Paul Trauger Culbertson Sr. (April 11, 1897 – December 18, 1968) was an Americandiplomat andsoldier.

Culbertson was born on April 11, 1897, inGreensburg, Pennsylvania, to George Culbertson, alongside three other sons.^[1][2] He studied atWestern High School, beforeenlisting as aprivate on November 1, 1917, duringWorld War I in theUnited States Army Ambulance Service, where he participated in theSecond Battle of the Somme, during which he was awarded theCroix de Guerre.^[3][4] Following two of his brothers into the university, Culbertson graduated fromYale University in 1923; while there he joinedAlpha Chi Rho and theYale Glee Club. After graduating he moved toEmporia,Kansas.^[5]

Culbertson had a son, Paul Trauger Culbertson Jr., with his wife Maria Bisset Culbertson, on February 2, 1929. Shortly after, in the 1930s, the family moved toDarnestown,Maryland.^[6][7]

Culbertson was nominated to serve as aConsul for theUnited States in 1932.^[8] He then went on to serve as Assistant Chief of theOffice of Western European Affairs.^[9][10][11] While serving in this role he at times worked alongside his brother,William Smith Culbertson, who had already served as anAmbassador toChile and continued to represent the United States abroad.^[12][13] He also worked to ensure U.S. access tomilitary bases andairfields in theFrench controlledterritories ofNorthern andWestern Africa.^[11]

Culbertson began serving asChargé d’Affaires of the United States toSpain in June 1947.^[1][14][15] During his tenure, he faced the challenge of negotiating withFrancisco Franco's government in the aftermath ofWorld War II.^[16] Despite pressure fromEuropean allies and Spanish exiles who had stood against thefascist powers during WWII, he was instructed that the U.S. would not be seeking to remove Franco from power beginning in 1948.^[17][18] This change in policy, along with 'friendly' relations by certain members of congress, made it difficult to achieve concessions from Spain in negotiations; this resulted in negotiations between the two countries seeing much debate over numerous issues.^[19][20][21]

Early on one such issue was the battle betweenextradition andrepatriation ofGermanNazis in the aftermath of the war. Despite domestic pressure, Culbertson did not see the affair as integral to security, instead believing the people remaining withinWest Germany were a larger security threat.^[22] Another was negotiating with Franco's regime over the allocation of foreign aid, the government did not want to be included under theMarshal Plan and would push back against Culbertson's attempts toliberalize the economy of the country and expandpersonal liberties.^{[23][24][25][26]} One of the liberties that he criticized Franco over was the lack ofreligious liberty within the state.^[27] He would occasionally join, thenSpanish Foreign Minister,Alberto Martín-Artajo forhunting trips.^[28][29]

By June 1949 Culbertson's tone shifted. He began writing back to the United States that he was skeptical of the need toexport democratic values to other countries and that theSpanish people were culturally incompatible with democratic beliefs.^[30] This change also became evident in his opinion on the U.S. tolerating the Franco regime, as he stated that, in his opinion,economic sanctions would be foolish and that after the fall of Franco "all hell would break loose" in Spain.^{[31][32][33][34]} He left this position in December 1950.^[1][35]

Culbertson died on December 18, 1968.^[1]

• 1897 births
• 1968 deaths
• People from Greensburg, Pennsylvania
• Military personnel from Pennsylvania
• United States Army personnel of World War I
• American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
• Yale University alumni
• Ambassadors of the United States to Spain
• 20th-century American diplomats

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Pages using infobox officeholder with ambassador from or minister from