Charles Franklin Baldwin (January 21, 1902 – August 18, 1993) was an American diplomat and the US Ambassador to the Federation of Malaya, what is modern-day Malaysia and Singapore, from 1961 to 1964.

[3] Baldwin was assigned to Singapore in 1951, and eventually worked his way up to consul general and then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Economic Affairs.

[5][6] In 1955, Baldwin retired from government service due to interpersonal problems with Herbert Hoover Jr., the Undersecretary of State at the time.

[7] During this period, Baldwin worked as the European representative of the Motion Picture Export Association of America, based in London and Rome.

When asked why he decided to come out of retirement to become an ambassador, Baldwin said "because any Foreign Service officer who wouldn't should have his head examined.

[8] Baldwin reported later that his concerns as ambassador were largely economic, as the Malayan economy was almost singularly focused on the production of rubber and tin.