Lincoln Gordon

Lincoln Gordon
United States Ambassador toBrazil
In office 9 October 1961 – 25 February 1966
President	John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	John M. Cabot
Succeeded by	John W. Tuthill
12thAssistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs
In office March 9, 1966 – June 30, 1967
Preceded by	Jack Hood Vaughn
Succeeded by	Covey T. Oliver
Personal details
Born	September 10, 1913 New York City,New York,U.S.
Died	December 19, 2009(2009-12-19)(aged 96) Mitchellville, Maryland,U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Allison Gordon (née Wright)
Children	Sally (née Anne), Robert, Hugh, Amy
Alma mater	Harvard University,Oxford University
Profession	AcademicandDiplomat

Abraham Lincoln Gordon(September 10, 1913 – December 19, 2009) was the 9th President of theJohns Hopkins University(1967–1971) and aUnited States Ambassador to Brazil(1961–1966).Gordon had a career both in government and in academia, becoming a Professor of International Economic Relations at Harvard University in the 1950s, before turning his attention to foreign affairs. Gordon had a career in business after his resignation as president of Johns Hopkins University,but remained active at institutions such as theBrookings Institutionuntil his death.

Early life

Born September 10, 1913 in New York City,Gordon attended theEthical Culture Fieldston SchoolinRiverdale,and later attendedHarvard University.As an undergraduate at Harvard, Gordon was involved with the university'sglee club.

While he was a student at Harvard, Gordon met his future wife, Allison Wright, at a film exhibition inDunster House.They married in 1937.

He received a BA from Harvard in 1933. He received a DPhil fromOxford Universityas aRhodes Scholarin 1936.

Career in government (1944–67)

Gordon was program vice-chairman of theWar Production Boardfrom 1944 to 1945. He started in the Bureau of Research and Statistics of the War Production Board before joining the staff of the Requirements Committee, helping design the Controlled Materials Plan.This Plan regulated the conservation and allocation of critical materials such assteel,copper,zinc,andaluminum—materials that were scarce or were in danger of becoming so during World War II.

Gordon then worked for theUS State Departmentas Director of theMarshall PlanMission and Minister for Economic Affairs and at the United States embassy in London (1952–55)."To let Western Europe collapse for want of some dollars," Gordon has stated in regard to his role in the Marshall Plan, "would have been a tragedy. It would have been repeating the terrible mistake after World War I."

Brazil and Latin America (1960–67)

In 1967.

In 1960, Gordon helped develop theAlliance for Progress,an aid program designed to prevent Latin America from turning to revolution and socialism for economic progress.

In 1961,Timereported that Gordon has "becomeKennedy's leading expert on Latin American economics. Gordon drew up the U.S. agenda for the July inter-American economic meeting approved last week by the Organization of American States. "

Gordon served as U.S. Ambassador toBrazil(1961–66), where he played a major role for the support of the opposition against the government of PresidentJoão Goulartand during the1964 Brazilian coup d'état.On July 30, 1962, President Kennedy held a meeting with Gordon and U.S Latin American AdvisorRichard N. Goodwinand urged for a "liaison" with Brazil's military.Gordon, who was eager to see the Goulart government overthrown, then began assisting the eventual 1964 Brazil coup and even recommended to "strengthen the spine" of Brazil's military.On March 27, 1964, he wrote a top secret cable to the US government, urging it to support the coup ofHumberto de Alencar Castelo Brancowith a "clandestine delivery of arms" and shipments of gas and oil, to possibly be supplemented by CIAcovert operations.Gordon believed that Goulart, wanting to "seize dictatorial power", was working with theBrazilian Communist Party.Gordon wrote: "If our influence is to be brought to bear to help avert a major disaster here--which might make Brazil the China of the 1960s--this is where both I and all my senior advisors believe our support should be placed."

In the years after the coup, Gordon, Gordon's staff, and theCIArepeatedly denied that they had been involvedand PresidentLyndon B. Johnsonpraised Gordon's service in Brazil as "a rare combination of experience and scholarship, idealism and practical judgment."In 1976, Gordon stated that the Johnson Administration "had been prepared to intervene militarily to prevent a leftist takeover of the government," but did not directly state that it had or had not intervened.Circa 2004 many documents were declassified and placed online at the GWUNational Security Archive,indicating the involvement of Johnson, McNamara, Gordon, and others. In 2005Stansfield Turner's book described the involvement ofITT CorporationpresidentHarold Geneenand CIA directorJohn McCone.

Afterward, Gordon becameAssistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs(1966–68) in Washington, D.C.,and worked for the Alliance for Progress, which coordinated aid to Latin America.

Career in academia

Gordon was a Professor of International Economic Relations at Harvard University in the 1950s, before turning his attention to foreign affairs.

Johns Hopkins University (1967–71)

He then served as president of Johns Hopkins University between 1967 and 1971. In 1970, following approval from the board of trustees in November 1969, he introduced coeducation in Johns Hopkins' full-time undergraduate program.

During his tenure, students and faculty briefly occupied the university's executive offices to protest against theVietnam Wardespite the fact that Gordon had expressed opposition to the Vietnam War. He also took part in a campus-wide discussion over military recruiting on campus and whether theROTCshould have a place at Johns Hopkins.

During his tenure, the university was suffering a financial crisis, with an operating deficit of more than $4 million. The crisis caused Gordon to order budget cuts, which in turn caused faculty protests. Faculty were angered because while Gordon was cutting teaching positions, he was increasing the size of the university's administration. He also incurred student wrath when he re-wrote the student conduct code.

Gordon resigned in March 1971, following a vote of "no-confidence" by a committee of senior faculty,attributing his resignation to growing criticism from the university's faculty.[18]The New York Timesstated that "Dr. Gordon's four years at Johns Hopkins were dogged by deteriorating finances, faculty complaints over pay and academic priorities, and students rebellious over the 'relevance' of their educations." Although Gordon had agreed to remain until an interim successor could be named, he left town abruptly, forcing the trustees to move quickly; they asked Gordon's predecessor,Milton S. Eisenhower,to return in an emergency capacity.

Later career

Lincoln Gordon in 2006.

Gordon was a fellow of theWoodrow Wilson International Center for Scholarsat theSmithsonian Institutionfrom 1972 to 1975.

In 1984, he became a scholar at theBrookings Institution(he was an active associate there until his death) and also became director at theAtlantic Councilof the United States.

Gordon died at the age of 96 at Collington Episcopal Life Care, an assisted-living home, inMitchellville, Maryland.He was survived by two sons, Robert and Hugh, and two daughters, Sally and Amyand seven grandchildren(includingKate Gordon); and three great-grandchildren.

Gordon died December 16, 2009.

Books

• A New Deal for Latin America(1963)
• Growth Policies and the International Order(1979)
• Energy Strategies for Developing Nations(1981)
• Eroding Empire: Western Relations with Eastern Europe(1987)
• Brazil's Second Chance: En Route toward the First World(Brookings Institution Press, 2001).

External links

• Oral History Interview with Lincoln Gordon, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library