---
born: 1909-12-21
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
died: 1994-05-26
location: Des Moines, Iowa
summary: George Ball served as the Under Secretary of State during the Kennedy administration.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Israel
---

George Ball served as the Under Secretary of State during the [Kennedy](/people/john-f-kennedy/) administration. His office was responsible for rewriting [William R. Crawford](/people/william-r-crawford/)'s draft letter from President Kennedy to [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/) regarding [Israel](/places/israel/)'s nuclear program at [Dimona](/places/dimona/). Ball's office held onto the letter for days, eventually provoking a complaint from the White House, and when his rewritten version emerged, it had the same message but in "JFK prose."[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 8.