Italy

Between 1957 and 1961, George Lister served as the First Secretary of the U.S. Embassy in Rome. In Rome, Lister adopted a strategy of combating Communism by trying to break the historic alliance between Italian Socialists and Communists.

When Lister began his tour of duty in Rome, Italy's Communist Party regularly received 25 percent of the vote and was the largest Communist party of any democratic country in the world. The Italian Socialist party, led by Pietro Nenni, was politically aligned with the Communists. Yet, within his party, was a group of ''autonomists'' that was beginning to distance itself from the Communists.

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Selected Documents:

• "Political Lessons: Italy and Chile" by George Lister in Italian Socialism, Spencer Di Scala (ed.), pp. 192-196. Copyright: University of Massaschusetts Press, 1996 (3 pages)

• "The Kennedy Administration and the Center-Left" by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., in Italian Socialism, Spencer Di Scala (ed.), pp. 183-191. Copyright: University of Massaschusetts Press, 1996 (5 pages)

• "Memorandum for the Record" by George Lister, no date (around 1963) (4 pages)

• Foreign Service Political Reporting Appraisal, July 11, 1960 on Lister's reporting on the Italian political left (1 page)

• Correspondence from W. Averell Harriman to Tyler Thompson, Director General of the Foreign Service, Department of State Feb 1, 1962 on Lister's good work in Russia and Italy (2 pages)

• Correspondence from Lister to Mr. Velletri, April 5, 1962 on ''Comments by Paolo Vittorell'' (4 pages)

• Correspondence from Lister to Unknown, June 28, 1962 on views expressed by Giovanni Pieraccini (5 pages)

• Correspondence from Lister to Miss Gretchen Stewart, Office of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., August 21, 1962 on Giovanni Pieraccini's letter to Schlesinger (3 pages)

• Correspondence from Lister to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., February 12, 1963 on Giuseppe Saragat (6 pages)

• Correspondence from Lister to W. Averell Harriman, July 29, 1963 on visit by Antonio Segni (1 page)

• Correspondence from Lister to W. Averell Harriman, October 31, 1963 on Federico Sensi, Segni's emissary (1 page)

• Correspondence from Lister to W. Averell Harriman, November 29, 1963 on Rome Embassy's Memorandum on the Italian Political Situation (7 pages)

• Correspondence from Lister to "Bill," undated (late 1960s) on "dreary news" from Italy (1 page)

• Correspondence from Lister to Jack Kubisch, September 4, 1973 on Censare Bensi (1 page)

• Correspondence from Lister to Unknown, undated, recollections of Lister's role in Italy (9 pages)