Ambassador Samuel Rhea Gammon

Ambassador Samuel R. Gammon III died October 21, 2024 at age 100 in Charlottesville, VA, of a respiratory illness. His quick wit and keen intelligence served him well over a long and distinguished career as an esteemed diplomat and historian.

Ambassador Gammon joined the Foreign Service in 1954. Having previously learned French and German, he quickly picked up Italian for his early tours in Palermo and Milan. He later served as Consul General in Asmara, Ethiopia; Political Counselor in Rome; Deputy Assistant Director of USIA, covering USIA relations with State and the rest of the U.S. government; Executive Assistant for Management at the State Department under William Macomber and later Ben Read; Deputy Executive Secretary of the Secretariat under Henry Kissinger; Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé in Paris; and Ambassador to Mauritius. He also served a seven-month detail in 1963 as an assistant to Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

Ambassador Gammon was born in Sherman, TX, on January 22, 1924. He attended Texas A&M beginning in 1940, where his father served as Chair of the History Department for 30 years. A horseback rider, he joined the Corps of Cadets and rode in the university cavalry. He was commissioned to the U.S. Army at 19 and joined the cavalry during World War II, then served in the infantry once his unit was disbanded. His tales of wartime service included being the first American to enter Hitler’s bunker in Garmisch and working in Paris for the army after the war, dealing with property requisitioned by the government (including the top of the Eiffel Tower!). He returned to Texas A&M for his final semester, receiving his B.A. in 1946, and then began graduate work at Princeton. His education was interrupted when he was recalled to the army during the Korean War, but eventually he received both a M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Princeton in 1953, with a stint at the University of London as a Rotary Fellow. His book, Statesman and Schemer: William First Lord Paget, Tudor Minister, concerning the last foreign minister of Henry VIII, was published in 1973.

At his alma mater, Ambassador Gammon was quoted as saying that the Foreign Service “was a great career. I met four U.S. presidents, three French presidents, two Italian presidents, one emperor, the Shah of Iran, and one pope.”

Following retirement from the Foreign Service, he embarked upon a second career as Executive Director of the American Historical Association from 1981 to 1994, retiring at age 70. He was able to relish his love of history, while making significant contributions to the Association, by expanding its membership and ending its budget deficit.

Ambassador Gammon left no immediate family. His brother died in World War II in the Philippines and his wife Mary Renwick Gammon, to whom he had been married for 60 years, pre-deceased him in 2007. They had no children, but he is remembered fondly by many friends and co-workers. His godson recalls his enthusiastic sand-castle building, executed with precise architectural details on the beach in Rehoboth.

A memorial service will be held at the DACOR Bacon House in Washington D.C. on January 25, 2025 at 2:00 pm. and at Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge on November 16, 2024 at 1:00 pm.

Gifts in his memory can be made to The National Museum of American Diplomacy at the State Department. https://diplomacy.state.gov/support-the-museum/

Published Sources:

https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Gammon,%20Samuel%20R.III.toc.pdf

https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/blog/2017/12/01/making-history-former-ambassadors-gift-adds-to-his-legacy/

https://www.txamfoundation.com/News/An-Aggie-Abroad.aspx

https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/gammon-steps-down-as-executive-director-gardner-named-acting-executive-director/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Rhea_Gammon_III