Myron Cowen
 Myron Cowen    (diplomat) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Myron Cowen (standing, right), with U.S. President Harry S. Truman (seated, left) and Philippines President Elpidio Quirino (seated, right) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | January 25, 1898 Logan, Iowa, USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | November 1, 1965 (Age 67) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | US | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Drake University | ||||||||||||||||||||||
American lawyer, spook and diplomat, who was US Ambassador to Australia, Belgium and Philippines
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Myron Melvin Cowen was an American lawyer and diplomat, who was US Ambassador to Australia, Belgium and Philippines.[1]
Background
Cowen was born in Logan, Iowa. His father was Aaron Harry and mother was Dora T. Blala Cowen. Cowen studied in Wofford College of Spartanburg, S.C. from 1914–1915 and graduated from Drake University of Des Moines in 1918.[2]
Early Career
From 1919 to 1926, he practiced law in Des Moines. From 1926 to 1933, he was the commissioner for the US court of Appeals in Washington D.C, where he continued his legal practice from 1935 to 1948.
Diplomatic Career
He was appointed US Ambassador to Australia from 1948 to 1949. There, when the government attempted to use a treaty negotiation – presumably over the Fulbright programme – to bargain for access to top-secret information, Ambassador Cowen refused, and outright demanded that a domestic Australian intelligence agency be created.[3] He intensely disliked Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley (who was removed in a regime change later in 1949).
Afterwards, he was US ambassador to Philippines from 1949 to 1952. He expected a less corrupt and capable government for Philippine and suggested a covert action to oust then Philippine president, Elpidio Quirino.
From 1952 to 1953, he was US ambassador to Belgium.
Until his death in Washington, D.C. he practiced law.[4]
References
- ↑ Truman Library - Myron M. Cowen Papers
- ↑ World Biography. Institute for Research in Biography. 1954. p. 235.
- ↑ https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:21764/datastreams/CONTENT/content
- ↑ Shavit, David (1990). The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 112.
