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Register of the Robert Daniel Murphy Papers, 1913-1978
78060
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Title: Robert D. Murphy Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1913-1978
Collection number: 78060
Creator:
Murphy, Robert D. (Robert Daniel), 1894-1978
Collection Size:
177 manuscript boxes, 17 oversize boxes, 3 card file boxes, 67 envelopes, 5 phonotape reels.
(80 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, reports, dispatches, speeches and writings, printed matter,
and photographs, relating to Allied diplomacy during World War II (especially preparatory
to the invasion of French North Africa), wartime and postwar diplomatic conferences,
administration of occupied Germany, postwar American foreign relations, and international
business enterprises.
Physical location: Hoover Institution Archives
Language:
English.
Register for box 1-146 was made possible through a gift from the Corning Glass Works Foundation,
Corning, New York.
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact Hoover Institution Archives.
First descriptive section, Boxes 1-146 Published as:
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. Robert D. Murphy : a register of his papers in the Hoover Institution archives / compiled by Grace M. Hawes. Stanford, CA. : Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 1989.
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. Robert D. Murphy : a register of his papers in the Hoover Institution archives / compiled by Grace M. Hawes. Stanford, CA. : Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 1989.
[Identification of item], Robert Daniel Murphy Papers, [Box no.], Hoover Institution
Archives.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1978.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
United States. Commission on the Organization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy.
Bilderberg Meetings.
Business enterprises--United States.
International business enterprises.
United States--Foreign relations.
United States--Armed Forces.
United States--Economic conditions--1945-
United States--Foreign relations--1945-1989.
World War, 1939-1945--Diplomatic history.
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Africa, North.
United States--Foreign relations--1953-1961.
United States. Dept. of State.
Diplomats--United States.
World War, 1939-1945.
Allied Forces. Supreme Headquarters.
Germany--History--1945-1955.
Germany.
Military government.
Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955 : U.S. Zone) Office of Military Government.
United States--Foreign relations--France.
France--Foreign relations--United States.
France.
Phonotapes.
From humble beginnings, Robert D. Murphy became one of America's leading diplomats and
statesmen. In a distinguished public service career that lasted almost sixty years,
Ambassador Murphy had the good fortune to serve in interesting places at interesting
times. He also had the good judgment to preserve the records of his extraordinary
experiences, records that now constitute the Robert D. Murphy Collection at the Hoover
Institution Archives.
One of Murphy's first diplomatic posts, in the early 1920s, was Vice Consul in Munich,
where he reported to Washington on the rise of national socialism and where he lived
across the street from the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler. Throughout the 1930s, he served as
Consul in Paris. When German troops entered the city in June 1940, Murphy met with the
German commanding general in order to safeguard American and French interests. Later that
year, he was appointed Charge d'Affaires at Vichy.
Shortly thereafter, President Franklin Roosevelt chose Murphy to be his special envoy to
French North Africa. Roosevelt, realizing the vital role that French North Africa could
play in the war, wanted a trusted personal representative to investigate conditions and
report back directly to him. Robert Murphy proved the wisdom of Roosevelt's choice when
his careful negotiations laid the groundwork for the successful Allied invasion of North
Africa in 1942. The Murphy Papers for this period include communications with President
Roosevelt and other wartime leaders, memoranda from American Ambassador to Vichy William
Leahy, military and secret service (Office of Strategic Services) reports of Allied
operations, as well as the diplomatic records of the wartime conferences of Allied
leaders at Casablanca and Cairo.
Murphy continued his service in Africa as political adviser under General Dwight D.
Eisenhower until 1944, when he was sent to Italy as American Ambassador on the Advisory
Council to the Allied Control Commission. In his new post, he participated in the signing
of the Italian armistice. Murphy's intimate involvement with the Allied high command laid
the basis for his subsequent memoirs,
Diplomat Among Warriors (1964).
His next assignment took him to Germany as a member of the Office of Military Government,
which was set up to administer postwar reconstruction. During these years, he also served
on American delegations to the Councils of Foreign Ministers in Moscow, London, and
Paris, and to the Tri-Partite Talks. The records of these conferences, including the most
secret negotiations, reports, memoranda and correspondence are part of the Murphy Papers.
There are as well rare captured German documents, including transcripts of wartime
conferences of Hitler with his top military commanders.
In 1949, Robert Murphy was appointed United States Ambassador to Belgium and, in 1952,
the first American postwar Ambassador to Japan. During his tenure in Tokyo, he also acted
as Political Adviser to the United Nations Command in connection with the negotiations on
the Korean War armistice. From 1953 to 1959, his assignment to the Department of State
involved him in negotiations with leaders in many parts of the world: Tito in Yugoslavia,
Saeb Salam in Lebanon, Bourguiba in Tunisia and King Hussein in Jordan. Shortly before he
retired from government service in 1959, he served as Under Secretary of State. Records
of Murphy's many important assignments during these years appear in his papers.
After his retirement, Murphy began a new career as an executive with Corning Glass
International where he successfully combined his new duties with his role as elder
statesman. He served on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board during the Kennedy,
Johnson and Nixon administrations, as well as on the Intelligence Oversight Board and the
Commission on the Organization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy.
Memoranda, reports and internal communications from these many significant assignments
appear in the Murphy papers.
The vast correspondence Murphy carried on throughout his life is of equal importance to
historians. There are letters to and from a wide assortment of important people: world
leaders Andrei Vyshinsky, Harold Macmillan and Konrad Adenauer; Presidents Franklin
Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower; Secretaries of State James Byrnes, Cordell
Hull, Dean Acheson and John Foster Dulles; French military leaders Charles de Gaulle,
Maxime Weygand, Henri Giraud and Jean Darlan; movie actors Douglas Fairbanks and Adolphe
Menjou, and violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
The register to the Robert D. Murphy Collection is composed of four parts. A Biographical
Note indicates important dates in the course of Murphy's career. The overall structure of
the collection is outlined in the Series Description, which explains its major divisions.
The Container List describes in detail the materials within each series. An Index
(available in the paper copy only) provides a single alphabetical listing of all access
points in the register with page references.
A few items in the papers retain national security classifications. Until such time as
they can be declassified, they have been withdrawn from the collection and their
withdrawal is so noted in the register.
The Robert D. Murphy Papers, a gift to the Hoover Institution Archives by his daughters,
Rosemary Murphy and Mildred Pond, in 1978, are open to the public without charge. The
Archives Reading Room is open on weekdays from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. For further
information, please contact Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University, Stanford,
California, 94305.
I am especially pleased to acknowledge the generous financial support of the Corning
Glass Works Foundation, Corning, New York, without which the preparation and publication
of this guide would not have been possible.
--Charles G. Palm
--Associate Director, Hoover Institution
--1989
Note: In 2007, additional incremental materials added to the Robert D. Murphy Collection were organized. Please see
the description on Incremental Materials below the description of the original accession.
Scope and Content Note, Incremental Materials
The incremental material to the Robert Murphy Papers, acquired in 2003, consists of correspondence, memoranda, reports, dispatches,
speeches and writings, printed matter, photographs, and scrapbooks, relating to Allied diplomacy during World
War II, wartime and postwar diplomatic conferences, administration of occupied Germany, postwar American foreign relations,
and international business enterprises. The collection originates from Robert Murphy's official assignments with the State
Department, his extensive professional travels, and his involvement with private organizations dedicated to promote peace,
freedom, and friendship between people from different political and religious backgrounds.
The bulk of the materials document Robert Murphy's tenure as presidential envoy to North Africa; political adviser, Office
of Military Government, United States; adviser for Germany and Austria; ambassador to Japan and Belgium; assistant secretary
of state for United Nations affairs; deputy under secretary of state; and under secretary of state for political affairs,
and are documented in several series tied to periods of his career. They reflect his diplomatic skills and record his efforts
to protect American interests. The later part of Robert Murphy's career, as recorded in Later Years, was a combination of
activities in both the business and political arena, highlighted by his participation in the Presidential Transition Committee,
Commission on the Organization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy, Intelligence Oversight Board, and President's
Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
The numerous awards and certificates documented in the Biographical File, Memorabilia, and Oversize File reflect the
high esteem in which both fellow diplomats and political leaders held Robert Murphy. The Photograph series provides a
glimpse into his personal life, in addition to portraying him as a diplomat. Scrapbooks and clippings included in the Biographical
File offer a review of his life and career and an assessment of his contributions to the field of American foreign policy
and international diplomacy.
Materials arranged into ten series: Biographial File I, Speeches and Writings I, Early Career, Presidential Envoy to French
North Africa and Political Advisor I , Political Advisor I, Ambassadorships - Department of State I, Later Years I, Oversize
File I, Phonotapes, Photographs I.
Incremental Materials arranged into nine series, duplicating the order of the original finding aid: Biographical File II,
Speeches and Writings II, Presidential Envoy to French North Africa and Political Advisor II, Political Advisor II, Ambassadorships
II, Later Years II, Memorabilia, Oversize File II, Photographs II, and Declassified U.S. government records.
| 1894, October 28 | Born, Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| 1917-1919 | Clerk, American Legation, Bern, Switzerland |
| 1920 | LL.B., George Washington University |
| 1921 | Married, Mildred Taylor |
| Vice Consul, Zurich, Switzerland | |
| 1921-1925 | Vice Consul, Munich, Germany |
| 1925 | Consul, Seville, Spain |
| 1928 | LL.M., George Washington University |
| 1926-1930 | Department of State, Washington, D.C. |
| 1930-1940 | Consul, Paris, France |
| 1940 | Charge d'affaires, Vichy, France |
| 1940-1942 | Presidential envoy to French North Africa |
| 1941 | Concluded economic accord with General Maxime Weygand |
| 1942 | Effected preparations for Allied landings in North Africa |
| 1942-1944 | Chief Civil Affairs Officer and Political Adviser on Staff of Supreme Commander |
| Co-chairman, North African Economic Board | |
| 1942-1943 | Member, Advisory Council, Allied Control Commission for Italy |
| 1944-1949 | U.S. Political Adviser, Germany |
| 1949 | Director, Office for Germany and Austria, Department of State |
| 1949-1952 | Ambassador to Belgium |
| 1952-1953 | Ambassador to Japan |
| 1953 | Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs |
| 1953-1959 | Deputy Under Secretary of State |
| 1959 | Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs |
| Retirement from government service | |
| 1960-1978 | Successively President, Chairman of the Board, and Honorary Chairman of the Board, Corning Glass Works, Corning Glass International |
| 1964 | Author, Diplomat Among Warriors |
| 1968-1969 | Member, Presidential Transition Committee |
| 1973-1975 | Member, Commission on the Organization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy |
| 1969-1976 | Member (Chairman, 1976), Intelligence Oversight Board |
| Member, President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board | |
| 1978, January 9 | Died, Washington, D.C. |