NEW ZEALAND COUNTRY READER TABLE OF CONTENTS Theodore Achilles 1941-1945 Liaison Officer, Washington, DC John S. Service 1946-1948 Deputy Chief of Mission, Auckland Winifred Weislogel 1949-1951 Student, Dunedin Phillip C. Habib 1951-1955 Economic Officer, Wellington James T. Pettus, Jr. 1957-1960 Public Affairs Officer, USIS, Wellington Donald Novotny 1963-1965 Agricultural Attaché, Wellington James K. Bishop, Jr. 1963-1966 Vice Consul, Auckland Roger Schrader 1963-1966 Labor Attaché, Wellington James G. Lowenstein 1964-1965 Economic Bureau, Washington, DC Thomas F. Conlon 1964-1966 Australia/New Zealand Desk Officer, Washington, DC Juliet F. Kidney 1966 Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC Idar D. Rimestad 1966 Advance Team Member for Presidential Visit, Wellington John H. Kelly 1966 Advance Team, Presidential Visit, Wellington Dean Rusk 1966-1969 Secretary of State, Washington, DC John N. Hutchison 1968-1973 Public Affairs Officer, USIS, Wellington Hendrick Van Oss 1968-1970 Deputy Chief of Mission, Wellington Ben F. Dixon 1970-1971 Australia/New Zealand Desk Officer, Washington, DC Carl Edward Dillery 1970-1971 Defense Exchange Program, Washington, DC Arthur W. Hummel 1972-1975 Deputy Assistant Secretary, Washington, DC Howard H. Lange 1973-1975 Office of Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and Australia, Washington DC Andrew I. Killgore 1974-1977 Deputy Chief of Mission, Wellington Theresa A. Tull 1975-1977 Analyst, Bureau of Intelligence and Research: Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands, Washington, DC John E. Hall 1976-1980 Commercial Officer, Wellington John Edgar Williams 197?-1978 Consul General, Auckland John H. Holdridge 1977-1978 Assistant Secretary of State, Washington, DC Edward Hurwitz 1977-1978 Australia/New Zealand Desk Officer, Washington, DC Theresa A. Healy 1977-1980 Deputy Chief of Mission, Wellington William Bodde, Jr. 1977-1980 East Asia Bureau, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, Washington, DC Richard J. Dols 1977-1981 Political Counselor, Wellington Charles H. Twining 1978-1980 Deputy Director, Australia/New Zealand Desk, Washington, DC Anne Martindell 1979-1981 Ambassador, New Zealand Paul F. Gardner 1981-1982 East Asian Regional Affairs, Washington, DC John J. Helble 1982-1985 Political Advisor, CINCPAC, Hawaii Richard W. Teare 1983-1986 Deputy Chief of Mission, Wellington William Lenderking 1984-1986 Public Affairs Officer, USIA, Washington, DC James H. Morton 1984-1987 Political Counselor, Wellington John David Glassman 198?-1987 Country Director, Australia and New Zealand Affairs, Washington, DC Walter J. Silva 1986 Inspection Corps, Washington, DC Paul M. Cleveland 1986-1989 Ambassador, New Zealand Alphonse F. La Porta 1987-1991 Deputy Chief of Mission, Wellington Phillip R. Mayhew 1988-1989 East Asia Bureau, Australia and New Zealand Affairs, Washington, DC Keith P. McCormick 1991-1994 Political Counselor, Wellington David E. Reuther 1993-1995 International Security Agency, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand Desk, Washington, DC Samuel Vick Smith 1993-1995 Economic Counselor, Wellington Josiah Beeman 1994-1999 Ambassador, New Zealand Morton R. Dworken, Jr. 1995-1998 Deputy Chief of Mission, Wellington Suzanne Sekerak Butcher 1997-1998 Australia and New Zealand Affairs, Washington, DC Franklin E. Huffman 1997-1999 Counselor for Public Affairs, Canberra THEODORE ACHILLES Liaison Officer Washington, DC (1941-1945) Ambassador Theodore Achilles was born in Rochester, New York on December 29, 1905. He served in Washington as Chief of the British Commonwealth Division in the State Department from 1941 to 1945. Afterward, he was involved in the NATO Treaty and also the NATO Council Discussions. After the Korean War, he became the United States Ambassador to Peru in 1956-1960. Ambassador Achilles was interviewed by Richard D. McKinzie on November 13, 1972. Q: Let me ask you if you could add a little more detail to some of the things? One of the first things that occurred during Mr. Truman's administration with which you were affiliated was the San Francisco Conference in 1945, and you mentioned that you first encountered President Truman there when he came out for the signing. I wonder if you do recall, though, any of the substantive issues with which you had to deal when you went out to the Conference, and how you felt at that time about the prospects for the U.N.? You mentioned that you'd read Clarence Streit's Union Now, and I wondered if you had any hope that this might be one step toward the achievement of the kind of postwar world that he had advocated? So that's two questions, I guess. One, was if you recall anything about the substantive work, and two, how you felt about the U.N. as an instrument? ACHILLES: On the substantive side my job was liaison officer with the British Dominion delegations other than Canada. That is, primarily Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Our principal arguments with them were over the veto. The Australians and New Zealanders in particular--[Herbert Vere] Evatt, the Australian Foreign Minister, and [Peter] Fraser, New Zealand's Prime Minister, were bitterly opposed to the veto. I think a good many of us on the U.S. delegation in our hearts also opposed the veto. We thought it was basically wrong. We would have been happier without it. However, Senators Connally and Vandenberg of the delegation were insistent that it was absolutely essential to get the Charter ratified by the Senate. We believed that, and, therefore, we went all out trying to convince the other delegations that whether or not the veto was a good idea--no veto, no U.S. membership in the United Nations; therefore, they'd better support the veto. I remember spending between two and three hours one night alone with Prime Minister Fraser of New Zealand expounding our theory. Ordinarily I can say anything I've got to say in ten minutes. By the time I got through that length of talking my throat was practically dust. As to whether we had hopes for the U.N., yes. I think we all had a feeling that the League of Nations would have worked if the U.S. had been a member. We were hopeful that the U.S. would be a member of the United Nations and that it would work. We were already skeptical on Soviet intentions. They had begun to act badly in Poland; I believe that by the time the San Francisco Conference convened they had arrested or at least detained in the Soviet Union most of the members of the Polish Government. There were different signs that the Russians would be difficult. Chip Bohlen kept reminding us that the Russians were also fighting the Germans, but in no other sense were they really our allies. Despite that we still hoped it would be possible to work things out and that the U.N. would basically contribute towards a new era. JOHN S. SERVICE Deputy Chief of Mission Auckland (1946-1948) John Service, a missionary’s son, traveled to many places in his youth. He was brought up in China but went to college in the United States. He originally began his college education at the University of California at Berkeley but decided to transfer to Oberlin College where he majored in economics. His first post was at Yunnanfu where he served as a clerk. His studies in Chinese affairs made him an embassy specialist on Chinese Communists. Mr. Service was interviewed by Rosemary Levenson in 1977. Q: You left Japan and got back to California in September, 1946, right? SERVICE: Picked up the family, had a short vacation and then went out to New Zealand on the ship Monterey. It was a very pleasant voyage. The ship had been semi-reconverted from wartime use. We had triple-decker bunks in our cabin, which was very handy because it gave a lot of place to throw things, nine bunks and only five slept in. Because of our children we had to eat at the first sitting, which was inconvenient, eating at 4:30 p.m. New Zealand was an idyllic interlude in our life. It was a lovely country, a very friendly and congenial people. It was getting the family together for the first time in six years. We'd had short vacations and leaves, but the period of a few months in Washington in '45 had been hectic, upset of course. So, this was getting acquainted and settling down as a family. Q: Did you feel at that point that you were set for a conventional Foreign Service career? SERVICE: Oh, yes, quite so. It was getting back into the groove of conventional Foreign Service work. The ambassador, Avra Warren, I think was not, shall we say, overjoyed at my being assigned. He'd expected someone else to come, someone whom he had known, to be his deputy chief of mission, DCM. But, the State Department had to find a spot for me, so the other man got pushed aside. After a short while I think Warren decided I was okay, that I could be trusted. He was a very active person, who loved hunting, fishing-limitless energy, rushing around the country. He liked to give speeches and talks. When we got acquainted and he had sized me up, he was quite content to let me run the office. He lived out in the country about forty-five miles from town over a mountain range, narrow, windy road. He came into the office very seldom. There was one thing that he insisted on, that he have all communication, all direct personal interviews and communications with the prime minister, Peter Fraser. Fraser was also the foreign minister, a nice, avuncular, elderly man, leader of the Labor party, who'd been a preacher in his youth. In Chungking, Gauss had wanted to have someone along to write the memoranda of conversation, but Warren's tactic was to come charging into my office after one of his meetings with Fraser, walk up and down, and relate the conversation.