# Evan G. Galbraith

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American diplomat (1928–2008)

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Evan G. Galbraith Ronald Reagan and Galbraith in Oval Office in 1981 United States Ambassador to France In office December 2, 1981 – July 15, 1985 President Ronald Reagan Preceded by Arthur A. Hartman Succeeded by Joe M. Rodgers Personal details Born Evan Griffith Galbraith (1928-07-02)July 2, 1928 Toledo, Ohio Died January 21, 2008(2008-01-21) (aged 79) Party Republican Alma mater Yale University Harvard Law School

**Evan "Van" Griffith Galbraith** (July 2, 1928 – January 21, 2008) was the [United States Ambassador to France](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_France) 1981 to 1985 for Ronald Reagan; and Secretary of Representative to Europe & NATO 2002 to 2007 for Donald Rumsfeld.

Both in [Toledo, Ohio](/source/Toledo%2C_Ohio), Galbraith graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1946 then [Yale University](/source/Yale_University) in 1950, as a member of [Skull and Bones](/source/Skull_and_Bones)[1][2][3]) and [Harvard Law School](/source/Harvard_Law_School).

Galbraith served on active duty in the [Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) from 1953 to 1957, his position attached to the [Central Intelligence Agency](/source/Central_Intelligence_Agency).

From 1960 to 1961, he was the confidential assistant to the [Secretary of Commerce](/source/Secretary_of_Commerce) under [Dwight Eisenhower](/source/Dwight_Eisenhower).

A close personal friend to [William F. Buckley, Jr.](/source/William_F._Buckley%2C_Jr.) who he had met while they were both studying at Yale.[4]

Prior to his post as Ambassador to France under President [Ronald Reagan](/source/Ronald_Reagan), Galbraith spent more than twenty years in Europe, primarily as an [investment banker](/source/Investment_banker). He started his banking career at Morgan Guaranty in Paris selling and designing bonds and later became the Managing Director of [Dillon Read](/source/Dillon_Read) in London in 1969. In the 1990s, he was an Advisory Director of [Morgan Stanley](/source/Morgan_Stanley) in New York, Chairman of the Board of [National Review](/source/National_Review), and a member of the board of the [Groupe Lagardère S.A.](/source/Lagard%C3%A8re_Group) [Paris](/source/Paris). Together with [Daimler Benz](/source/Daimler_Benz), the Groupe Lagardère S.A. controls [EADS](/source/EADS) (European Aerospace and Defense Systems), Europe's largest defense contractor and principal owner of [Airbus](/source/Airbus). Galbraith also served on several other commercial boards and until 1998, was Chairman of the Board of [LVMH](/source/LVMH) (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) USA. He also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation during the latter years of Reagan's administration.[5] [Secretary of Defense](/source/United_States_Secretary_of_Defense) [Donald Rumsfeld](/source/Donald_Rumsfeld) appointed Evan G. Galbraith as his representative in [Europe](/source/Europe) and the defense advisor to the U.S. mission to NATO. In making this appointment, Rumsfeld said, "I wanted a seasoned, vigorous representative in Europe who will bring experienced leadership to this important mission."[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Galbraith was also a member of the [New York Young Republican Club](/source/New_York_Young_Republican_Club),[6] [Center for Security Policy](/source/Center_for_Security_Policy), [Council of Foreign Relations](/source/Council_of_Foreign_Relations) and the [Bohemian Club](/source/Bohemian_Club) in [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco). He was also a member of the board of directors of Club Med Inc.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

He was married twice. His first marriage, to Nancy Carothers Burdick, in 1955, ended in divorce in 1964. His second marriage was to Marie "Bootsie" Rockwell in 1964. He has three surviving children, all of his second marriage: Evan Griffith, Christina Marie and John Hamilton; and four grandchildren, Everest Griffith, Eva Quin, Sofia Christina Galbraith and Melinda Marie Galbraith. Two of his children predeceased him. A daughter by his first marriage, Alexandra Galbraith Stearns, died in 2005, and his eldest child by his second marriage, Julie Helene, died at age six in 1972 of a brain tumor. He is buried in [Arlington National Cemetery](/source/Arlington_National_Cemetery).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Works

- [*Ambassador in Paris: The Reagan Years*.](https://archive.org/details/ambassadorinpari00galb) Washington, DC: [Regnery Gateway](/source/Regnery_Gateway), 1987. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [089526577X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/089526577X) / [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0895265777](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0895265777).

- - Introduction by [William F. Buckley, Jr.](/source/William_F._Buckley%2C_Jr.)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Alexandra Robbins](/source/Alexandra_Robbins), *Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power*, [Little, Brown and Company](/source/Little%2C_Brown_and_Company), 2002, page 181, 187

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** David W. Dunlap, ["Yale Society Resists Peeks Into Its Crypt"](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/04/nyregion/yale-society-resists-peeks-into-its-crypt.html?scp=2&sq=David%20W.%20Dunlap) *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, November 4, 1988. Link retrieved 9/30/09. No mention of Galbraith in article.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Millegan, Kris. ["Everything You Ever Wanted to Ask But Were Afraid to Know."](https://archive.org/details/MilleganFleshingOutSkullBonesInvestigationsIntoAmericasMostPowerfulSecretSociety2003/page/n17/) In: [*Fleshing Out Skull & Bones: Investigations Into America’s Most Powerful Secret Society*.](https://archive.org/details/MilleganFleshingOutSkullBonesInvestigationsIntoAmericasMostPowerfulSecretSociety2003) Edited by Kris Millegan. Trine Day, 2003, p. 10. Originally published on Parascope.com, July 1996.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Freeman, Neal B. (2025-05-13). ["Sam Tanenhaus Biography of William F. Buckley Jr.: A Reader's Guide | National Review"](https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/05/a-readers-guide-to-the-sam-tanenhaus-biography-of-william-f-buckley-jr/). Retrieved 2026-02-11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Nominations & Appointments, February 21, 1986."](https://archive.today/20210203112736/https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/nominations-appointments-february-21-1986) *[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library](/source/Ronald_Reagan_Presidential_Library)*. Archived from [the original.](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/22186a)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Timeline."](https://nyyrc.com/history/) *[The New York Young Republican Club](/source/The_New_York_Young_Republican_Club)*.

## External links

- [Appearances](https://www.c-span.org/person/?6336) on [C-SPAN](/source/C-SPAN)

- ["Why Do Things Work in Switzerland and Not in the U.S.A.?"](https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/objects/7034) *[Firing Line with](/source/Firing_Line_(TV_program)) [William F. Buckley, Jr.](/source/William_F._Buckley%2C_Jr.)*, Ep. 850, February 22, 1990. Guests: Evan G. Galbraith and [Jacques Freymond](/source/Jacques_Freymond). [Full transcript available](https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/internal/media/dispatcher/234274/full) at the [Hoover Institution](/source/Hoover_Institution).

Diplomatic posts Preceded by Arthur A. Hartman U.S. Ambassador to France 1981–1985 Succeeded by Joe M. Rodgers

v t e United States ambassadors to France Envoys to France (1776–1779) Franklin, Lee & Deane/Adams Ministers Plenipotentiary to France (1778–1815) Franklin Jefferson Short Morris Monroe Pinckney Livingston Armstrong Russell (chargé d'affaires) Barlow Crawford Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1816–1893) Gallatin Brown Rives Harris (chargé d'affaires) Livingston Barton (chargé d'affaires) Cass King Rush Rives Mason Faulkner Dayton Bigelow Dix Washburne Noyes Morton McLane Reid Coolidge Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France (1893–present) Eustis Porter McCormick White Bacon Herrick Sharp Wallace Herrick Edge Straus Bullitt Leahy Tuck (chargé d'affaires) Caffery Bruce Dunn Dillon Houghton Gavin Bohlen Shriver Watson Irwin Rush Hartman Galbraith Rodgers Curley Harriman Rohatyn Leach Stapleton Rivkin Hartley McCourt Bauer Kushner

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States France BnF data Israel People LibraryThing DDB Other IdRef SNAC

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Evan G. Galbraith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_G._Galbraith) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_G._Galbraith?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.