Joseph J. Sisco - Early Life

Early Life

A Chicago native, Dr. Sisco was the son of Italian immigrants. His mother died when he was 9, and his father, a tailor, raised the five Sisco children in modest circumstances. He graduated from high school in 1937, briefly attended junior college and then transferred to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1941. He worked for a short time as a high school teacher and then joined the Army, where he served as a first lieutenant with the 41st Infantry Division in the Pacific. He was discharged in 1945. At the University of Chicago, he received a master's degree in 1947 and a doctorate in 1950, specializing in Soviet affairs. He became a Central Intelligence Agency officer in 1950 and joined the State Department the next year.