'Dealing with disillusioned men': the Washington ambassadorship of Sir Patrick Dean, 1965-69

Abstract

This article provides the first appraisal of the role of UK Ambassador to the United States Sir Patrick Dean, 1965-69. Dean found himself preoccupied with difficulties over Vietnam and British military commitments East of Suez. He helped to promote greater mutual understanding between London and Washington, but never gained much of a standing in the Johnson White House, as the high-level Anglo-American relationship was declining and the President had a negative attitude to foreign diplomats. Dean also found himself operating in a period when ambassadors and embassies were becoming less central to the formulation of British foreign policy and to international affairs in general.