R. Borden Reams

R. Borden Reams
R. Borden Reams with Félix Houphouët-Boigny, John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy in 1962
1st United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso
In office December 6, 1960 – June 26, 1961
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	office established
Succeeded by	Thomas S. Estes
1st United States Ambassador to Benin
In office November 26, 1960 – July 31, 1961
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	office established
Succeeded by	Robinson McIlvaine
1st United States Ambassador to Niger
In office November 23, 1960 – August 2, 1961
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	office established
Succeeded by	Mercer Cook
1st United States Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire
In office November 20, 1960 – May 12, 1962
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	office established
Succeeded by	James Wine
United States Minister to Denmark Acting
In office June 5, 1940 – December 20, 1941
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Ray Atherton
Succeeded by	Monnett Bain Davis (1945)
Personal details
Born	(1904-01-27)January 27, 1904 Luthersburg, Pennsylvania
Died	March 26, 1994(1994-03-26) (aged 90) Panama City, Florida
Spouse	Charlotte Johns
Profession	Diplomat

Robert Borden Reams (January 27, 1904 – March 26, 1994) was an American diplomat. He was the first United States Ambassador to Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Dahomey (now Benin), Niger, and Ivory Coast (now Côte d'Ivoire) simultaneously. On July 31, 1960, an envoy, Donald R. Norland, had presented his credentials as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim on the previous day of Reams' appointment.

Biography

Reams was born in Luthersburg, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, on January 27, 1904. He was the son of John Homer Reams and Lulu Ann (Borden) Reams. He married Charlotte Johns on April 6, 1924, divorced her in 1947 and married Dorothy Yovich that same year. He later joined the U.S. Foreign Service and served as U.S. Vice Consul in Le Havre, France from 1929 to 1931, South Africa in Johannesburg from 1931 to 1933 and again from 1935 to 1936; From 1933 to 1935 Reams was U.S. Vice Consul in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He later became U.S. Consul in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1937 until 1940.

Reams served as the specialist on Jewish issues for the State Department's Division of European Affairs during World War II. In the role he downplayed reports of Nazi exterminations of Jews in Europe, casting doubts on diplomatic cables that sought to notify the United Nations and raise alarm. Reams concluded the reports of mass deportation and murder were accurate, but wrote in 1942 that if the State Department corroborated such information, it would have exposed governments to "increased pressure... to do something."

On October 14, 1960, Reams was nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to Dahomey, Niger, Ivory Coast, and Upper Volta by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was a resident at Abidjan during his ambassadorship. By 1962, Reams had been superseded by respective ambassadors to each country he represented.

Reams died from an aortic aneurysm on March 26, 1994, at the age of 90.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.