As Presidential adviser, foreign policy strategist and statesman, Robert Daniel Murphy has rendered a lifetime of distinguished service to the United States. In successive positions of extraordinary responsibility, Ambassador Murphy has exemplified, through his accomplishments in the national interest and manner of their achievement, the ideals of West Point expressed in the motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.”

During World War II. first as personal representative of the President of the United States in North Africa, and later as United States Political Adviser to the Supreme Allied Commander, Ambassador Murphy made highly significant contributions to the successes of Allied military operations. Subsequently, as United States Political Adviser for Germany, Ambassador Murphy participated at the highest policy-making level in the farsighted decisions which led to the remarkable political and economic recovery of Germany and Europe. After World War II, serving first as Ambassador to Belgium and later as Ambassador to Japan and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador Murphy brought to those important positions that unique ability to meld the diverse interests of others into a common endeavor which marked his wartime service. A close interrelationship between American diplomacy and military strategy, largely unexplored before World War II and pioneered by Ambassador Murphy during and since the war, is today recognized as a critical element to the success of United States foreign affairs and military operations and has been an essential and accepted principle in the development and execution of national policy.

Ambassador Murphy’s dedicated service represents an invaluable contribution to the security and welfare of our Country. His life, his achievements and the manner of their attainment symbolize and reflect those ideals and traditions which are valued so highly by graduates of West Point. Accordingly, the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy hereby awards the 1974 Sylvanus Thayer Award to Robert Daniel Murphy.