Description
Description
The William C. Trimble Papers reflect Trimble's career in the Foreign Service, with more documentation from his years in Brazil, Cambodia, Germany, and from his work covering Africa. Most of the material is routine in nature, but letters detailing his views and the challenges he faced in his various postings can also be found.
Collection Creator
Biography
William Cattell Trimble was born May 2, 1907 in Baltimore, Maryland. A member of the Princeton University Class of 1930, he graduated cum laude with an A.B. in history. In 1931, he joined the Foreign Service and was posted to Seville, Spain. While steadily rising in the ranks of the Foreign Service he worked in legations and embassies in Argentina, Estonia, and Mexico, among other locations.
After World War II, Trimble was a member of the first class at the National War College. Upon completion of his studies, he went to Reykjavik, Iceland as Chargé d'Affaires and Second Secretary and then as First Secretary in 1948. Two years later he became Counselor of the embassy at London. The State Department transferred him in late 1951 to The Hague where he remained until spring 1954 as Counselor and Deputy Chief of Mission.
In March 1954, Trimble moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as second in command of the embassy. That same year he attained the personal rank of minister, the second highest rank in the Foreign Service. While in Brazil, Trimble witnessed the end of the Vargas era that culminated with Getulio Vargas's suicide and elections for a new president in 1955. At the end of January 1956, the embassy played host to Vice President Richard Nixon during his visit to Brazil as the United States representative at the inauguration of Juscelino Kubitschek as President of Brazil.
In September 1956, Trimble returned to Europe to serve as Deputy Chief of Mission at Bonn, Germany. He served under Ambassador James Conant and then welcomed David Bruce as ambassador in 1957. Trimble served in Germany during the dissolution of the U.S. High Commission after it was abolished by the Allied High Commission. Its functions were transferred to the U.S. embassy in Bonn, and Trimble played an integral role in this process.
The culmination of Trimble's long diplomatic career came in February 1959 when he became the United States Ambassador to Cambodia. Trimble arrived in Cambodia in the midst of a political crisis over Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) involvement with Dap Chhuon, a political adversary of Prince Sihanouk, who headed a brief rebellion. This crisis was shortly followed on August 31 by the death of a palace staff member who opened a suitcase containing the card of an American engineer. The general consensus among Cambodians was that the United States was responsible for an attempt on Prince Sihanouk's life. Trimble's position was very difficult due to Sihanouk's distrust of the United States. In September 1960, Sihanouk effectively ended American hopes of gaining Cambodia as an ally against Communism by expressing Cambodian neutrality during a United Nations speech.
Upon his return to the United States in September 1962, Trimble became Director of the Office of West Coast and Malian Affairs. The Office oversaw U.S. relations with seven countries: Guinea, Nigeria, Liberia, Togo, Mali, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. Trimble visited four of these countries - Nigeria, Togo, Ghana and Liberia - to gain first-hand experience for his new post. To deal with increasingly important African affairs, the Africa Desk was reorganized as the Office of West African Affairs with seven additional countries placed under its supervision: Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Dahomey (now Bénin), Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). Five more countries, Chad, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Cameroon, and Madagascar, were added in September 1964.
In May 1965, Trimble was promoted to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under Assistant Secretary of State G. Mennen Williams. Trimble was responsible for the Department's African Bureau.
Trimble retired from the State Department in February 1968, and lived in Maryland until his death on June 24, 1996.
June 13, 1931Appointed Clerk, Seville, SpainSept. 4, 1931Vice-Consul at Seville, SpainDec. 17, 1931Foreign Service Officer (FSO) Unclassified, Vice-Consul Career, and Secretary in Diplomatic ServiceAug. 1, 1932Foreign Service SchoolDec. 22, 1932Vice-Consul at Buenos Aires, ArgentinaApr. 8, 19363rd Secretary at Buenos Aires, Temp.June 10, 1936Vice-Consul and 3rd Secretary at Tallinn, EstoniaJune 17, 1938IS Dept., For Special Study in Economics (Princeton University)April 1, 1939FSO 8June 27, 19393rd Secretary and Vice-Consul-Economic at ParisSept. 9, 1940Vice-Consul at Vichy, Temp.July 22, 19413rd Secretary at Mexico City, MexicoAug. 16, 1941FSO 7Nov. 1, 1941Vice-Consul and 3rd Secretary at Mexico CityDec. 1941Vice-Consul and 2nd Secretary at Mexico CityAug. 24, 1942Department of State-FSO Desk officerJan. 25, 1943Assistant Chief, American Hemisphere Exports OfficeFeb. 1-Nov. 6, 1943Assistant Chief, Division of Exports & Requirements DivisionNov. 7, 1943FSO - Desk Officer, Division of Northern European AffairsNov. 16, 1943FSO 6Nov. 16, 1944Assistant Chief of Division of Northern European AffairsMay 16, 1945FSO 4May-June 1945Technical Advisor, U.S.-Sweden Safehaven NegotiationsSept. 1-Dec. 15, 1946Detailed to National War CollegeNov. 13, 1946FSO 3Dec. 30, 19462nd Secretary at Reykjavik, IcelandJan. 23, 19471st Secretary, Consul, and Chargé d'Affaires at ReykjavikApr. 14, 1948FSO 2June 11, 19481st Secretary and Counsel at LondonJune 20, 1951FSO 1Sept. 10, 1951Counselor at London1951Counselor at The HagueMar. 10, 1954Counselor at Rio De JaneiroSept. 25, 1954Granted Personal Rank of MinisterSept. 9, 1956Chief of Mission and Counsel, Bonn, GermanyApril 22, 1958Granted Personal Rank of Career MinisterFeb. 1959Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, CambodiaJuly 1962State DepartmentSept. 1962Africa Desk, Director, Office of West Coast and Malian AffairsJuly 1965Deputy Assistant Secretary for African AffairsJan. 31, 1968Retired from State Department
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