Robert C. Strong
{{short description|American diplomat (1915-1999)}}{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Robert C. Strong
| office = US Ambassador to Iraq
| image = File:Swearing in ceremony Robert C. Strong.png
| caption = Robert C. Strong sworn in as Ambassador to Iraq by William J. Tonask, Deputy Chief of Protocol. W. Averell Harriman, Undersecretary, looks on
| predecessor = John D. Jernegan
| successor = Enoch S. Duncan
| president = John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
| term_start = 1963
| term_end = 1967
}}
Robert Campbell Strong (September 29, 1915 – December 28, 1999) was a United States diplomat serving as head of U.S. missions in
Baghdad, Iraq and Taipei, Taiwan.
Biography
Born Robert Campbell Strong on September 29, 1915, in Chicago, Illinois,{{Cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/strong.html#RLZ1ATO7O|title = The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Strong}} Strong eventually moved to Beloit, Wisconsin. He attended Beloit College where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity and graduated in 1938.{{cite magazine|date=Fall 1963|volume=50|number=3|magazine=The Emerald of Sigma Pi|title=Sigma Pi In The News: Ambassador to Iraq|pages=119–120|url=http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1963/SP_EMERALD_VOL_50_NO_3_FALL_1963.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021063755/http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1963/SP_EMERALD_VOL_50_NO_3_FALL_1963.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 21, 2016}} He then studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Strong began his career in 1939 after passing a three day test to be admitted into the foreign service. He served as U.S. Vice Consul in Prague, Czechoslovakia and in Durban, South Africa. For a while, he was stationed at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1949, he served as the U.S. Head of mission (Charge d’affaires) of the Embassy Office Taipei following the Retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan.{{Cite web |title=The Secretary of State to the Consul at Taipei (Edgar) |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1949v08/d856 |publisher=Department of State |author=Dean Acheson |date=1949-12-30 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20210505144134/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1949v08/d856 |archivedate=2021-05-05 |accessdate=2021-05-05}} In April 1961, he was appointed Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs under Phillips Talbot.Panaspornprasit, Chookiat, US-Kuwaiti Relations, 1961-1992: An Uneasy Relationship (Routledge 2005). Print.{{cite web | title=List of Persons | url=http://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/kennedyjf/xvii/17700.htm | publisher=U.S. Department of State | access-date=August 7, 2015}} President Kennedy appointed him U.S. Ambassador to Iraq on May 13, 1963.{{cite web | title=Strong Named New U.S. Ambassador to Iraq | url=http://www.jta.org/1963/05/14/archive/strong-named-new-u-s-ambassador-to-iraq-served-in-state-department | publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency | year=1963 | access-date=August 7, 2015}} He served in this capacity until 1967. On May 19, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson honored Strong with the National Civil Service League award.Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965 (U.S. Government Printing Office), 563. Print.
He died on December 28, 1999, in Tucson, Arizona, and was buried at Beloit.
Strong's son, Gridley Barstow Strong, served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and was killed during the Battle of Khe Sanh.
References
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{{succession box |title=United States Ambassador to Iraq |before=John D. Jernegan |after=Enoch S. Duncan |years=1963–1967}}
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Category:People from Beloit, Wisconsin
Category:Diplomats from Chicago
Category:Beloit College alumni
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Iraq
Category:United States Foreign Service personnel