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Charles F. Baldwin

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Charles Franklin Baldwin (January 21, 1902 – August 18, 1993) was an American diplomat and the US Ambassador to the Federation of Malaya, what is modern-day Malaysia and Singapore, from 1961 to 1964. Baldwin was also the first diplomat-in-residence at the University of Virginia.[1]

Charles F. Baldwin
US Ambassador to Malaysia
In office
February 22, 1961 – January 22, 1964
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byHomer M. Byington, Jr
Succeeded byJames D. Bell
Personal details
BornJanuary 21, 1902
DiedAugust 18, 1993 (aged 91)
EducationGeorgetown University

Family life

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Baldwin was born in Zanesville, Ohio in 1902 but his family moved to Washington, D.C. when he was a teenager.[2] He graduated from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1926.[3] He married his wife, Helen Rosenbaum Baldwin, on March 27, 1938.[4] They had two children together: a son, Charles Stephen Baldwin, and a daughter, Nancy Baldwin Taylor.[1]

Early career

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Baldwin began his government career in 1927. He started off in the new Foreign Commerce Service in the Commerce Department and was then a trade commissioner in Sydney and then London.[1][5][3] In 1935, he stepped into the private sector as the head of the Washington office of the National Association of Credit Men. During World War II, Baldwin served as a naval intelligence officer and worked with Ian Fleming.[2]

He returned to government work with the end of the war, this time working for the State Department as an economic officer. He held this position in different embassies all over the world including Santiago, Oslo, and Trieste.[3] Baldwin was assigned to Singapore in 1951, and eventually worked his way up to consul general and then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Economic Affairs.[5][6] In 1955, Baldwin retired from government service due to interpersonal problems with Herbert Hoover Jr., the Undersecretary of State at the time.[7] During this period, Baldwin worked as the European representative of the Motion Picture Export Association of America, based in London and Rome.[1][2][5]

Ambassador to Malaysia

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US Ambassador Charles F. Baldwin presents a gift from the US government to Mohamed Noah Omar representing the parliament of Malaysia

Baldwin returned to work as a Foreign Service Officer in 1961 when he was offered an ambassadorship. When asked why he decided to come out of retirement to become an ambassador, Baldwin said "because any Foreign Service officer who wouldn't should have his head examined."[7] After declining the ambassadorship to Cambodia due to his lack of French fluency, Baldwin accepted the ambassadorship to the Federation of Malaya.[7] He was the second diplomat to hold the position.[8]

Baldwin reported later that his concerns as ambassador were largely economic, as the Malayan economy was almost singularly focused on the production of rubber and tin.[7][9] However, Malaya was in a period of transition during Baldwin's ambassadorship. The Federation of Malaya had recently become independent from British colonial rule in 1957.[10] In 1961, the Prime Minister of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, announced his intention to reconstitute the Federation of Malaya, an action that was completed in 1963.[7] This reconstitution incorporated several British territories[11] into the Federation, most significantly Singapore, and Malaya was renamed Malaysia.[12] Baldwin supported this endeavor and encouraged the US government to officially support the project as well.[13][7]

Baldwin retired from his position as ambassador on January 22, 1964.

Retirement

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Baldwin was appointed as the first diplomat-in-residence in what was then called the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia in 1965, soon after he left the Department of State.[14][15][16] The title of diplomat-in-residence was created by the University of Virginia and Baldwin was the very first.[8] In retirement he was on the board of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and was chairman of Camp Holiday Trails, a nonprofit camp for children with medical needs.[2][17] In 1984, he published the book An Ambassador's Journey: An Exploration of People. Baldwin died in Cockeysville, Maryland at the age of 91.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Charles F. Baldwin dies: Specialist on the Far East". The Washington Post. 20 August 1993. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Charles F. Baldwin, longtime U.S. diplomat". The Baltimore Sun. 20 August 1993. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Colton, Kenneth. Foreign Affairs Oral History Project: Interview with Charles F. Baldwin. The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.
  4. ^ "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Baldwin". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Charles Baldwin, 91, Ex-U.S. Ambassador". The New York Times. 21 August 1993. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015.
  6. ^ Mabon, David W., ed. (1991). "List of Persons". Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Japan, Volume XXIII, Part 1. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office.
  7. ^ a b c d e f O'Brien, Dennis J. (13 March 1969). Charles F. Baldwin, Oral History Interview – JFK#1. Boston, MA: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.
  8. ^ a b "University Chooses Chas. Baldwin For New Residence Post". State Department Newsletter: 18. November 1964 – via Hathitrust.
  9. ^ O'Brien, Dennis J. (14 March 1969). Charles F. Baldwin, Oral History Interview – JFK#2. Boston, MA: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.
  10. ^ "1957: Malaya celebrates independence". BBC. 31 August 1957. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  11. ^ Sarawak and North Borneo.
  12. ^ Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965.
  13. ^ Keefer, Edward C., ed. (1994). "Malaysia". Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXIII, Southeast Asia. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. p. 329.
  14. ^ Cleveland, Gordon (1965). "News and Notes". The Journal of Politics. 27 (3): 714–719. doi:10.1017/S0022381600019824. ISSN 0022-3816. JSTOR 2127767.
  15. ^ "Staff Changes". The American Political Science Review. 59 (2): 551–553. 1965. doi:10.1017/S0003055400141292. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1953088.
  16. ^ "Department History". UVA Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  17. ^ "About Us - Camp Holiday Trails". campholidaytrails.org. Retrieved 14 June 2024.

Further reading

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