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Lincoln MacVeagh (October 1, 1890 – January 15, 1972) was a United States diplomat,archaeologist, soldier andpublisher, he was the founder ofDial Press. He served a long career as the United States ambassador to several countries during difficult times.

The MacVeagh family has several noted names in the history of the United States:

• Lincoln's grandfatherWayne MacVeagh wasattorney general in the cabinet of PresidentJames Garfield.
• Lincoln's fatherCharles MacVeagh was PresidentCalvin Coolidge'sambassador to Japan.
• Lincoln's great-uncleFranklin MacVeagh wasSecretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of PresidentWilliam Howard Taft.

Lincoln MacVeagh was born October 1, 1890, inNarragansett Pier, Rhode Island, the son of Charles MacVeagh and Fanny Davenport Rogers MacVeagh. MacVeagh graduated fromGroton School in 1909 andHarvardmagna cum laude in 1913. He studied languages at theSorbonne in 1913–14. He was fluent in German, French, Spanish,Latin, andClassical Greek.

On August 17, 1917, MacVeagh married Margaret Charlton Lewis, the daughter of a distinguished linguist. She was also a serious student of classical languages. Their daughter, Margaret Ewen MacVeagh, accompanied her parents on various tours of duty around the world. Mrs. MacVeagh died on September 9, 1947.

MacVeagh served in theU.S. Army during theGreat War, attaining the rank of Major. He was a member of theAmerican Expeditionary Force in Europe. He served in theArtois,St. Mihiel andMeuse-Argonne campaigns and was cited by General of the ArmiesJohn J. Pershing in 1919 for "exceptionally meritorious services." After World War I, he became a director ofHenry Holt and Company, a publishing firm in New York City. In 1923 he left Henry Holt to found theDial Press.

In 1933, PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt appointed MacVeagh to be theEnvoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Greece. Following hispresentation of his credentials, he gave a speech in classical Greek. He remained at the post inAthens until June 5, 1941, several months after the German Army overran Greece.

In 1940, at the beginning ofWorld War II, British troops had invaded and occupied Iceland in fear that Germany would take the island first. In July 1941, the governments of Iceland and the US had agreed that Iceland's defense would be the responsibility of the United States. On August 8, 1941, President Roosevelt appointed MacVeagh as the firstU.S. ambassador to Iceland to manage the sensitive relations between the U.S. and Iceland. He remained inReykjavík until June 27, 1942.

President Roosevelt appointed him to another ambassadorship, this time as theEnvoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to theUnion of South Africa. He served inPretoria from May 21, 1942, until November 21, 1943, successfully coordinating the American wartime agencies there.

On November 12, 1943, President Roosevelt again called on MacVeagh's experience in sensitive foreign relations. The President sent him toCairo to act as the ambassador to thegovernments-in-exile ofGreece andYugoslavia who had fled their countries. After the liberation of Greece, MacVeagh transferred the embassy back to Athens on October 27, 1944. The office of the Embassy at Cairo was closed, November 8, 1944.

In 1947, he gave secret testimony to theCongress on the danger of Soviet-supported extreme leftist movements in the Balkans. This testimony was considered an important factor in formulating what became known as theTruman Doctrine, which stated that the U.S. would support Greece andTurkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into theSoviet Union'ssphere of influence. MacVeagh pressed the post-war Greek Government to pursue a democratic policy.

While he was in Greece, MacVeagh conducted excavations beneath theAcropolis and made archeological contributions to theNational Archaeological Museum of Athens. With his first wife, Margaret, he wroteGreek Journey, a book for children. His wife died while they were in Athens. He left Athens on October 11, 1947.

PresidentTruman named MacVeagh asambassador to Portugal on April 8, 1948. While inLisbon, he was instrumental in bringingPortugal intoNATO. He remained at the post in Lisbon until February 26, 1952.

In 1952, President Truman called upon MacVeagh to serve asambassador to Spain. He served for a year inMadrid.

He retired in 1953 as an envoy in Madrid after having conducted successful negotiations for military and economic agreements between the United States and Spain.

In May 1955, MacVeagh remarried Mrs. Virginia Ferrante Coats, daughter ofMarchese andMarchesa Ferrante di Ruffano ofNaples, Italy.

MacVeagh died on January 15, 1972, at a nursing home inAdelphi, Maryland, at the age of 81. He was survived by his wife and daughter, Margaret (Mrs.Samuel E. Thorne) ofCambridge, Massachusetts. He was interred at the Church of the Redeemer Cemetery inLower Merion Township nearPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.^[1]

• Princeton University: Lincoln MacVeagh Papers
• Poem dedicated by Robert Frost to Lincoln MacVeagh "A Star in a Stoneboat" found in "New Hampshire" 1923.

• Lincoln MacVeagh Diaries at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
• Dial Press Records at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
• Lincoln MacVeagh Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
• The American Presidency Project: Letter to Lincoln MacVeagh on His Appointment as Ambassador to Portugal

• 1890 births
• 1972 deaths
• Ambassadors of the United States to Greece
• Harvard University alumni
• University of Paris alumni
• Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal
• Ambassadors of the United States to Yugoslavia
• 20th-century American diplomats
• Ambassadors of the United States to Iceland
• Ambassadors of the United States to Spain
• Ambassadors of the United States to South Africa

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