Matteson, Robert Eliot, 1914-1994
Variant namesBiographical notes:
Technical sergeant, United States Army; member, Counter Intelligence Corps, during World War II; subsequently aide to Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota.
From the description of Robert Eliot Matteson pamphlets, 1993. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 123429944
Matteson was born Sept. 13, 1914 in St. Paul, Minn and died Jan. 24, 1994. He had a long and varied career as a government official, college faculty member, intelligence agent, expert on arms control and Russia, author, canoeist and explorer. His career in government (1953-1972) included director of the White House disarmament staff in the 1950s, chief of staff for the Foreign Operations Administration, member of the Central Intelligence Agency's Board of National Intelligence Estimates and director of civilian operations in the II Corps sector in Vietnam. In World War II, he served in the 80th Infantry Division in Europe. Matteson also founded the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College in Ashland, Wisc.
From the description of Oral history interview with Robert E. Matteson, 1991 May. (Minnesota Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 31736873
Biographical/Historical Note
Technical sergeant, United States Army; member, Counter Intelligence Corps, during World War II; subsequently aide to Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota.
From the guide to the Robert Eliot Matteson pamphlets, 1993, (Hoover Institution Archives)
Robert Eliot Matteson was born in St. Paul (Minn.) in 1914, the son of a St. Paul banker, and graduated from Carleton College (Northfield, Minn.) in 1937. He received his M.A. in public administration from Harvard University in 1940, married Jane Paetzold (also from St. Paul) that same year, and taught political science at Carleton College, 1940-1942. Matteson was a state department desk officer briefly in 1943, but went on to serve in the 80th infantry division of Patton's third army (1943-1946), during which time he earned the silver star for capturing Nazi Gestapo and intelligence chief Ernst Kaltenbrunner in the Austrian Alps.
After World War II, Matteson was research director for Harold Stassen's 1948 presidential campaign (1946-1948), and when Stassen was president of the University of Pennsylvania (1948-1952), Matteson was assistant to the president and assistant professor of international relations. Matteson's government career began in 1953 when he joined Harold Stassen in the Foreign Operations Administration. Still associated with Stassen, Matteson was then director of the White House Disarmament Staff (1955-1958). He stayed with the Eisenhower administration after Stassen left in 1958, first as assistant to Sherman Adams, White House chief of staff, then with the CIA's Board of National Intelligence Estimates (1959-1962). He then served in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1962-1967), in Vietnam as director of the military-civilian pacification program (1967-1968, sparsely documented), in the Agency for International Development as director of the Office of International Training (1968-1971), and with the Foreign Affairs Executive Seminar (1971). During 1964 and 1965 he attended the National War College. Matteson's personal friends and professional associates included many top level government officials.
As the first director of the Sigurd Olson Institute of Environmental Studies at Northland College (Ashland, Wis.), Matteson's work consisted primarily of program development and fund-raising. Later, he was a trustee of Northland College. He maintained contacts with government officials, business leaders, educators, and environmentalists (especially Sigurd Olson). As a resident of the town of Namekagon (near Cable, Wis.) Matteson was also involved with local and regional environmental issues, including zoning and the impact of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on northern Wisconsin. During 1976 and 1977 Matteson was chairman of the President's Quetico-Superior Committee.
In both personal and professional life, Matteson traveled extensively, often keeping journals or logs of the trips. Also, until the late 1980s when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Matteson was an avid canoeist, having traveled in Canada, Wisconsin, and Minnesota by various routes.
From the guide to the Robert E. Matteson papers., [193-]-1989, 1991., (Minnesota Historical Society)
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Subjects:
- Arms control
- Canoes and canoeing
- Disarmament
- Ecology
- Human ecology
- Indians of North America
- International relations
- War crime trials
- War crime trials Germany
- World War, 1939-1945
Occupations:
- College trustees
- Environmentalists
- Government executives
Places:
- Africa (as recorded)
- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (Wis.) (as recorded)
- Soviet Union (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- Africa (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (Wis.). (as recorded)
- Germany (as recorded)
- Soviet Union. (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
