Foy D. Kohler

Foy David Kohler (February 15, 1908 – December 23, 1990) was an American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Early life Kohler was born in Oakwood, Ohio but the family moved to Toledo when he was young. He attended the University of Toledo and Ohio State University, where he graduated in 1931 with a BS in foreign studies.

At the end of World War II, Kohler served as the assistant chief of the Foreign Service's Division of Near Eastern Affairs.

Kohler studied Russian at Cornell University in 1946 and then had his first tour in Moscow from 1947-49 working for Ambassador Walter Bedell Smith.

Ambassador to the Soviet Union

Following a tour as Director of Voice of America, in September 1962 President John F. Kennedy named Kohler Ambassador to the Soviet Union. He and his wife moved to Spaso House, the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Moscow, and began a complete remodeling of the mansion.

On August 5, 1963, the Limited Test Ban Treaty, which banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere, under water, or outer space, was signed in Moscow. This was to be the first in a series of arms control agreements between the superpowers.

On March 6, 1967, Kohler received word that Svetlana Alliluyeva, the daughter of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had decided to defect to the U.S. in New Delhi. He had the responsibility to inform the Soviets via their Ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Dobrynin.

Kohler retired from the foreign service in 1967 with the personal rank of Career Ambassador.

After government service

The Kohlers moved to Florida and he became a professor of international studies at the Center for Advanced International Studies of the University of Miami.

He died December 23, 1990. He and Phyllis never had children. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Beta Gamma Sigma, Delta Upsilon, and Phi Beta Kappa.

Works Articles "The Effectiveness of the Voice of America." Quarterly of Film Radio and Television, vol. 6, no. 1 (Autumn 1951), pp. 20–29. . . "The International Significance of the Lunar Landing," with Dodd L. Harvey. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, vol. 12, no. 1 (Jan. 1970), pp. 3–30. . .