{{Short description|American diplomat (1907–2002)}} {{Infobox officeholder | office = 8th Director General of the Foreign Service | image=Tyler-Thompson (cropped).jpg | caption=Thompson in 1964 | term_start = May 14, 1961 | term_end = February 15, 1964 | preceded = Waldemar J. Gallman | succeeded = Joseph Palmer II | birth_date = {{birth date|1907|9|21}} | birth_place=Elmira, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2002|3|30|1907|9|21}} | death_place=Hancock, Maine, U.S. | spouse={{marriage|Ruth Webb Hunt|1931}} | children=2 | profession=Diplomat }}
'''Tyler Thompson''' (September 21, 1907 – March 30, 2002) was an American Ambassador to Finland and Iceland.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |title=Tyler Thompson Is Chosen As Ambassador to Finland |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/07/09/archives/tyler-thompson-is-chosen-as-ambassador-to-finland.html |access-date=28 August 2022 |publisher=The New York Times |date=July 9, 1964}}</ref> He also served as the director general of the Foreign Service.<ref name="OotH">{{cite web |title=Tyler Thompson (1907–2002) |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/thompson-tyler |website=Office of the Historian |publisher=Department of State |access-date=28 August 2022}}</ref>
Thompson was a native of Elmira, New York, where he was born on September 21, 1907.<ref name="obit" /><ref name="NYT"/> He entered the Foreign Service in 1931 after graduating from Princeton University.<ref name="NYT" /> He served as the United States ambassador to Iceland January 27, 1960 through April 16, 1961; director general of the Foreign Service from May 14, 1961 through February 15, 1964; special assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Administration; then as ambassador to Finland July 31, 1964 until June 14, 1969.<ref name="OotH"/> During the Cold War, he opposed deploying U.S. nuclear weapons in Iceland.<ref>[https://www.icelandreview.com/news/us-debated-deploying-nuclear-weapons-in-iceland/ "US Debated Deploying Nuclear Weapons in Iceland"] ''Iceland Review'', August 16, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2024.</ref>
Thompson was married to Ruth Webb Hunt in 1931 and had two children.<ref name="obit" /> He died in Hancock, Maine on March 30, 2002.<ref name="obit">{{cite web|title=Obituaries|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bangor-daily-news-obituary-for-tyler/91382242/|publisher=The Bangor Daily News|page=B6|date=April 5, 2002|access-date=May 10, 2025}}.</ref>
==References== <references />
==External links== *[https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/22955-document-document-9-ambassador-tyler-thompson Ambassador Tyler Thompson to Ivan White, 5 August 1960, top secret, excised copy]
{{US Ambassadors to Finland}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Tyler}} {{US-diplomat-stub}}
Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Finland Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Iceland Category:1907 births Category:2002 deaths