Ambassador's Journal: A Personal Account of the Kennedy Years

During his time as an adviser to President John F. Kennedy, Galbraith was appointed as US Ambassador to India from 1961 to 1963. His rapport with President Kennedy was such that he regularly bypassed the State Department & sent his diplomatic cables directly to the President. In India, he became an intimate of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, & extensively advised the Indian government on economic matters; he harshly criticised Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British rule, for Mountbatten's passive role in the Partition of India in 1947 & the bloody partition of the Punjab & Bengal. While in India, he helped establish one of the 1st computer science departments, at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Even after leaving office, Galbraith remained a friend & supporter of India & hosted a lunch for Indian students at Harvard every year on graduation day. Because of his recommendation, First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy undertook her diplomatic missions in India & Pakistan.