James Plimsoll

James Plimsoll arrived in Washington in 1970 after five years heading Australia’s Department of External Affairs. Earlier American assignments and his work during the Korean War had given him substantial experience and established contacts, assets that mattered as the Nixon administration concentrated decisions in a comparatively inaccessible White House. ¹

Plimsoll traveled widely in the United States, defending allied policy in Vietnam in public and building contacts with senior officials. He arranged frequent brief discussions with Joseph Sisco during the 1973 Middle East war so that Canberra could stay informed. His posting also exposed the limits of consultation: in July 1971 he received only an hour’s notice of Nixon’s planned opening to China. ¹

Between 1970 and 1974 he represented three Australian prime ministers and four foreign ministers. The changes of government in Canberra, withdrawal from Vietnam, and Watergate made the relationship unusually difficult to manage. ¹