Samuel D. Berger

Samuel David Berger (December 11, 1911 – February 12, 1980) was an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Korea from 1961 to 1964.

Early life

The brother of Graenum Berger, Samuel David Berger was born on December 6, 1911, in an Orthodox Jewish family. At the University of Wisconsin, where he studied economics and philosophy under Selig Perlman, he met his future wife, Margaret Fowler. In 1938 and 1939, he also studied at the London School of Economics, with a particular focus on the British trade union movement.

Foreign Service career

During World War II, he worked in lend-lease matters,

A career Foreign Service officer, he was posted to London, Tokyo, and New Zealand; Confirmed by the Senate on June 12, he arrived in Seoul on June 24, in the immediate aftermath of May 16 coup, noting that the relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea remained strong; a theme that he echoed when he presented his diplomatic credentials to Yun Posun, referring only to a "period of transition". Though he would try to prevail upon Park Chung-hee to hold elections, the efforts came to naught. As ambassador, Berger cultivated a reticent attitude toward the media, as evinced by his moniker, "Silent Sam."

Later career

After his service as ambassador, Berger (like his predecessor as ambassador, William S. B. Lacy) served as a deputy commandant of the National War College, before returning to the State Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs.

In February 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Berger Deputy Ambassador to South Vietnam, where he arrived on March 24; during his time there, he sometimes stood in for the ambassador, Ellsworth Bunker.

In 1972, he left South Vietnam, believing the Communists would not win, and returned to the United States,