Walt Walkinshaw was an American attorney who "epitomized the Northwest character, old school.
He was an outdoorsman, a lawyer with a strong conscience, and a passionate advocate of progressive causes," according to David Brewster in Crosscut.

Walkinshaw was born in 1917 in Seattle into a pioneering family – Mount Walkinshaw in the Olympic Mountains is named after his father Robert B. Walkinshaw, an author and lawyer.

After graduating cum laude from the University of Washington in 1939, he was chosen as one of 40 young Rockefeller Foundation interns in the federal government in Washington, D.C. He worked in various departments and ended up as a staff member in the executive office of President Franklin D. Roosevelt where he wrote reports on the various new agencies of the New Deal.

 
 Walkinshaw's career was interrupted by World War II.
He served in the Navy for five years of continuous duty in war zones at sea.
He started in the North Atlantic as a deck officer on a cargo ship dodging German submarines.
His Asiatic-Pacific Theater ribbon contains three stars – one for Saipan, another for Iwo Jima, and the third for Okinawa.
He also received a "special commendation for performance duty in operations" against Iwo Jima.
When he was navigator of aircraft carrier USS Windham Bay, his ship was in the first bloody assault of that island.
American journalist Ernie Pyle was at one time aboard the USS Windham Bay, and wrote about the importance of jeep carriers in naval battles.
Walt retired in 1946 as a commander.

He then became a program analyst and foreign affairs specialist with the U.S. government's Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation.
In this job, he worked with a little-known program of technical aid and exchange of scientific know-how with South America.
He worked with a staff of three to get their idea of technical assistance to expand from South America to the rest of the world.
In the Mundt bill (P.L. 402), the program was passed by Congress to go worldwide, but no funding was provided.
It was not until a friend of Walkinshaw's, Benjamin Hardy, wrote the idea into the inaugural speech of President Harry S. Truman and the president announced this bold new program of aid for the underdeveloped world that it was funded and went worldwide.
It was Truman's fourth point in his speech and thus named the Point Four Program.

Point Four was the first time in history that a powerful nation – in this case the industrial giant of the world – was committing itself to assist in the building up of other countries, not in order to gain dominion over them or to profit by their exploitation, but as a means of contributing to the establishment of a world order distinguished by personal freedom and social justice.
Helping the world's sick, hungry, uneducated and discouraged to help themselves became a national policy.

In 1950, Walkinshaw was a representative of the United States Department of State on the Griffin Mission that went to Southeast Asia to establish Point Four.
The idea of using younger people for overseas technical work was suggested in his final report for the Griffin Mission, and furthered by Lloyd Andrews who became head of Point Four.
Andrews later had direct input when President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps.
Point Four also laid the foundation for what would later become USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Walkinshaw left Point Four in 1951 for several reasons.
During the early 1950s, McCarthyism was at its height and Walkinshaw's boss was accused, and then cleared, as one of ten top subversive members of the State Department.
He found that many of the colleagues he respected were being driven out of the State Department.
Further, an idea he promoted in Point Four of appropriate technology and small improvements decided upon by the people involved was often being replaced by Marshall Plan types of big industrial projects.
He also found that most budget requests had to be tied to the military.

Walkinshaw was deeply tied to the Northwest and wanted to get back to hi
Walt Walkinshaw was an American attorney who "epitomized the Northwest character, old school. He was an outdoorsman, a lawyer with a strong conscience, and a passionate advocate of progressive causes," according to David Brewster in Crosscut.
Walkinshaw was born in 1917 in Seattle into a pioneering family – Mount Walkinshaw in the Olympic Mountains is named after his father Robert B. Walkinshaw, an author and lawyer.
After graduating cum laude from the University of Washington in 1939, he was chosen as one of 40 young Rockefeller Foundation interns in the federal government in Washington, D.C. He worked in various departments and ended up as a staff member in the executive office of President Franklin D. Roosevelt where he wrote reports on the various new agencies of the New Deal.
 
 Walkinshaw's career was interrupted by World War II. He served in the Navy for five years of continuous duty in war zones at sea. He started in the North Atlantic as a deck officer on a cargo ship dodging German submarines. His Asiatic-Pacific Theater ribbon contains three stars – one for Saipan, another for Iwo Jima, and the third for Okinawa. He also received a "special commendation for performance duty in operations" against Iwo Jima. When he was navigator of aircraft carrier USS Windham Bay, his ship was in the first bloody assault of that island. American journalist Ernie Pyle was at one time aboard the USS Windham Bay, and wrote about the importance of jeep carriers in naval battles. Walt retired in 1946 as a commander.
He then became a program analyst and foreign affairs specialist with the U.S. government's Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation. In this job, he worked with a little-known program of technical aid and exchange of scientific know-how with South America. He worked with a staff of three to get their idea of technical assistance to expand from South America to the rest of the world. In the Mundt bill (P.L. 402), the program was passed by Congress to go worldwide, but no funding was provided. It was not until a friend of Walkinshaw's, Benjamin Hardy, wrote the idea into the inaugural speech of President Harry S. Truman and the president announced this bold new program of aid for the underdeveloped world that it was funded and went worldwide. It was Truman's fourth point in his speech and thus named the Point Four Program.
Point Four was the first time in history that a powerful nation – in this case the industrial giant of the world – was committing itself to assist in the building up of other countries, not in order to gain dominion over them or to profit by their exploitation, but as a means of contributing to the establishment of a world order distinguished by personal freedom and social justice. Helping the world's sick, hungry, uneducated and discouraged to help themselves became a national policy.
In 1950, Walkinshaw was a representative of the United States Department of State on the Griffin Mission that went to Southeast Asia to establish Point Four. The idea of using younger people for overseas technical work was suggested in his final report for the Griffin Mission, and furthered by Lloyd Andrews who became head of Point Four. Andrews later had direct input when President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps. Point Four also laid the foundation for what would later become USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Walkinshaw left Point Four in 1951 for several reasons. During the early 1950s, McCarthyism was at its height and Walkinshaw's boss was accused, and then cleared, as one of ten top subversive members of the State Department. He found that many of the colleagues he respected were being driven out of the State Department. Further, an idea he promoted in Point Four of appropriate technology and small improvements decided upon by the people involved was often being replaced by Marshall Plan types of big industrial projects. He also found that most budget requests had to be tied to the military.
Walkinshaw was deeply tied to the Northwest and wanted to get back to hi
Walter Walkinshaw