Edward M. Korry

Who was Edward M. Korry?

Edward Malcolm Korry was an American diplomat during the administrations of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.

Korry, a native of New York, was U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia and to Chile. Upon hearing the news that Salvador Allende had been elected president of Chile, he proclaimed that "not a nut or bolt shall reach Chile under Allende. Once Allende comes to power we shall do all within our power to condemn Chile and all Chileans to utmost deprivation and poverty". During the Allende administration, U.S. did implement a tougher economic policy toward Chile, decreased economic aid, prevented access to loans, taking many of the measures implied by Korry in this quote. The US support for the opposition culminated in the September 11th, 1973 coup that overthrew Allende, and resulted in the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Prior to his appointment to Ethiopia by John F. Kennedy, Korry was European editor for Look magazine and a United Press correspondent in post-World War II Europe. In 1972 and 1973, he was president of the Association of American Publishers, and later, he was president of the United Nations Association of the United States of America. Korry was also a founding director of the Committee for East-West Relations and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.