{{short description|American diplomat (1915-1999)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Robert C. Strong | office = [[US Ambassador to Iraq]] | image = File:Swearing in ceremony Robert C. Strong.png | caption = Robert C. Strong sworn in as Ambassador to Iraq by William J. Tonask, Deputy Chief of Protocol. [[W. Averell Harriman]], Undersecretary, looks on | predecessor = [[John D. Jernegan]] | successor = [[Enoch S. Duncan]] | president = [[John F. Kennedy]]<br>[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] | term_start = 1963 | term_end = 1967 }} '''Robert Campbell Strong''' (September 29, 1915 – December 28, 1999) was a [[United States]] [[diplomat]] serving as head of [[Embassy of the United States, Baghdad|U.S. missions in]] [[Embassy of the United States, Baghdad|Baghdad, Iraq]] and [[Taipei]], [[Taiwan]].
==Biography== Born Robert Campbell Strong on September 29, 1915, in [[Chicago, Illinois]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/strong.html#RLZ1ATO7O|title = The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Strong}}</ref> Strong eventually moved to [[Beloit, Wisconsin]]. He attended [[Beloit College]] where he was a member of [[Sigma Pi]] fraternity and graduated in 1938.<ref name = Emerald1963>{{cite magazine|date=Fall 1963|volume=50|number=3|magazine=The Emerald of Sigma Pi|title=Sigma Pi In The News: Ambassador to Iraq|pages=119–120|url=http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1963/SP_EMERALD_VOL_50_NO_3_FALL_1963.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021063755/http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1963/SP_EMERALD_VOL_50_NO_3_FALL_1963.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 21, 2016}}</ref> He then studied at the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]].
Strong began his career in 1939 after passing a three day test to be admitted into the foreign service.<ref name = Emerald1963/> He served as U.S. Vice Consul in [[Prague|Prague, Czechoslovakia]] and in [[Durban, South Africa]]. For a while, he was stationed at the [[U.S. Army War College]] in [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania]].<ref name = Emerald1963/> In 1949, he served as the U.S. [[Head of mission]] ([[Charge d’affaires]]) of the Embassy Office [[Taipei]] following the [[Retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Secretary of State to the Consul at Taipei (Edgar) |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1949v08/d856 |publisher=[[Department of State]] |author=[[Dean Acheson]] |date=1949-12-30 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20210505144134/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1949v08/d856 |archivedate=2021-05-05 |accessdate=2021-05-05}}</ref> In April 1961, he was appointed Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs under [[Phillips Talbot]].<ref>Panaspornprasit, Chookiat, ''US-Kuwaiti Relations, 1961-1992: An Uneasy Relationship'' (Routledge 2005). Print.</ref><ref name="List">{{cite web | title=List of Persons | url=http://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/kennedyjf/xvii/17700.htm | publisher=U.S. Department of State | access-date=August 7, 2015}}</ref> President Kennedy appointed him [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Iraq|U.S. Ambassador to Iraq]] on May 13, 1963.<ref name="Ambassador">{{cite web | title=Strong Named New U.S. Ambassador to Iraq | url=https://www.jta.org/1963/05/14/archive/strong-named-new-u-s-ambassador-to-iraq-served-in-state-department | publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency | year=1963 | access-date=August 7, 2015}}</ref> He served in this capacity until 1967. On May 19, 1965, President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] honored Strong with the [[United States Civil Service Commission|National Civil Service League]] award.<ref>''Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965'' (U.S. Government Printing Office), 563. Print.</ref>
He died on December 28, 1999, in [[Tucson, Arizona]], and was buried at Beloit.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}
Strong's son, Gridley Barstow Strong, served in the [[United States Marine Corps]] during the [[Vietnam War]] and was killed during the [[Battle of Khe Sanh]].
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box |title=[[United States Ambassador to Iraq]] |before=[[John D. Jernegan]] |after=[[Enoch S. Duncan]] |years=1963–1967}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Robert C.}} [[Category:1915 births]] [[Category:1999 deaths]] [[Category:People from Beloit, Wisconsin]] [[Category:Diplomats from Chicago]] [[Category:Beloit College alumni]] [[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Iraq]] [[Category:United States Foreign Service personnel]] [[Category:American expatriates in Taiwan]] [[Category:Sigma Pi members]] [[Category:20th-century American people]]