President John F. Kennedy Name Leon Poullada Preceded by Leland Barrows Spouse Leila Jackson | Children Peter, Philip, Sofia Succeeded by William Witman II Profession Diplomat | |
Died July 17, 1987, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States Books Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan, 1919-1929: King Amanullah's Failure to Modernize a Tribal Society | ||
Leon B. Poullada (13 April 1913 – 17 July 1987) was an American diplomat, the son of a Mexican immigrant doctor, and served as an Ambassador to Togo under the Kennedy Administration.
At the end of World War Two, Major Poullada participated as Legal Counsel at the Nuremberg Trials.
In his 17-year diplomatic career, Poullada served in Ceylon, Pakistan and Afghanistan before President Kennedy nominated him as Ambassador to the nation of Togo in 1961. In 1963, while Poullada was still the ambassador, Togo's President, Sylvanus Olympio, was assassinated at the United States Embassy gates.
After retiring in 1965 from the Foreign Service, Poullada began studies at Princeton University for a doctorate in political science, he specialized in Afghan history. His dissertation, titled "Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan, 1919-1929", a study of Afghan history between 1919 and 1929, was published in 1972 by Cornell University Press. The book is a case history analysis of King Amanullah of Afghanistan's failure to modernize a Tribal Society.
Poullada taught political science at the Northern Arizona University at Flagstaff and lectured around the country on Afghanistan and United States diplomacy. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, he helped organize efforts to aid the Afghan guerrillas.
He married his wife, Leila Jackson Poullada, and had two sons, Peter Poullada of Istanbul, Turkey, and Philip Poullada of Port Washington, New York, as well as a daughter, Sofia Poullada of Saratoga, California, a granddaughter, Roxana Safipour, and a grandson, Noveed Safipour.
He died of prostate cancer at his home in St. Paul, Minnesota at age 74 in 1987.