George Ball studied at Northwestern University, earning a law degree in 1933. He began his career in Washington, DC, as state attorney from 1933 to 1935 when he left to practice tax law in Chicago. In 1942, he was appointed associate general counsel for the Lend-Lease Administration in Washington (1942-1944). Towards the end of World War II, George Ball directed the US strategic Bombing Survey in London. As expert on economic foreign policy, President John Kennedy named George Ball Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs (1961-1966). During that period he played a major role in formulating U.S. foreign aid and foreign trade policy and became involved in the formulation of the Trade Agreements Act of 1962. He remained at the State Department until 1966 when he resigned to join the banking firm Lehman Brothers. Although he publicly opposed the Vietnam War, he was briefly appointed US Ambassador to the UN in 1968. In 1969, Ball returned to banking until his retirement in 1982.