Robert Daniel Murphy

For other people named Robert Murphy, see Robert Murphy (disambiguation).

Robert Daniel Murphy
3/4 view of white man with dark hair, slightly fleshy face, necktie, dark suit, dark homburg Murphy arrives for Potsdam conference July 15, 1945
Born	(1894-10-28)October 28, 1894 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died	Borough of Manhattan, New York, New York
Ethnicity	Irish-American
Education	Gesu Parochial School, 1909 Marquette Academy, a parochial high school Marquette University attended George Washington University Law School, LL.B. 1920, LL.M. 1928
Occupation	diplomat
Organization	U.S. Department of State
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Board member of	Corning Glass Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. Gillette Co. Japan Fund, Inc.
Spouse(s)	Mildred Claire (née Taylor) (1921-1974, her death)
Children	Mildred (Mrs. Geoffrey Pond) Rosemary Murphy
Parent(s)	Francis Patrick Murphy Catherine Louise Schmitz
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army), 1942 Croix de guerre Order of the Rising Sun Order of Leopold (Belgium) Order of Isabella the Catholic National Security Medal Laetare Medal, University of Notre Dame, 1959 William J. Donovan Award, 1977 LL.D. Marquette University LL.D. University of Notre Dame LL.D. Harvard University LL.D. Fordham University LL.D. New York University LL.D. Georgetown University LL.D. George Washington University
Notes

Robert Daniel Murphy (October 28, 1894 – January 9, 1978) was an American diplomat.

Life and career

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Murphy began his career federal career at the U.S. Post Office (1916) then moved to be cipher clerk at the American Legation in Bern, Switzerland (1917). He was admitted to the U.S. Foreign Service in 1921. Among the several posts he held were Vice-Consul in Zurich and Munich, consul in Seville, consul in Paris from 1930 to 1936, and chargé d’affaires to the Vichy government. He was also the one-time State Department specialist on France.

In February 1941, Murphy negotiated the Murphy-Weygand Agreement, which allowed the United States to export to French North Africa in spite of the British blockade and trade restrictions against the Vichy-governed area.

In autumn of 1942, at President Franklin D. Roosevelt's behest, Murphy investigated conditions in French North Africa in preparation for the Allied landings - Operation Torch, the first major Allied ground offensive during World War II. He was appointed the President’s personal representative with the rank of Minister to French North Africa. Murphy made contact with various French army officers in Algiers and recruited them to support the Allies when the invasion of French North Africa came.

Prior to the November 8 invasion, Murphy, along with US General Mark Wayne Clark, had worked to gain the cooperation of French General Henri Giraud for the attack. The Americans and British hoped to place Giraud in charge of all French forces in North Africa and command them for the Allied cause. Giraud, however, mistakenly believed he was to assume command of all Allied forces in North Africa, which put Murphy's diplomatic skills to the test to keep Giraud on board. Murphy and General Clark jointly convinced the French in North Africa to accept Admiral François Darlan--the commander of all French military Forces loyal to the Vichy regime and coincidentally in Algiers--as the highest authority in French North Africa and General Giraud as Commander of all French military in North Africa. Murphy used his friendly contacts with the French in North Africa to gain their cooperation in reentering the war against the Axis. He also needed all his diplomatic skills to steer General Clark away from confrontation with the French--especially Darlan. Darlan was assassinated in late December, removing him as an irritant to good relations.

Keeping the French united and aligned with the Allies into 1943 taxed Murphy's skills to their limit. He gained a powerful ally in British politician (and future Prime Minister) Harold Macmillan, also posted to Algiers in January 1943. The two diplomats worked together amiably to ensure that the Casablanca Conference came off smoothly in January 1943 and that Generals Giraud and de Gaulle would join forces to unite all anti-Axis French alongside the Allies. Keeping the quarrelsome French united and working with the Americans and British exasperated and exhausted Murphy. When General Eisenhower needed a civilian from the State Department to assume a similar role in Italy in 1943, Murphy gladly accepted it and left Algiers behind.

Diplomatic career after World War II

• 1949 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Belgium
• 1952 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Japan
• 1953 Assistant Secretary for United Nations Affairs
• 1953 Deputy Under Secretary for Political Affairs (Assistant Secretary)
• 1955 Deputy Under Secretary for Political Affairs
• 1956 Career Ambassador
• 1958 Personal representative of President Dwight Eisenhower during the Lebanon Crisis of 1958
• 1959 Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs

After government service

Murphy retired from the U.S. State Department in December 1959, but became an adviser to Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. He served on President Gerald Ford's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group.

In 2006, Murphy was featured on a United States postage stamp, one of a block of six featuring prominent diplomats.

Works

• The Bases of Peace, [Washington] United States Department of State, 1958
• Diplomat among Warriors, [1st ed.], Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1964.

External links

• NNDB
• Robert Daniel Murphy at Find a Grave
• The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XX
• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Robert Murphy" is available at the Internet Archive

Government offices
Preceded by John D. Hickerson	Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs March 20, 1953 – November 30, 1953	Succeeded by David McK. Key
Awards
Preceded by Omar Bradley	Sylvanus Thayer Award recipient 1974	Succeeded by W. Averell Harriman