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Marshall Green

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Marshall Green
United States Ambassador toNauru
In office
October 26, 1974 – July 31, 1975
PresidentGerald Ford
Preceded byDiplomatic relations established
Succeeded byJames Ward Hargrove
United States Ambassador toAustralia
In office
June 8, 1973 – July 31, 1975
PresidentRichard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Preceded byWalter Lyman Rice
Succeeded byJames Ward Hargrove
10thAssistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
In office
May 5, 1969 – May 10, 1973
PresidentRichard Nixon
Preceded byWilliam Bundy
Succeeded byRobert S. Ingersoll
United States Ambassador toIndonesia
In office
June 4, 1965 – March 26, 1969
PresidentLyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byHoward P. Jones
Succeeded byFrancis J. Galbraith
Personal details
Born(1916-01-27)January 27, 1916
Holyoke, Massachusetts,U.S.
DiedJune 6, 1998(1998-06-06)(aged 82)
Chevy Chase, Maryland,U.S.
Alma materYale University
ProfessionDiplomat

Marshall Green(January 27, 1916 – June 6, 1998) was an American diplomat whose career focused onEast Asia.Green was the senior American diplomat inSouth Koreaat the time of the 1960April Revolution,and wasUnited States Ambassador to Indonesiaat the time of theTransition to the New Order.From 1969 to 1973, he wasAssistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs,and, in this capacity, accompaniedPresident of the United StatesRichard NixonduringPresident Nixon's visit to China in 1972.[1]

During theIndonesian mass killings of 1965–66,Green supplied lists of members of theCommunist Party of Indonesiato theIndonesian Armywhich carried out the massacres.[2]

Biography

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Marshall Green was born inHolyoke, Massachusettson January 27, 1916. He was educated atGroton School,graduating in 1935, and then atYale University,graduating in 1939.[3]

After university, Green became the secretary ofUnited States Ambassador to Japan,Joseph GrewinTokyo.Shortly before theAttack on Pearl Harbor,Green returned to the United States to study for the exam to join theUnited States Foreign Service.With the entry of the U.S. intoWorld War II,Green enlisted in theUnited States Navy,where he served as aJapanese languagetranslator(he had learned Japanese during his time in Tokyo).

After the war, Green was discharged from the Navy and joined the Foreign Service. His first posting was asThird Secretaryat theEmbassy of the United States in Wellington.Over the next decade, Green rose rapidly through the ranks of the Foreign Service, ultimately becoming principal assistant to Secretary of StateJohn Foster Dulles;he was Dulles' principal assistant at the time of theSecond Taiwan Strait Crisis,which brought the United States andChinato the brink of war.

Green was then appointedDeputy Chief of Missionat theEmbassy of the United States in Seoul.He was the senior American diplomatchargé d'affairesinSouth Koreaat the time of the 1961 coup d'état that brought Major-GeneralPark Chung Heeto power. During this time, Green maintained the position that the U.S. continued to back ousted but democratically elected Prime MinisterChang Myon(John M. Chang). Green served as U.S.Consul GeneraltoHong Kong,at theConsulate General of the United States in Hong Kongfrom November 1961 until August 1963.

President of the United StatesLyndon B. Johnsonnominated Green asUnited States Ambassador to Indonesiaon June 4, 1965, and Green presented his credentials to the Indonesian government on July 26, 1965. He was met with an anti-Vietnam Warprotest organized bySukarno,thePresident of Indonesia,under the slogan "Go Home, Green". Only weeks later, Green witnessed first hand theTransition to the New Order,ananti-communistpurge in whichSuhartoled a coup againstSukarnofollowing the murder of six generals by the30 September Movement,which was blamed on thePKIby the Indonesian military based on dubious evidence.[4]Green supported the Indonesian Army's version of the events,[5]but contemporary historians have challenged it, with historian Geoffrey B. Robinson of UCLA in particular noting that Green and other US officials involved in supporting the Suharto coup "published memoirs and articles that sought to divert attention from any possible US role, while questioning the integrity and political loyalties of scholars who disagreed with them."[6]An estimated500,000 to one million Indonesians were killedin the massacres that followed.[7][8]Recent revelations from government archives confirm that Green himself endorsed the Indonesian military "destroying PKI" through executions, noting in an October 20, 1965, telegram that he had "increasing respect for its determination and organization in carrying out this crucial assignment."[9]According to Mark Aarons, he is "seen as one of the principal officials involved in encouraging the slaughter."[10][11]Green was Ambassador to Indonesia until March 26, 1969; during his four years in Indonesia, he practiced what he called "low-profile diplomacy".

PresidentRichard Nixonnominated Green asAssistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairsin 1969, and Green held this office from May 5, 1969, until May 10, 1973. He did most of the background work forPresident Nixon's visit to China in 1972,and he was one of thirteen State Department officials who accompanied Nixon during this trip.[citation needed]

In 1973, President Nixon selected Green asUnited States Ambassador to Australia,a post he held until 1975. He has been implicated in thedismissal of the Whitlam Governmentby Australia's Governor General,John Kerr.In 1975, he became Coordinator of Population Affairs in theUnited States Department of State.[citation needed]

Later life and death

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Green retired from government service in 1979, joining the board ofPopulation Crisis Committee,anon-profitcommitted to combatingoverpopulation. In retirement, he wrote three books dealing with his time in East Asia.

Green died of a heart attack on June 6, 1998, at the age of 82. He was father to three sons: Marshall W., Edward C., and Brampton S., and husband to Lispenard Crocker Green (1924–1996).

Works

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  • Indonesia: Crisis and Transformation, 1965-1968.Howells House. 1990.ISBN9780929590028.
  • Marshall Green, John H. Holdridge, William N. Stokes,War and peace with China,DACOR Press, 1994,ISBN9781885965004
  • Marshall Green, ‘’Pacific Encounters - recollections and humor’’, Dacor Press, 1997,ISBN1-885965-02-8

References

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  1. ^"The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR MARSHALL GREEN"(PDF).Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.13 December 1988.Archived(PDF)from the original on 12 July 2024.Retrieved12 July2024.
  2. ^Kadane, Kathy (1990-05-21)."U.S. OFFICIALS' LISTS AIDED INDONESIAN BLOODBATH IN '60S".Washington Post.ISSN0190-8286.Retrieved2024-01-17.
  3. ^"Marshall Green Dies at 82; Longtime Diplomat in Asia".The New York Times.June 11, 1998.
  4. ^Robinson, Geoffrey B. (2018).The Killing Season: A History of the Indonesian Massacres, 1965–66.Princeton University Press.pp. 66–70.ISBN978-1-4008-8886-3.
  5. ^Marshall Green, "Indonesia: Crisis and Transformation"
  6. ^Robinson, Geoffrey B. (2018).The Killing Season: A History of the Indonesian Massacres, 1965–66.Princeton University Press.p. 11.ISBN978-1-4008-8886-3.
  7. ^Robinson, Geoffrey B. (2018).The Killing Season: A History of the Indonesian Massacres, 1965–66.Princeton University Press.p. 3.ISBN978-1-4008-8886-3.
  8. ^Melvin, Jess (2018).The Army and the Indonesian Genocide: Mechanics of Mass Murder.Routledge.p. 1.ISBN978-1-138-57469-4.
  9. ^Kai Thaler (December 2, 2015).50 years ago today, American diplomats endorsed mass killings in Indonesia. Here’s what that means for today.The Washington Post.Retrieved December 2, 2015; see also:158. Telegram From the Embassy in Indonesia to the Department of State.Office of the Historian.
  10. ^David A. Blumenthal and Timothy L. H. McCormack (2007).The Legacy of Nuremberg: Civilising Influence or Institutionalised Vengeance? (International Humanitarian Law)Archived2016-01-05 at theWayback Machine.Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.ISBN9004156917pp.80–81.
  11. ^Pilger, John,A Secret Country,Vintage Books, London, 1992,ISBN9780099152316,pp. 139, 203, 218, 235, 246, 251.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Consul General Hong Kong and Macau
November 1961 – August 1963 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Indonesia
July 26, 1965 – March 26, 1969 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Australia
1973 – 1975 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
May 5, 1969 – May 10, 1973 		Succeeded by
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