. May 9, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
7. "Rhee Welcomes New Envoy". The New York Times. May 14, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
8. "KOREAN TENSIONS". The New York Times. August 8, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
9. "KOREANS PARADE BUT RIOTS ABATE; Marchers at U. S. Embassy Cry Slogans -- Rhee Urges World Rollback of Reds". The New York Times. August 15, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
10. "U. S. ARMY ORDER ANGERS KOREANS; Drive Against Black Market Seems to Aim at Visitors to Military Reservations". The New York Times. October 12, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
11. "THE KOREA TAX CASE". The New York Times. September 12, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
12. "A Versatile Diplomat; William Sterling Byrd Lacy". The New York Times. January 28, 1958. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
13. "Resignation of Envoy To Korea Is Accepted". The New York Times. October 16, 1955. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
14. "Career Man Nominated As U.S. Envoy to Korea". The New York Times. March 16, 1956. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
15. Hailey, Foster (November 27, 1955). "U.S. POLICY AIMS IRRITATING KOREA; With Aid and Tax Relations Delicate, Talk of Coldness to Rhee Angers Seoul". The New York TImes. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
16. Richmond, Yale (2003). Cultural exchange & the Cold War: raising the iron curtain. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 15. ISBN 0271023023. OCLC 51306116.
17. Weintal, Edward (August 6, 1961). "Analysis of Our Moscow Link; The U.S.-U.S.S. R. exchange program has gone on since 1958 -- despite the cold war and differences in the two sides' objectives. Analysis of Our Moscow Link". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
18. Seaborg, Glenn Theodore (1996). A scientist speaks out : a personal perspective on science, society and change. Singapore: World Scientific. p. 410. ISBN 9810222041. OCLC 34471989.
19. Belmonte, Laura A. (2008). Selling the American way: U.S. propaganda and the Cold War. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 81–88. ISBN 9780812240825. OCLC 213384931.
20. Saul, Norman E. (2009). Historical dictionary of United States-Russian/Soviet relations. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 208–211. ISBN 9780810855373. OCLC 230802271.
21. "MRS. K. M. FRANKS !S WED IN VIRGINIA; Widow of RAF Flier Married to William S. B. Lacy, Son of Colorado Ex-Governor iWEARS BLUE CREPE DRESS Norwegian Envoy Escorts the Bride -- Her Former Husband Killed at.- Dunkerque". The New York Times. September 26, 1943. Retrieved June 22, 2018.

External links

• William Sterling Byrd Lacy at the United States Department of State website.