Politician George Ball: Iowa Time Machine December 21, 1909

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On December 21, 1909, United States Ambassador to the United Nations and politician George Ball was born in Des Moines.

Young George attended Iowa schools before heading east to Northwestern University and then Northwestern Law School, where he graduated in 1933 during the depths of the Great Depression. He initially worked as a lawyer before entering government service. During World War II, he joined the Lend-Lease Administration. He became director of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey in London, a key post assessing the effectiveness of the Allied air campaign against Germany. His wartime experiences in Europe shaped his understanding of international relations and the limits of military power, lessons he would carry into decades of diplomatic service. In the late 1940s, he advised French planner Jean Monnet, helping shape negotiations that led to the Marshall Plan aid and new European economic arrangements.

Ball entered the Kennedy administration in 1961, first in an economic policy role, then, within ten months, rising to become Under Secretary of State, the department’s second-highest position. Under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, he shaped policy on trade expansion, the Congo crisis, NATO nuclear arrangements, relations with de Gaulle’s France, and Middle Eastern issues. Ball's most significant contribution to American foreign policy came through his lonely stand against escalation in Vietnam during the 1960s. Serving as Under Secretary of State under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, he wrote prescient memos warning that the war was unwinnable and would damage American credibility. His colleagues dismissed his concerns, yet history vindicated his judgment.

In 1968, Ball briefly served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, where he condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and defended the right of smaller nations to live free of dictatorship. His tenure, though short, highlighted his belief in multilateral diplomacy and in the UN as a forum for resisting great‑power coercion. Outside government, he was a senior managing director at investment bank Lehman Brothers. He remained active in elite policy circles, including early membership on the Bilderberg Group's steering committee. #Iowa #OTD #History #Politics #ForeignRelations