Bishop, Max Waldo
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The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR MAX WALDO BISHOP Interviewed by: Thomas F. Conlon Initial interview date: February 26, 1993 Copyri ht 1998 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Mid est University of Cairo U.S. Army Reserve, CCC Entered Foreign Service 1935 ,anguage Study in -apan 1935.1937 -apan 1937.1901 Osaka, vice consul Tokyo, third secretary, political officer EA 1901.1900 -apan desk officer Peruvian minister tip e Pearl Har1or attack Press sources re -apanese intention Admiral 2immel -apan.3erman relations Co.Prosperity Sphere Alger Hiss Stanley Horn1eck Colom1o, Ceylon 1900.1905 Consul Military liaison advisor duties Tokyo, -apan 1905.1907 State Department representative of MacArthur4s staff Office of Political Advisor to SCAP National 6ar College 1907.1908 Policy Planning 1908.1951 1 National Security Council Dhahran, Saudi Ara1ia 1951.1953 Operations Coordination Board 1953.1955 Bangkok, Thailand 1955.1958 Am1assador SEATO Prime Minister Pi1un Songgram Comments on Career in Foreign Service -oseph 3re Her1ert Hoover -r. -ohn Foster Dulles Richard Ni8on After Foreign Service 6orld Affairs Council USSAR changes UN Security Council9 Somalia 1993 U.S. in the UN INTERVIEW %: Ambassador, would you describe briefly your bac( round, your birthplace and education) BISHOP: Oh, yes, I'd be very happy to. I as born in 3ravette, Arkansas, Benton County, in the North est corner of Arkansas, on Octo1er 30, 1908. I as born in my grandparents' home in 3ravette, hich as actually quite a prosperous to n at that time, I gather. Ho ever, I never lived 12 consecutive months in Arkansas till after I retired from the Foreign Service. My home at that time as principally 2ansas City, 2ansas. 6e moved quite a bit..up to the Dakota's, I gather. My brother, ho is three and one.half years older than I, has told me that e have a lot of pictures of my early youth. Pro1a1ly the best place to start, as far as my early education is concerned, is in 2ansas City. 6e lived on North Seventh St. in 2ansas City, 2ansas, and I attended the ,incoln Elementary School. 6e lived there until I as seven or eight years old. My mother as a graduate, surgical nurse. Of course, she had to travel quite a bit because she graduated from.. as there a St. -oseph's Hospital in Chicago? %: I'm not familiar with it. 2 BISHOP: 6as there a St. ,uke's Hospital in Chicago? %: St. Lu(e's, certainly. BISHOP: She graduated there as a surgical nurse and, of course, as in great demand 1ecause she as a very talented and capa1le, surgical nurse. That's enough a1out the family itself. %: ,here did you go to school) -ou started... BISHOP: In grade school in 2ansas City, 2ansas. Then e lived in 2ansas City, Missouri. My mother married my stepfather, -ulius August Schmidt. She met him 1ecause she as the nurse for his uncle, Captain -ohn Hale, a ealthy bachelor in 2ansas City. My stepfather as his administrator. Captain Hale lived in an apartment hotel in 2ansas City. He had selected Dad as the e8ecutor of his estate. That's all I kno a1out him. %: Ambassador, you mentioned that you had done some of your school wor( in Iowa. ,hen did you move to Iowa) BISHOP: Oh, yes. Mother and Dad Ai.e., his stepfatherB ere married there in 2ansas City. Dad's home as in Io a. He and his father founded the Schmidt Music Co. in Muskateen, Io a. They had stores in Muskateen and Davenport AIo aB and in Rock Island and Moline AIllinoisB. %: The Tri.Cities) BISHOP: The Tri.Cities there on the Mississippi River. First, because Dad had his uncle's estate to settle in 2ansas City, e stayed there for may1e a year. Then e moved to Davenport, Io a, and lived there until I entered the Foreign Service. By that time I had completed college and all of that. %: ,here did you go to colle e) BISHOP: The University of Chicago. I have a Ph. B. from the University of Chicago in 1932. As e said last night, if you mum1le it properly, it may sound like a Ph. D. C,aughterD %: How did you become interested in the Forei n Service) ,here had you come across it) BISHOP: My first glimmer of a desire to go into the Foreign Service came in 1928 hen I as at E8eter. There as an article in hat I think as the Saturday Evening Post or a eekly magaEine like that. 3 %: -ou attended E1eter Academy in New En land) BISHOP: In Ne England. In E8eter, Ne Hampshire. That as after I had graduated from high school in Davenport, Io a. I took the science course at Davenport High School. By the ay, the schools in Davenport, Io a, ere academically at the very top at that time. They taught ,atin and ancient history and had e8cellent teachers. Actually, it as my ,atin teacher ho interested me in going to E8eter for post graduate study, 1ecause I as young..I graduated from high school in 1925, so I as under 16. Then I ent to E8eter. %: How did you happen to go to E1eter) BISHOP: The brother of one of the teachers at the high school in Davenport, Io a, had 1een at E8eter, here he as an outstanding student. I had never even heard of E8eter until she told me a1out it. She thought I ought to go there before I ent to college. It as actually the best thing I could have done because college as a G1reeEeG after that. I had learned ho to study. One thing I also learned to do as to keep on riting notes hen I as sound asleep in class. A,aughterB %: A worthwhile achievement, a s(ill worth (eepin . ,ell, then after some time at E1eter you went on to the 3niversity of Chica o and got your Ph. B. there. -ou became interested in the Forei n Service while at E1eter) BISHOP: 6hile at E8eter. As I say, there as an article in a magaEine..I believe it as the Saturday Evening Post. It descri1ed the Rogers Act hich set up a career Foreign Service. %: That was the Ro ers Act of 1927, as I recall it. BISHOP: Hes, it descri1ed ho the Foreign Service as a career, based strictly on merit and your a1ility and so on. Actually, hen I as at E8eter, Mother and Dad drove East to E8eter and picked me up. 6e ent do n to Ne Hork City and ound up in 6ashington, DC, because I had this idea that may1e I'd like to go into the Foreign Service. In 6ashington I ent into the State Department. %: The old State Department, ne1t to the ,hite House) BISHOP: The old State Department, and, as I mentioned last night, instead of going in here every1ody does, I ent in the Main ASouthB Entrance. I don't have the slightest idea ho he as, but a man hose name I cannot remem1er had an office there just inside. I ent in and told him that I anted to get all the dope on the Foreign Service. The official I talked to gave me a pamphlet on the Foreign Service, hich stated hat you had to do, that is, take the e8amination, and hat not. So I rote a letter to the Secretary of State 4 and said that if I take the e8amination and fail, hat happens? The ans er as that they ould just discard that e8amination, and I could try again. %: ,hen did you ta(e the e1amination) Do you remember) BISHOP: It as before I finished college Ain 1932B. It must have been the year they put in the ne style of e8amination. -oe 3reene as the man ho set up the ne style of e8amination..more of an essay type. I as one of seven ho passed it out of a group of 277 ho took the e8am. %: Marvelous. How many days did it ta(e) ,as it a one.day e1am or did it ta(e several days) BISHOP: I took the e8am in Decem1er, 1932. It ent on for three days. The last day as rather dull, I thought. Hou kno , the various e8ams ere eighted. Anyho , the e8amination on the last day as on 3erman. I su1mitted 3erman as my language. I had studied 3erman every year at the University of Chicago. %: Had you spo(en any 9erman at home) ,hen you were born, your family name was Schmidt. BISHOP: 6ell, of course, my stepfather didn't speak any foreign language. Overall, it as not an easy e8am, but I asn't trying to pass it because I hadn't even graduated from college. %: ,ere you a junior or a senior) BISHOP: I as in my senior year. %: -ou too( it in Chica o) BISHOP: In Chicago..do nto n some place here they had it. As I said, I asn't too good in 3erman, so I think I got 0I on my language e8am, or something like that. I told every1ody that as for penmanship, because I didn't e8pect to pass. The 3erman e8am as a1out doing business in a foreign country. Hou had to rite a letter to someone or then ans er it. Hou composed a letter and then translated it. I alked out of the room here I took the e8amination and ent to see the movie, GMata Hari.G This as pro1a1ly one of the things that made me as a1le to..