Anthony B. Akers, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Anthony B. Akers

US ambassador to New Zealand

Date of Birth: 19-Oct-1914

Place of Birth: Charlotte, Texas, United States

Date of Death: 01-Apr-1976

Profession: lawyer, ambassador

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Libra


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About Anthony B. Akers

  • Anthony Boyce Akers (October 19, 1914 – April 1, 1976) was an American attorney who served as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand from 1961 to 1963.Akers was born in Charlotte, Texas, near San Antonio, and attended the University of Texas, later graduating from Columbia Law School.
  • Enlisting in the US Navy in 1940, he served in the Pacific as lieutenant commander of a PT boat, and was awarded a Silver Star and two Presidential citations.
  • He was one of four officers who became the fictionalized heroes of William L.
  • White's 1942 novel They Were Expendable, based on his Squadron 3's evacuation of General Douglas MacArthur and President Manuel Quezon from Corregidor to Australia.
  • When John Ford filmed the story, Akers served as a technical advisor.During the Korean War, Akers served as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy Under-Secretary of the Air Force.
  • He was director of the New York City office of the State Department of Commerce until 1958.
  • He ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in the East Side 17th District three times: in 1954, 1956 and 1958.Akers had first met John F.
  • Kennedy in World War II; Akers ran the motor torpedo boat training squadron in Melville, Rhode Island where Kennedy trained.
  • Kennedy campaigned for Akers in the latter's 1956 bid for Congress, and Akers served as executive chairman of the NY Citizens' Committee for Kennedy-Johnson in 1960.
  • On winning the presidency, Kennedy appointed Akers Ambassador to New Zealand in June 1961, where he represented the United States until August 25, 1963.
  • During his time in New Zealand, he tried to convince the ANZUS partner to send advisory personnel to the war in Vietnam.
  • Akers returned to the USA intending to take over the job of Chief of Protocol from Angier Biddle Duke, working with Kennedy, but this was rendered moot by the President's assassination.
  • Akers returned to practising law, but assisted with the 1968 Presidential campaign of Robert F.
  • Kennedy; he was present at the Ambassador Hotel when Kennedy was assassinated.Akers died of a heart attack on April 1, 1976, in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, aged 61.
  • His daughter was the actress Andra Akers.

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