[3] He was a descendant on his father's side of Oliver Wolcott Jr., the second Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington following Alexander Hamilton.

[6] Following his successful business career, Merchant joined the Government in 1942 following the attack on Pearl Harbor and moved up in the U.S. Department of State during the height of the Cold War.

[9][10] In 1959, he was appointed Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, succeeding his former boss, Robert Daniel Murphy.

[12] In 1961, while Ambassador, President Kennedy appointed Merchant as his personal representative to negotiate the border dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[14] In 1964, he co-authored the Merchant-Heeney Report which examined bilateral relations between Canada and the United States.

[16] Also in 1968, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Harvard University that cited "in a long career, this discerning diplomat has advanced the interests of our country with faithfulness and distinction.