{{About|the American diplomat George Venable Allen|the British vice-chancellor|George Vance Allen}} {{Short description|American diplomat (1903–1970)}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = George V. Allen | image = George V Allen 1924.jpg | caption = 1924 Duke University Senior Yearbook Photo | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|11|03}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1970|07|11|1903|11|03}} | birth_place = [[Durham, North Carolina]], U.S. | death_place = [[Bahama, North Carolina]], U.S. | resting_place = [[Rock Creek Cemetery]] | alma_mater = [[Duke University]] | office = [[United States Ambassador to Iran]] | term_start = April 23, 1946 | term_end = February 17, 1948 | predecessor = [[Wallace Murray (diplomat)|Wallace Murray]] | successor = [[John C. Wiley]] | president = [[Harry S. Truman]] | office1 = [[United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia]] | term_start1 = October 27, 1949 | term_end1 = March 11, 1953 | predecessor1 = [[Cavendish W. Cannon]] | successor1 = [[James Williams Riddleberger]] | president1 = [[Harry S. Truman]] | office2 = [[United States Ambassador to India]] | term_start2 = March 11, 1953 | term_end2 = November 30, 1954 | predecessor2 = [[Chester Bowles]] | successor2 = [[John Sherman Cooper]] | president2 = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] | office3 = [[United States Ambassador to Nepal]] | term_start3 = March 11, 1953 | term_end3 = November 30, 1954 | predecessor3 = [[Chester Bowles]] | successor3 = [[John Sherman Cooper|John Cooper]] | president3 = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] | office4 = [[United States Ambassador to Greece]] | term_start4 = July 26, 1956 | term_end4 = November 13, 1957 | predecessor4 = [[Cavendish W. Cannon]] | successor4 = [[James Williams Riddleberger]] | president4 = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] | office5 = 3rd [[Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs]] | term_start5 = January 26, 1955 | term_end5 = August 27, 1956 | preceded5 = [[Henry A. Byroade]] | succeeded5 = [[William M. Rountree]] | office6 = 3rd [[Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs]] | term_start6 = March 31, 1948 | term_end6 = November 28, 1949 | preceded6 = [[William Benton (politician)|William Benton]] | succeeded6 = [[Edward W. Barrett]] }}
'''George Venable Allen''' (November 3, 1903 – July 11, 1970) was a United States [[diplomat]]. He served as [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Iran|ambassador to Iran]] during the crisis of 1946 and was involved in managing American relations amid the [[Cold War]] with the [[Soviet Union]]. He was involved in expanding activities of the [[Voice of America]], exporting culture, and increasing U.S. participation in [[UNESCO]].
==Early life and career== Born in [[Durham, North Carolina]], son of merchant Thomas Ellis Allen and Harriet Moore, he attended [[Duke University]]—then known as Trinity College—graduating in 1924<ref name="archive">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/chanticleerseria1924duke#page/34/mode/2up|title=The Chanticleer [serial]|access-date=2015-10-18}}</ref> and from [[Harvard University]] in 1929.<ref name="nndb">{{cite web|url=https://www.nndb.com/people/614/000121251/|title=George V. Allen|publisher=nndb.com|access-date=2015-10-18}}</ref> He worked briefly as a high school teacher between 1924 and 1928 and as a newspaper reporter for the ''Asheville Times'' and ''Durham Herald''.
He joined the [[United States Foreign Service|Foreign Service]] in 1930, working first as vice consul in [[Kingston, Jamaica]] and later in [[Shanghai|Shanghai, China]]; [[Patras|Patras, Greece]]; and [[Cairo|Cairo, Egypt]]. He served as [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Iran|U.S. Ambassador to Iran]] from 1946 to 1948. During this period he worked on preventing a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-[[Iran]] oil agreement and led to the Iranian prime minister [[Ahmad Qavam]] dropping communist cabinet members. He also helped build ties with Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Mohammed Reza Pahlavi]], playing weekly tennis matches with the monarch. He served as [[Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs]] from 1948 to 1949, [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Yugoslavia|U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia]] from 1949 to 1953, and [[United States Ambassador to India]] and [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Nepal|Nepal]] from 1953 to 1954. While in [[India]] he, along with [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], supported India's rival, [[Pakistan]], with military support as a deterrent against Soviet relations with India. He then served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs from 1953 to 1954, [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Greece|U.S. Ambassador to Greece]] from 1956 to 1957, and Director of the [[U.S. Information Agency]] from 1957 to 1960.<ref>{{cite book|title=American National Biography|author=Merrill, D.|year=2000|chapter=Allen, George Venable (1903-1970), diplomat|doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0700005}}</ref> In 1960, Allen was named [[Career Ambassador]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=George Venable Allen |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/allen-george-venable |website=Office of the Historian}}</ref>
Allen was president of the [[Tobacco Institute]] from 1960 to 1966.<ref> {{cite press release |title=George V. Allen, U.S.I.A Director, Named Tobacco Institute President |publisher=Hill and Knowlton |date=1960-11-11 |url=http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/zfa70a00 |access-date=2008-08-02}} </ref><ref> {{cite press release |title=Former Senator Earle C. Clements Named Tobacco Institute President |publisher=Tobacco Institute |date=1966-02-23 |url=http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ctl21c00 |access-date=2008-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA |title=UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. PHILIP MORRIS USA INC., f/k/a PHILIP MORRIS INC., et al., Defendants. |url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/civil/legacy/2014/09/11/20040816%20US%20FACTUAL%20MEMO%20w%20BkMks_0.pdf |website=justice.gov}}</ref> He defended the tobacco industry as early reports of links between cigarette smoking and cancer began to emerge.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1970-07-12 |title=George V. Allen Is Dead at 66; One of 16 Career Ambassadors |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/12/archives/george-v-allen-is-dead-at-66-one-of-16-career-ambassadors.html |access-date=2023-11-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
In 1966, Allen returned to the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] as the Director of the [[Foreign Service Institute]]. He retired in 1968.
==Personal life== Despite working in the private sector from 1960 to 1966, Allen remained involved in foreign affairs. From 1961 to 1962, Allen was on the [[Herter Committee|Committee on Foreign Affairs Personnel]], which was involved in [[Anti-communism|Cold War anticommunism]]. He was also sworn in as President of [[Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired (DACOR)]] in April of 1964.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=March 1966 |title=George Allen Sworn As Head of Foreign Service Institute |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112108168821&seq=187 |journal=State Department Newsletter |pages=19 |via=Hathitrust}}</ref>
Allen appeared as himself, while serving as the Director of the Foreign Service Institute, on the February 6, 1967 episode of the game show ''[[To Tell the Truth]]''. He deceived none, receiving all four votes from the panel.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Tell the Truth |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-6hi4OZClA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/N-6hi4OZClA |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=[[CBS]] |access-date= April 27, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
He married Katharine Martin in 1934, author of a self-published book on their lives overseas, ''Foreign Service Diary.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Latimer |first=Rebecca H. |date=April 1968 |title=No Red Carpet |url=https://afsa.org/foreign-service-journal-april-1968 |journal=The Foreign Service Journal |pages=41}}</ref> They had three children, George V. Allen, Jr., John M. Allen and Richard A. Allen, all lawyers in Washington, D.C. He died at [[Bahama, North Carolina]] and is interred in [[Rock Creek Cemetery]] in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington D.C.]]<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-sun-george-v-allen-13-jul-1/194920252/ |title=George V. Allen |date=1970-07-13 |newspaper=The Herald-Sun |page=14 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2026-04-05}}{{Open access}}</ref>
==Notes== <references />
==External links== * [http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/allengv.htm George V. Allen Papers]
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box | title = [[United States Ambassador to Iran|U.S. Ambassador to Iran]] | before = [[Wallace Murray (ambassador)|Wallace Murray]] | after = [[John C. Wiley]] | years = 1946–1948 }} {{succession box | title = [[United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia|U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia]] | before = [[Cavendish W. Cannon]] | after = [[James Williams Riddleberger]] | years = 1949–1953 }} {{succession box | title = [[United States Ambassador to India|U.S. Ambassador to India]]<br />Also accredited to [[Nepal]] | before = [[Chester Bowles]] | after = [[John Sherman Cooper]] | years = 1953–1954 }} {{succession box | title = [[United States Ambassador to Greece|U.S. Ambassador to Greece]] | before = [[Cavendish W. Cannon]] | after = [[James Williams Riddleberger]] | years = 1956–1957 }} {{s-gov}} {{succession box| before=[[William Benton (senator)|William Benton]]| title=[[Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs]]| after=[[Edward W. Barrett]]| years= March 31, 1948 – November 28, 1949 }} {{succession box| before=[[Henry A. Byroade]]| title=[[Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs]]| after=[[William M. Rountree]]| years=January 26, 1955 – August 27, 1956 }} {{s-end}} {{United States Ambassadors to Iran}} {{US Ambassadors to Greece}} {{US Ambassador to India}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, George Venable}} [[Category:Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni]] [[Category:Harvard University alumni]] [[Category:People from Durham, North Carolina]] [[Category:1903 births]] [[Category:1970 deaths]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Greece]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to India]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Iran]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Nepal]] [[Category:Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery]] [[Category:United States Information Agency directors]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Yugoslavia]] [[Category:20th-century American diplomats]] [[Category:United States career ambassadors]] [[Category:United States assistant secretaries of state]] [[Category:Assistant secretaries of state for African affairs]]