Dates: 1945-1995. Bulk Date Span: 1945-1952
The papers of James W. Riddleberger mostly document his participation as a State Department official in the Potsdam Conference (1945) and the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Moscow (1947), and also his subsequent service as a political affairs specialist with OMGUS and the U.S. High Commissioner in postwar Germany. The papers consist of correspondence, printed material, photographs, memorabilia, and other items.
Size: Less than one-half of one linear foot (about 400 pages).
Access: Open
Copyright: Peter Riddleberger donated his literary property rights in this collection, and in other collections of papers in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration, to the U.S. government. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other writings in this collection is assumed to remain with the authors of the documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Jeremy Spencer, Dennis E. Bilger, Randy Sowell and Sharie Simon (2003).
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]
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1904 (September 21) |
Born, Washington D.C. |
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1924 |
A.B., Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia |
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1926 |
A.M., Georgetown University |
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1926-1929 |
Assistant Professor of International Relations, Georgetown University |
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1927-1929 |
Special Expert, United States Tariff Commission |
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1929-1930 |
Joined the Foreign Service |
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1930-1935 |
Vice Consul at Geneva, Switzerland |
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1935-1936 |
Consul at Geneva |
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1936-1937 |
Third Secretary, American Embassy, Berlin |
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1937-1941 |
Second Secretary, American Embassy, Berlin |
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1941-1942 |
Department of State, Washington DC |
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1942 |
Chairman, Committee on Neutral Trade, Board of Economic Warfare |
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1942-1943 |
Second Secretary, American Embassy, London |
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1943-1944 |
First Secretary, American Embassy, London |
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1944-1947 |
Chief, Division of Central European Affairs, Department of State, Washington D.C. |
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1947-1949 |
Director, Office of Political Affairs, Office of Military Government for Germany-U.S. (OMGUS) |
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1949-1950 |
Acting Political Adviser to the Military Governor, and later Director, Office of Political Affairs, U.S High Commissioner for Germany |
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1950-1952 |
Political Adviser, Economic Cooperation Administration, Paris |
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1952-1953 |
Director, Bureau of German Affairs, Department of State |
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1953-1958 |
Ambassador to Yugoslavia |
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1958-1959 |
Ambassador to Greece |
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1959-1961 |
Director, International Cooperation Administration (ICA) |
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1960 |
Appointed Career Ambassador |
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1962-1967 |
Ambassador to Austria |
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1982 (October 17) |
Died, Woodstock, Virginia |
The papers of James W. Riddleberger mostly relate to his involvement in the Potsdam (Berlin) Conference in 1945, the Moscow meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in 1947, and U.S. administration of political affairs in postwar Germany from 1947 to 1952. Included in the collection are a number of letters that Riddleberger-who was then an official with the State Department-wrote to his wife and other family members while attending the conferences in Potsdam and Moscow. In this correspondence, he describes conditions in the host cities and the progress of the negotiations. From 1947 to 1949, Riddleberger served as Director of Political Affairs in the Office of Military Government for Germany-U.S. (OMGUS). He held a similar post on the staff of the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany from 1949 to 1950, and later served as Director of the State Department's Bureau of German Affairs. Photographs, newspaper clippings, and other items in the collection relate to Riddleberger's service in Germany as a subordinate of Military Governor Lucius D. Clay and High Commissioner John J. McCloy; also documented is his subsequent role in helping to obtain Senate approval of two important treaties with West Germany in 1952.
The collection includes photocopies of identification cards, programs, and other memorabilia relating to the experiences of Riddleberger and his family in postwar Europe (the original items are in the Truman Library's museum collection.) Also included among Riddleberger's papers are some newspaper clippings and other printed material pertaining to Germany; this material dates from 1949 to 1995. The collection has only one series, a Chronological File.
Related materials at the Truman Library include two oral history interviews with James W. Riddleberger.
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Container Nos. |
Series |
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1 |
CHRONOLOGICAL FILE, 1945-1995 (Bulk Date Span: 1945-1952) Correspondence, printed material, photographs, memorabilia, and other items. Arranged approximately in chronological order. |
Box 1
CHRONOLOGICAL FILE, 1945-1995 (Bulk Date Span: 1945-1952)
- 1945, July-Letters from Potsdam, Etc.
- 1945-1952-Photocopies of Items Retained by the Museum Collection
- 1947, March-April-Letters from Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting, Moscow
- 1948, February-Four Power Meeting Before the Berlin Blockade [photographs]
- 1949-General Lucius D. Clay's Final Staff Meeting [photographs]
- 1949-General and Mrs. Clay's Departure from Germany [name tags, programs, photographs, and newspaper clippings]
- 1949, March-December-John J. McCloy, U.S. High Commissioner for Germany [newspaper clippings, etc.]
- 1949, August 20-Die Neue Zeitung [with article on the first West German parliament]
- 1950, February 21-Stars and Stripes
- 1952, July 7-Barron's [with article on West German treaties and NATO]
- 1962-Germany at a Glance [informational booklet]
- 1963-Berlin: Figures, Information, Charts [booklet for visitors]
- 1995-Coca-Cola, Jazz und AFN: Berlin und die Amerikaner by Tamara Domentat [book dealing with American cultural influence on Berlin]