Seelye was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of American parents, Kate Ethel (Chambers) and Laurens Hickok Seelye, a professor at the American University of Beirut. He was a great-grandson of Julius Hawley Seelye (famed preacher, writer and fifth president of Amherst College). He attended Deerfield Academy and then graduated from Amherst College in 1944 and enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term during World War II.
Seelye joined the Foreign Service in 1949, and was posted in Stuttgart, Ulm, Amman, Beirut, and Kuwait. From 1960 to 1964, he was Iraq-Jordan desk officer, then officer in charge of Arabian Peninsula affairs, at the State Department.
In 1964 to 65 Seelye attended the National War College, and from 1965 to 1968, he was Chief of Mission in Jidda. From 1968 to 1972, he was Country Director for Lebanon, Jordan, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Iraq.
From 1972 to 1976, Seelye was Ambassador to Tunisia. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1976 to 1977. In 1976 he also served as special representative to the President of Lebanon. From 1979 to 1981, Seelye was Ambassador to Syria, which was his final post before retiring.
In editorial articles, television commentary, and other public appearances, Seelye had been critical of Israel for its militarism and of US foreign policy for being in support of such policies. Within the framework of America's pro-Israel lobby (see American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Seelye has often been portrayed as an anti-Zionist Arabist. His work has been reviewed, critically, by pro-Israel groups such as Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), Middle East Forum (with its Campus Watch project), and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who have reported on Seelye's ties to oil companies and the Saudi Arabian House of Saud. Critics include Steven Emerson (The American House of Saud: The Secret Petrodollar Connection), Daniel Pipes, Martin Kramer, David Horowitz, and Robert D. Kaplan.
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Seelye again found himself in the spotlight as an expert on Middle Eastern affairs and continued to advise think tanks and policy making groups. He also continues to be strongly criticized by writers who do not agree with his views on the Middle East, such as an Atlantic Monthly article Robert D. Kaplan in which he wrote of Seelye that such "Arabists and other area specialists may be emotionally involved, through marriage or friendship, with host countries – often causing them to dislike the policies that Washington orders them to execute." Seelye and over 50 former US ambassadors and government officials signed the Middle East Policy Council's letter to President George W. Bush, criticizing US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, specifically Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral Gaza withdrawal plan, announced in 2004 and enacted in 2005 (letter cited below), which followed earlier British diplomats' letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Seeyle is the father of Kate Seelye, a reporter who works for NPR.
U.S.-Arab Relations: The Syrian Dimension (Portland: Portland State University Press, 1985) ISBN 0-916729-02-8
Articles
Journal of Palestine Studies – review of Syria and Israel: by Moshe Ma'oz (1996)
AMEU The Link – book review (1995)
Journal of Palestine Studies – review of Deliberate Deceptions by Paul Findley (1995)
Numerous articles
Memorandum – on TWA hijacking (1969)
Memorandum on military supply program in Jordan (1968)
Memorandum on Arab-Israeli impasse (1968)
Memorandum on message to King Hussein of Jordan (1968)
Memorandum on audience with King Hussein (1968)
Memorandum on message for King Hussein (1968)
Telegram on 1967 ceasefire (1968)
Telegram on Lebanon's views on 1967 ceasefire (1968)
Telegram on discussions of Jordan's internal defense (1968)
Memorandum on message to Jordanian prime minister Talhouni (1968)
Memorandum on Yemen Situation (1962)
Memorandum on conversation with Crown Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia (1962)
Memorandum on Yemen situation (1962)
Paper on US position on the recognition of the Yemen Arab Republic (1962)
Telegram on Assistant Secretary Philip Talbot's meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Faisal in New York (1962)
Paper on death of Yemeni imam Ahmed bin Yahya (1962)
Memorandum of conversation between Assistant Secretary Philip Talbot and Saudi Crown Prince Faisal in New York (1962)
Memorandum on matters from White House meeting between President John F. Kennedy and King Saud of Saudi Arabia (1962)
Memorandum of conversation between President Kennedy and King Saud (1962)
Circular Airgram from USDOS to US embassies in Kuwait and United Kingdom (1962)
Memorandum on upcoming meeting between President Kennedy and King Saud (1961)
T. W. Seelye, 84, Ambassador and Mideast Expert, Dies Margolit Fox (New York Times)
Notes on a Diplomatic Life Kate Seelye
Talcott Seelye, leading envoy in Middle Eastern affairs; at 84 Patricia Sullivan (Boston Globe)
Notes on a Diplomatic Life: Talcott W. Seelye Patricia Sullivan (Washington Post)
In Memoriam: Talcott Williams Seelye (1922–2006) Andrew I. Kilgore (WRMEA)
U.S. Department of State: ambassador to Syria, ambassador to Tunisia, chairman for Jordan Hijacking Working Group, country director for Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, officer in charge of Arabian Peninsula Affairs
PBS – interviewed for Hijacked (2006)
Mother Jones – recollections about 1950s ally Said Ramadan of the Islamic brotherhood (2006)
WashingtonNote.com – signatory of letter to U.S. Senator Richard Lugar opposing John R. Bolton's nomination as US ambassador to the United Nations (2005)
DACOR Bulletin – contribution in memoriam for Louise Schaffner Armstrong (2005)
MEPC Letter to President Bush – signatory of letter to President Bush opposing Prime Minister Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan (2004), following (Letter to Prime Minister Blair (also listed by WRMEA)
PBS News Hour – interview transcript (2001)
CNN – interview regarding death of Syrian president Hafez al-Assad (2000)
Voice of America – on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon (2000)
Foreign Policy in Focus – "The U.S. and the Israeli-Syrian Peace Process" by Stephen Zunes (2000)
For the Record – transcript of discussion with Milton Viorst (1999)
CNN – interview with Judy Woodruff on fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Hizballah (1996)
Summit Council for World Peace – panelist on discussion of the Middle East in the 1990s and World Peace (1993)
Journal of Palestine Studies – review of The Arabists by former US Ambassador Richard B. Parker (1993)
Washington and Lee University – speaker (1991)
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs – biographical interview (1990)
WhatReallyHappened.com – excerpt from Paul Findley's book They Dare to Speak Out on controversy over Seelye's cable to Stephen Solarz (1989)
Papers of William J. Butler – correspondence on Rhodesia (1976)
ABC News – appointment as ambassador (1976)
Atlantic Monthly – Robert Kaplan continues attacks on Seelye (2003) – see complete article
National Review – Seelye as Arabist (2003) by Alex Safian, associate director of CAMERA
Jerusalem Post on National Public Radio's bias (2003) [pay archive]
Wall Street Journal – Daniel Pipes article reviewing Robert Kaplan's book The Arabists (1999)
American Spectator – review by Daniel Pipes of Assassination in Khartoum by David Corn (1994)
Jerusalem Post on Arabist (1994)
Jerusalem Post on Seelye cable to Stephen Solarz (1994)
Jerusalem Post (1989)
Jerusalem Post (1989)
