Averell Harriman

Averell Harriman

Surname	Harriman
Given Name	William
Born	15 Nov 1891
Died	26 Jul 1986
Country	United States
Category	Government
Gender	Male

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseWilliam Averell Harriman was born in New York, New York, United States to railway tycoon E. H. Harriman and Mary Williamson Averell. In 1915, he joined his father's Union Pacific Company and became chairman of the board in 1932. In Aug 1941 he accompanied Franklin Roosevelt in the president's meeting with Winston Churchill at Placentia Bay in Newfoundland. Between 1943 and 1946 he served as the ambassador to the Soviet Union. In 1946 he was the ambassador to Britain for President Harry Truman; in the same year he was appointed to be the Secretary of Commerce and held that position until 1948. In Jul 1951 he mediated between Persia and Britain over the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. During the Korean War he was the National Security Advisor. Between 1954 and 1958 he became the governor of New York. During the post-war political career he ran for presidency twice, but lost both times. He was Ambassador at Large, Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and then again Ambassador at Large for the John Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson administration. He was named as a Soviet spy by Anatoli Golitsin but continued to be trusted by Johnson. He was later implicated with plots against Ngo Dinh Diem of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969. Under President Richard Nixon, he was a member of the American delegation to the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Disarmament.

ww2dbaseSources: Spartacus Educational, Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Mar 2006

Averell Harriman Interactive Map

Photographs

President Franklin Roosevelt and his dinner guests aboard the cruiser USS Augusta at the Atlantic Conference, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, 9 Aug 1941.

Roosevelt and Churchill at the Atlantic Charter Conference, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, 10-12 Aug 1941, photo 1 of 2; Hopkins, Harriman, King, Marshall, Dill, Stark, and Pound behind them

Roosevelt and Churchill at the Atlantic Charter Conference, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, 10-12 Aug 1941, photo 2 of 2; Hopkins, Harriman, King, Marshall, Dill, Stark, and Pound behind them

British Army Lieutenant General Arthur Percival welcoming US envoy Averell Harriman at Sembawang Airfield, Singapore, 30 Oct 1941

See all 12 photographs of Averell Harriman

Averell Harriman Timeline

15 Nov 1891	W. Averell Harriman was born in New York, New York, United States.
23 Oct 1943	Banking tycoon William Averell Harriman replaced William H. Standley as the United States ambassador to the Soviet Union.
8 Aug 1945	US Ambassador to the Soviet Union W. Averell Harriman reported to US President Harry Truman that Joseph Stalin would like to see Chinese recognition of the Soviet puppet state of Mongolia as an independent nation, and that its borders would be the present day borders of the Mongolia Area of China.
11 Aug 1945	From Moscow, Russia, US Ambassador to the Soviet Union W. Averell Harriman sent the full text of the declaration of war on Japan by the Soviet puppet state of Mongolian People's Republic. Harriman explained this action as Mongolia's attempt to act as a sovereign state, and warned that the Mongolian leadership seemed to have designs to occupy the Inner Mongolia and northeast (ie. Manchuria) regions of China.
12 Aug 1945	In Moscow, Russia, US Ambassador to the Soviet Union W. Averell Harriman insisted that the results of the negotiations between China and the Soviet Union must be consistent with the Yalta Agreement.
26 Jul 1986	W. Averell Harriman passed away.

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. says:
5 Jan 2007 10:21:03 AM

“…In Jul[1] 1951 he mediated between Persia and Britain over the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.”
“Under Richard Nixon, he was a member of the American deletion[2] to the United Nations General Assemblys Special Session on Disarmament.”

[1] July
[2] delegation

2. Joseph Kress says:
31 Oct 2017 01:41:19 PM

Harriman was Prescott Bush's boss. The banks that Bush ran for Harriman supported Hitler almost to the beginning of WWII. Harry Truman appointed Harriman ambassador to the Soviet Union and Harriman funded the first cement factory for the Soviets in 1923. Harriman had an open passport to the Soviet Union long before he became an Ambassador and in the first years of the Truman Administration, supported Soviet objectives.

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Averell Harriman