Charles E Saltzman

Early life and education

Charles E. Saltzman was born on September 19, 1903, in Zamboanga City in the Philippines, where his father, Charles McKinley Saltzman, was a captain in the Signal Corps of the United States Army, serving on the staff of Major General Leonard Wood. His mother was Mary Eskridge Saltzman. Saltzman's father's military career meant that he lived in a variety of places growing up: the Philippines, Washington, D.C., New York City, and Panama.

When Saltzman was five years old, in September 1908, he was present at Fort Myer for the Wright brothers' demonstration of manned flight in an event arranged by Saltzman's father. Saltzman's father served as chairman of the Federal Radio Commission from 1930 to 1932.

After graduating from high school in New York, Saltzman spent a year at Cornell University and then entered the United States Military Academy. After graduating in 1925, Saltzman was a Rhodes scholar, studying at Magdalen College, Oxford and receiving a bachelor's degree in 1928.

Career

After Saltzman completed his studies, the United States Army posted him to Camp A.A. Humphreys where he served as a lieutenant in a combat engineer company. At the same time, he served as a White House aide as an assistant to Campbell B. Hodges, a military aide of President of the United States Herbert Hoover. In this capacity, he served as an escort at state dinners.

Saltzman left the army in 1930, joining the New York Telephone Company as an engineer and manager, though he remained a member of the United States Army Reserve, later transferring to the Army National Guard. In 1935, he joined the New York Stock Exchange as an assistant to the executive vice president. He was later promoted to secretary and then to vice president of the NYSE.

Saltzman's National Guard unit was called to active service in October 1940. After the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was appointed assistant to the chief signal officer in the United States Department of War. He was posted overseas in May 1942, first in London, then in North Africa, where he served on the staff of Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark. He was Lt. Gen. Clark's deputy chief of staff, first in North Africa, and later in Italy. He stayed in Europe after the war as part of the Allied occupation of Austria, returning to the U.S. and leaving the military in 1946. He remained a member of the Reserves until 1955, retiring with the rank of major general.

Saltzman briefly returned to the New York Stock Exchange before President of the United States Harry Truman in 1947 appointed him Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas under United States Secretary of State George Marshall.

Saltzman left the United States Department of State in 1949, becoming a member of the venture capital firm of Henry Sears & Co. During the 1952 presidential election, Saltzman and Sears worked with Sears' brother-in-law Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (R—MA) to raise money for Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1954, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles appointed Saltzman to a committee tasked with studying personnel administration in the United States Department of State. After the committee issued its recommendations, President Eisenhower named Saltzman Under Secretary of State for Administration in order to implement the committee's recommendations; Saltzman held this office from June 29, 1954, through December 31, 1954.

Saltzman became a partner at Goldman Sachs in 1956, working there until his retirement in 1973.

Personal life

In 1931, Saltzman married Gertrude Lamont. They divorced in 1947. From 1947 to 1969, he was married to Cynthia Southall Myrick. In 1978, he married Clotilde Knapp McCormick. Saltzman had three children.

Death and legacy

Saltzman died at his home in New York on June 16, 1994.