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{{Short description|American politician (1926–2011)}}
{{about||the American art dealer|Robert H. Ellsworth}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Robert Ellsworth
| image               = Robert F. Ellsworth.jpg
| caption             = 
| office              = 16th [[United States Deputy Secretary of Defense]]
| termstart           = December 23, 1975
| termend             = January 10, 1977
| president           = [[Gerald Ford]]
| predecessor         = [[Bill Clements]]
| successor           = [[Charles Duncan Jr.]]
| office1             = 7th [[United States Permanent Representative to NATO]]
| president1          = [[Richard Nixon]]
| term_start1         = May 13, 1969
| term_end1           = June 30, 1971
| predecessor1        = [[Harlan Cleveland]]
| successor1          = [[David M. Kennedy (politician)|David M. Kennedy]]
| office2             = Member of the <br />[[U.S. House of Representatives]]<br />from [[Kansas]]
| constituency2       = {{ushr|KS|2|C}} (1961-1963)<br />{{ushr|KS|3|C|}} (1963-1967)
| term_start2         = January 3, 1961
| term_end2           = January 3, 1967
| preceded2           = [[Newell A. George]]
| succeeded2          = [[Larry Winn]]
| birth_name          = 
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1926|6|11}}
| birth_place         = [[Lawrence, Kansas]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2011|5|9|1926|6|11}}
| death_place         = [[Encinitas, California]], U.S.
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| branch              = {{navy|United States}}
| allegiance          = {{flag|United States of America}}
| rank                = 
| unit                = 
| battles             = {{tree list}}
* [[World War II]]
* [[Korean War]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards              = 
| education           = [[University of Kansas]]<br />[[University of Michigan Law School]]
}}

'''Robert Fred Ellsworth''' (June 11, 1926 – May 9, 2011)<ref name=ljworld>{{cite web |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/may/11/former-kansas-congressman-robert-fred-ellsworth-di |title = Former Kansas Congressman Robert Fred Ellsworth dies at age 84 |work=[[Lawrence Journal-World]]|date=May 11, 2011 |access-date=October 13, 2021}}</ref> was an American legislator and diplomat. He served as the [[United States Permanent Representative to NATO]] (an ambassadorial-level appointment) between 1969 and 1971.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 June 1991 |title=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR ROBERT F. ELLSWORTH |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Ellsworth,%20Robert%20F.toc.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717141228/https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Ellsworth,%20Robert%20F.toc.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2024 |access-date=17 July 2024 |website=Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training}}</ref> He had previously served three terms as a Republican Member of Congress from [[Kansas]], from 1961 to 1967, and as an Assistant to the President during the presidency of [[Richard Nixon]]; under President [[Gerald Ford]], he was Deputy Secretary of Defense.<ref name=ljworld/> Ellsworth also served as assistant to the chairman of the [[Federal Maritime Commission]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/kansans-in-u-s-congress/14496 |title=Kansans in the United States Congress |work=Kansapedia |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |access-date=October 13, 2021}}</ref>

== Life and career ==
Ellsworth was born in [[Lawrence, Kansas]], and was educated in the public schools of that city. He served in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]] and the [[Korean War]]. In 1945, he was graduated with a [[bachelor's degree|baccalaureate]] in engineering from the [[University of Kansas]], where he had been a member of the Alpha Nu chapter of the [[Beta Theta Pi]] collegiate [[fraternity]]. He then studied law at the [[University of Michigan Law School]], from which he was graduated in 1949; he practiced law in Lawrence, Kansas, and in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]].

The retired ambassador was admitted to the [[Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)|Order of Saint John]] as a knight of honor in 1995.<ref>''Verzeichnis der Mitglieder der Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens St. Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem''; Berlin:  2008; p. 94.</ref>

While serving as a congressman for {{ushr|KS|1}}, Ellsworth voted present for the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/h193|title=S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.}}</ref> However, during his tenure as representative for {{ushr|KS|3}}, Ellsworth voted in favor of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Acts of 1964]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h182|title=H.R. 7152. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION (H. RES. 789) PROVIDING FOR HOUSE APPROVAL OF THE BILL AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE.}}</ref> and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87|title=TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT.}}</ref>

On November 9, 2010, Ellsworth provided commentary to [[KFMB-TV|KFMB]] regarding an [[2010 California contrail incident|unexplained vapor trail]] in the airspace off the coast of Los Angeles which, at the time, was widely speculated to be a missile launch.<ref name=":0" /> He cautioned the news crew to wait for definitive answers from the military, then went on to theorize: "It could be a test firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine, an underwater submarine, to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we could do that."<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=13468118 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110221932/http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=13468118 |archive-date=2010-11-10 |title=Mysterious missile lights up the sky over the Pacific - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com}}</ref>

Ellsworth died in [[Encinitas, California]]: near the small city of [[Solana Beach, California|Solana Beach]], where he had founded and directed a research firm, Hamilton BioVentures.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/us/politics/12ellsworth.html |title=Robert Ellsworth, Lawmaker and Nixon Aide, Is Dead at 84 |work=New York Times |edition=New York |date=May 11, 2011 |page=A26 |access-date=October 13, 2021}}.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{CongBio|E000148}} Retrieved on 2008-03-31
*{{C-SPAN|42245}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Kansas
| district=2
| before=[[Newell A. George]]
| after=[[William H. Avery (politician)|William H. Avery]]
| years=January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963
}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Kansas
| district=3
| before=[[Walter Lewis McVey Jr.|Walter L. McVey Jr.]]
| after=[[Larry Winn]]
| years=January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1967
}}
{{s-end}}
{{USNATOambassadors}}
{{United States representatives from Kansas}}
{{USCongRep-start
| congresses= 87th–89th [[United States Congress]]
| state= [[United States congressional delegations from Kansas|Kansas]]}}
{{USCongRep/KS/87}}
{{USCongRep/KS/88}}
{{USCongRep/KS/89}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellsworth, Robert}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Lawrence, Kansas]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Kansas]]
[[Category:United States presidential advisors]]
[[Category:Permanent representatives of the United States to NATO]]
[[Category:Massachusetts lawyers]]
[[Category:Kansas lawyers]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:University of Kansas alumni]]
[[Category:University of Michigan Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Nixon administration personnel]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas]]
[[Category:United States deputy secretaries of defense]]
[[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]