1 Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral
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Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR ANTHONY D. MARSHALL Interviewed by: Richard L. Jackson Initial interview date: February 20, 199 Copyright 2009 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born in Ne York Bro n University US Marine Corps, World War II Private e)perience Entered the State Department in 1,5. State Department/ Special Projects Staff 1,5.01,51 Central Intelligence Agency 2CIA3 1,5101,58 Recruiting Officer Special Assistant, U01 Project 6ary Po ers Africa travels Briefing Mission Family Istanbul, Turkey 2CIA3/ 8ice Consul 1,5801,5, Armenians Family Retirement from CIA Private business 1,9.01,9, African Research and Development Company 2ARDC3 Identifying business opportunities in Africa :enya Nigeria Biafra Ambassador to Malagasy Republic 1,9,01,71 President Philibert Tsiranana Environment 1 The French Cattle project Relations Riots Requested to leave/ forged document and its revelation Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago 1,7101,73 NASA Station Protection of oil traffic French departure President Eric Williams Racial mi)ture Amoco US interests 8isas Foreign representation Caribbean culture Ambassador to :enya 2and Seychelles 1,7901,773 1,7301,77 :enya interest in business President :enyatta Diplomatic Corps United Nations Environment Program Richard Leakey Colonials Embassy agencies International E)ecutive Service Corps 2IESC3 Environment Comments on radical groups Relations ith government American business interests AID Family planning Saul Miller Ruby Mine case Ship visits East Africa tensions 8IP visits Presidential elections Military aircraft request Black African political progress Rumsfeld visit Uganda :enyatta letter to President Ford Return visit to the Seychelles Comments on African progress 1 AID programs in Africa ?This intervie as not edited by Ambassador Marshall.A (: Mr. Ambassador, would you want to give us a sense of your early years and education as they might have formed your interest in foreign affairs, I know that you graduated from Brown .niversity in 1950. MARSHALL: Yes, I did. I graduated from Bro n, but Bro n as after ICd been in the Marine Corps. When I left school 2school as in Ne England called the Brooks School3, I left Brooks School the middle of my last year to go into the Marine Corps and ultimately to I o Dima and 6uam in a rifle platoon at the time. I as very keen about going into the Marine Corps. My grandfather, ho had been a Commandant, the 19th Commandant of the Marine Corps, instilled in me the sense of love of flag and country. So hen the ar came, I decided, after talking ith him, to leave school and I as able to get my diploma although I as not a good student. I needed further education. And then I spent four years in the Marine Corps. I came back and decided hat ICd really like to do is to rite. I thought ell, ICd like to join a magaEine. Time MagaEine ould be a good idea. I ent to see a friend of mine F a man by the name of C.D. Dackson. He said, GTony, I can give you a job starting tomorro .H I couldnCt believe it. It as too good to be trueI I didnJt e)pect that. And he said, KYes. See that astepaper basket over there in the cornerLK I looked at it. I didnJt see the relevance of this. It didnJt hit me right a ay. And I said KYes.K He said, KWell, I can hire you tomorro . And if you empty that astepaper basket for t o years, maybe I might be able to put you into a training program. But if you have that little piece of paper F I mean a degree from college F then I could put you right into a training program.K I said, KWell, thank you very much.K And itJs obvious that stuck ith me. So, thanks to another friend, Walter Hoving, ho as then head of Tiffany, and ho as a trustee of Bro n University, I then got into Bro n University. I graduated from Bro n ith a BA in English History and English Literature, hich as not hat I should have taken. I should have taken Political Science. Later, I became a trustee of Bro n and am no a trustee emeritus, but I really didnJt get my education at Bro n. I got my education in the Marine Corps. I got a piece of paper at Bro n. ItJs very, very interesting. (: Did the wartime e0perience steer you towards a career in foreign affairs, MARSHALL: Yes and no. I ouldnJt say that landing on Blue Beach and I o Dima as necessarily a diplomatic e)perience. But it did lead me in one ay, and that is that hen I as at Bro n, I felt I still ould like to rite, having sort of put this thought of riting in the background F although I did end up by riting. I think C.D. Dackson might have been a little bit proud of me. IJve ritten si) books, articles, all kinds of other things as a correspondent. But that as not my career. I felt that I ould rather like to get into civilian government ork. So, I took a look at the Foreign Service and decided that that 3 as probably not hat I anted to do. And I contacted again a friend ho gave me good advice, by the name of Bill Donovan. 6eneral Donovan as head of the OSS during the ar, as e all kno , and in 1,47 helped to create the CIA as a peacetime agency. It seemed e needed something during peacetime in addition to ar. And he gave me the names of t o people: Fisher Ho e in the old R area, no called INR at State, and another man by the name of F I canJt remember his name, but any ay he as at the Agency, the head of personnel, I believe. I ent to the Agency and had a talk. I then had a talk ith Fisher Ho e, ho introduced me to another man by the name of T. Achilles PolyEoides, ho as head of a staff called the special projects staff in the R area in intelligence in the State Department. I took a job there here I as responsible for shuffling through all the hard copy of the desk security agency tapes and sorting it out, riting reports, and then reporting to people like Homer Byington at State on a regular basis. My area as Europe F Italy, Spain, France. So I did that for t o years. Then a good friend of mine by the name of Dames A. Cunningham, Dr., ho I met at Bro n because he as the Dean of the 6raduate School. I donCt think that took up a great deal of his time. What he really as involved in as as the placement officer for Bro n University. He as also a Marine and e met in BraEil. When I came back from 6eneral DonovanJs, having sent me do n to Washington, I said to him, KYou kno , I just had a meeting at the CIA and they look like a pretty good organiEation.K I think thereCs a future there.H You kno , heCd never even heard of it. A lot of people then thought the CIO and the CIA ere the same thing and hat ere theyL So he promptly ent do n there, and they offered him a job to head up recruiting. So, back to 1,51, hen I as still ith the Special Policy Staff, Dim and I had lunch one day and he asked me, KAre you happy in your jobL Ho Js it goingLK I said, KWell, itJs not something I ant to stay ith forever.K He said, KWhy donJt you come ork ith meLK And so I did. I transferred up to the Agency and Dim had a number of recruiters ho stayed in Washington as ell as about four or five, as I remember it, ho ere in posts around the country, such as San Francisco. He made me a roving recruiter. And that as really quite a fun job. I ent to Monterey and shuffled through all of their files to try to find a red0 headed Finn ho spoke Russian, and things like that. And I ent to the Menninger Clinic because the Agency anted to hire t o or three psychiatrists. I intervie ed probably nearer to t o hundred than a hundred. This as really fun training for psychiatry, in one ay, because it as absolutely ludicrous. I learned more about their self0analysis, hich put me off psychiatry for life. But also, I remember one time in Baltimore, hen I as intervie ing a psychiatrist, I as sitting at his desk and he as lying do n on a naugahide bro n sofa. Any ay, I think I ended up giving him a pretty good desk and e ere able to fill that requirement. I did that for t o or three years and then Dim left his job as head of recruiting in the Agency because he came to the attention of a man by the name of Richard M. Bissell. Dick Bissell, ho had just been assigned the job by Allen Dulles to take on a special e)tremely, e)tremely covert U01 project. And Dim ent over to that. I just lost track of him, although e sa each other once in a hile. Until after another year or so, Dim and I had another lunch F e seemed to only think hen e ere eating.