Diplomacy of Quiet Candor: John Sherman Cooper’s Tenure as Ambassador to India, 1955–56

This paper will examine John Sherman Cooper’s tenure as ambassador to India. Cooper took over the embassy in India at an especially critical time, not only for the relationship between Washington and New Delhi, but also in the Cold War. The Eisenhower administration faced a myriad of challenges in the mid-1950s as it dealt with the forces of decolonization, nationalism, the globalization of the Cold War, and a tenuous relationship with the Soviet Union in the wake of Stalin’s death. In the midst of this upheaval, U.S. officials considered few, if any, diplomatic posts to be more significant than India. Its critical geopolitical position in Asia in the wake of the Korean conflict, combined with U.S. concern over Prime Minister Jawaharal Nehru’s firm commitment to a policy of nonalignment, made relations with New Delhi of paramount importance to the United States. Cooper was instrumental in strengthening U.S.-Indian relations significantly, even if he did not solve all of the outstanding issues between Washington and New Delhi. Based on research at the University of Kentucky’s Public Policy Archives, the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, several presidential libraries, and the Foreign Relations of the United States series, the paper will analyze the improvement of relations between India and the United States during Cooper’s ambassadorship, especially through his relationship with Nehru. It will also consider broader factors such the Eisenhower administration’s policies toward the Third World, the globalization of the Cold War, and the impact of trends such as decolonization on U.S.-Indian relations. In addition, it will discuss the role played by Cooper’s wife, Lorraine, in his diplomatic efforts. The paper is part of a broader political biography that will examine Cooper’s life and career in the context of the Cold War from 1946 to 1976.