Lincoln Gordon was appointed ambassador to Brazil in 1961 by President Kennedy after working for the State Department, developing the Marshall Plan, and helping create the economic plans for the Alliance for Progress. Gordon, a Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar, and accomplished academic, was considered one of the government’s leading experts on Latin America before his appointment as ambassador. During his years as ambassador, Gordon was critical of the leftist government of Joao Goulart, and authorized U.S. military support for the 1964 coup that overthrew Goulart. Gordon’s involvement in the coup remained secret to the public until 1974, when Phyllis Parker uncovered and published recently declassified documents proving that the United States was prepared to provide military and economic support to General Castelo Branco and other coup planners. After his tenure as ambassador, Gordon went back to academia, serving as president of Johns Hopkins University for four years before becoming a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Lincoln Gordon’s oral history (from the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library)

To read documents written by Gordon about U.S. involvement in Brazil, go to: the US and the 1964 coup.