Wikipedia

Sumner Welles

Benjamin Sumner Welles(October 14, 1892 – September 24, 1961)[1]was an American government official and diplomat. He was a major foreign policy adviser to PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltand served asUnder Secretary of Statefrom 1936 to 1943, during Roosevelt's presidency.

Sumner Welles
11thUnited States Under Secretary of State
In office
May 21, 1937 – September 30, 1943
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byWilliam Phillips
Succeeded byEdward Stettinius Jr.
United States Ambassador toCuba
In office
April 24, 1933 – December 13, 1933
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byHarry Frank Guggenheim
Succeeded byJefferson Caffery
Personal details
Born
Benjamin Sumner Welles

(1892-10-14)October 14, 1892
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 24, 1961(1961-09-24)(aged 68)
Bernardsville, New Jersey,U.S.
Resting placeRock Creek Cemetery,Washington, D.C., U.S.
Spouses
  • Esther "Hope" Slater
    ​
    ​
    (m.1915;div.1923)​
  • Mathilde Scott Townsend
    ​
    ​
    (m.1925;died1949)​
  • Harriette Appleton Post
    ​
    ​
    (m.1952)​
Children2
Parent
Occupation
  • Diplomat
  • government official
Signature

Born in New York City to a wealthy, well-connected political family, Welles graduated fromHarvard Collegein 1914. He entered theForeign Serviceat the advice of Franklin Roosevelt, who was a family friend. Welles was excited byWoodrow Wilson's ideas about how American principles could reorder the international system based on liberal democracy, free-trade capitalism, international law, a league of nations, and an end to colonialism.[2]

Welles specialized in Latin American diplomatic affairs and served several posts in Washington and in the field. PresidentCalvin Coolidgedistrusted Welles because of his divorce, and dismissed him from the foreign service. Welles left public service for some years, and wrote a book on thehistory of the Dominican Republic.[3]

When Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, he put Welles in charge of Latin American affairs asAssistant Secretary of Statefor Latin American Affairs. Welles became heavily involved in negotiations that removed Cuban presidentGerardo Machadofrom power and replaced him with rivalCarlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada.He was later promoted to Under Secretary of State, in which role he continued to be active in Latin American issues, but also expanded into European affairs as World War II began in Europe in 1939. In 1940, he issued theWelles Declarationwhich condemnedSoviet occupation of the Baltic statesand proved to be a minor point of contention among the Soviets and theirWestern alliesonce the U.S. entered the war in 1941. Welles used American power and his senior position to intrude into the domestic affairs of other countries, especially choosing leaders who supported American policies. After thefall of France,he downgraded French affairs because they no longer were amajor power.Roosevelt relied on Welles much more than on the official Secretary of State,Cordell Hull,who became the enemy of Welles.[4]

Welles was forced out of government service by Secretary Hull after his enemies began to spread word of a 1943 incident in which he had propositioned two male railroad porters for sex.[5]Returning to private life, he continued to write books on foreign relations and became an advisor to media organizations. He was a target of theHouse Un-American Activities Committeeduring the post-war "red scare",though he was never formally sanctioned. He died in New Jersey in 1961, survived by his third wife and two children from his first marriage.

Early life

edit

Benjamin Sumner Welles was born in New York City, the son ofBenjamin Sumner Welles Jr.(1857–1935) and Frances Wyeth Swan (1863–1911).[6]He preferred to be called Sumner after his famous relativeCharles Sumner,a leading Senator from Massachusetts during theCivil WarandReconstruction.His family was wealthy and was connected to the era's most prominent families. He was a grandnephew ofCaroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor,known as "theMrs. Astor ". Among his ancestors wereThomas Welles,[7]a colonial Governor of Connecticut, andIncrease Sumner,Governor ofMassachusettsfrom 1797 to 1799.[8]Although the two men were occasionally mistaken for cousins, Welles was no relation to directorOrson Welles.[9]

The Welles family was also connected to the Roosevelts. A cousin of Sumner Welles marriedJames "Rosy" Roosevelt, Jr.,half-brother of future PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt(FDR). At the age of 10, Welles was entered in Miss Kearny's Day School for Boys in New York City. In September 1904, he enteredGroton Schoolin Massachusetts, where he remained for six years. There he roomed withHall Roosevelt,the brother ofEleanor Roosevelt.[1]In March 1905 at the age of 12 Welles served as a page at Franklin D. Roosevelt's wedding to Eleanor.

Welles attendedHarvard Collegewhere he studied "economics, Iberian literature and culture",[10]and graduated after three years in 1914.[11]

Diplomatic career

edit

After graduating from Harvard, Welles followed the advice of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and joined theU.S. Foreign Service.ANew York Timesprofile described him while he joined the foreign service: "Tall, slender, blond, and always correctly tailored, he concealed a natural shyness under an appearance of dignified firmness. Although intolerant of inefficiency, he brought to bear unusual tact and a self-imposed patience."[12]He secured an assignment toTokyo,where he served in the embassy as third secretary only briefly.[12]

Latin America

edit

Welles soon became a specialist in Latin American affairs. He served inBuenos Aires,Argentina, in 1919 and became fluent in Spanish.[12]In 1921,Secretary of StateCharles Evans Hughesappointed him to head the Division of Latin American Affairs.[12]

In March 1922, Welles briefly resigned from the State Department.[12]He was unsympathetic to the view held by American diplomacy that military might was meant to protect the overseas interests of U.S. business.[13]Hughes brought him back the next year as a special commissioner to theDominican Republic.His particular assignment was to oversee the withdrawal of U.S. forces and to negotiate protection for overseas investors in the Dominican Republic's debt.[12]Welles remained in that post for three years and his work was accomplished after his departure in a 1924 treaty.[12]

In 1924, U.S. PresidentCalvin Coolidgesent Welles to act as mediator between disputing parties in Honduras. The country had lacked a legitimate government since the election of 1923 failed to produce a majority for any candidate and the legislature had failed to exercise its power to appoint a new president. Negotiations managed by Welles from April 23 to 28 produced an interim government under GeneralVicente Tosta,who promised to appoint a cabinet representing all factions and to schedule a presidential election as soon as possible in which he would not be a candidate. Negotiations ended with the signing of an agreement aboard theUSSMilwaukeein the port ofAmapala.[12][14][15][16]

Years out of government service

edit
Miss Mathilde Townsend,John Singer Sargent,1907

Coolidge, however, disapproved of Welles's 1925 marriage to Mathilde Scott Townsend, who had only recently divorced the President's friend, SenatorPeter Gerryof Rhode Island. He promptly ended Welles's diplomatic career.[17][13]

Welles then retired to his estate atOxon Hill, Maryland.[12]He devoted himself to writing and his two-volume history of the Dominican Republic,Naboth's Vineyard: The Dominican Republic, 1844–1924appeared in 1928.[18]Timedescribed the work as "a ponderous, lifeless, two-volume work which was technically a history of Santo Domingo, actually a careful indictment of U.S. foreign policy in the Hemisphere".[10]James Restonsummarized its thesis: "we should keep in our own back yard and stop claiming rights for ourselves that we denied to other sovereign States".[13]

He served as an unofficial adviser to Dominican PresidentHoracio Vásquez.[12]

During thepresidential election of 1932,Welles provided foreign policy expertise to the Roosevelt campaign.[12]He was a major contributor to the campaign as well.[10]

Cuba

edit
Welles, holding hat at left, greeting Cuba'sFulgencio Batistaat Union Station, Washington, D.C., on November 10, 1938

In April 1933, FDR appointed Welles Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs,[12]but when a revolution in Cuba against PresidentGerardo Machadoleft its government divided and uncertain, he became instead the President's special envoy to Cuba. He arrived inHavanain May 1933.[12]His mission was to negotiate a settlement so that the U.S. could avoid intervening as U.S. law, namely thePlatt Amendmentof 1901, required.[12]

Welles speaking in a newsreel report on the Panama conference
September 18, 1939

His instructions were to mediate "in any form most suitable" an end to the Cuban situation. Welles promised Machado a new commercial treaty to relieve economic distress if Machado reached a political settlement with his opponents, Colonel Dr.Cosme de la Torriente,from the Nationalist Union; Joaquín Martínez Sáenz, for ABC; Nicasio Silveira, for the Revolutionary Radical Cellular Organization; and Dr.Manuel Dorta-Duque,representing the delegation of the University of Havana.[19]Machado believed the U.S. would help him survive politically. Welles promised the opponents of Machado's government a change of government and participation in the subsequent administration, if they joined the mediation process and supported an orderly transfer of power. One crucial step was persuading Machado to issue an amnesty for political prisoners so that the opposition leaders could appear in public.[12]Machado soon lost faith in Welles and denounced U.S. interference as a colonialist adventure. Welles' mediation process conferred political legitimacy on sectors of the opposition that participated and allowed the U.S. to assess their viability as long-term political allies. Unable to influence Machado, Welles met with Rafael Guas Inclan, president of the Chamber of Representatives, at the home of newspaper publisherAlfredo Hornedo,and requested that he initiate impeachment proceedings against the president. When Guas harshly rebuffed him,[20]Welles then negotiated an end to his presidency, with support from GeneralAlberto Herrera,Colonels Julio Sanguily, Rafael del Castillo, and Erasmo Delgado after threatening U.S. intervention under thePlatt Amendmentand the restructuring of the Cuban army high command.[21]

In 1937, FDR promoted Welles to Under Secretary, and the Senate promptly confirmed the appointment. Indicative of ongoing rivalries within the State Department,Robert Walton Moore,an ally of Secretary of State Hull was appointed the department's Counselor at the same time, a position equal in rank to that of Under Secretary.[22]

1939 hand signed issued passport by under Secretary of State Sumner Welles

World War II

edit

In the week followingKristallnacht,in November 1938, the British government offered to give the major part of its quota of 65,000 British citizens eligible for emigration to the United States to Jews fleeing Hitler. Under-Secretary Welles opposed this idea, as he later recounted:[23]

I reminded the Ambassador that the President stated there was no intention on the part of his government to increase the quota for German nationals. I added that it was my strong impression that the responsible leaders amongAmerican Jewswould be the first to urge that no change in the present quota forGerman Jewsbe made... The influentialSam Rosenman,one of the "responsible" Jewish leaders sent Roosevelt a memorandum telling him that an "increase of quotas is wholly inadvisable. It will merely produce a 'Jewish problem' in the countries increasing the quota."

Welles headed the American delegation to the 21-nationPan American conferencethat met in Panama in September 1939. He said the conference had been planned in earlier hemispheric meetings inBuenos AiresandLimaand he emphasized the need for consultation on economic issues to "cushion the shock of the dislocation of inter-American commerce arising from the war" in Europe.[24]

In February and March 1940 Welles visited Vatican City,[25]Italy, Germany, and France; (he visited PresidentAlbert Lebrunon March 7) and England to receive and discuss German peacemaking proposals. Hitler feared that the purpose of his visits was to drive a wedge between Germany and Italy.[26]

Soviet occupation of the Baltics

edit

On July 23, 1940, following the principles of theStimson Doctrine,Welles issued a statement that became known as theWelles Declaration.In theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pactof August 23, 1939, Germany agreed to allow theSoviet Uniontooccupy and annexthe threeBaltic statesof Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Welles condemned those actions and refused to recognize the legitimacy of Soviet rule in those countries. More than 50 countries later followed the U.S. in this position.

The declaration was a source of contention during the subsequent alliance between the Americans, the British, and the Soviets, but Welles persistently defended the declaration.[27]In a discussion with the media, he asserted that the Soviets had maneuvered to give "an odor of legality to acts of aggression for purposes of the record."[28][29]

In a 1942 memorandum describing his conversations with British AmbassadorLord Halifax,Welles stated that he would have preferred to characterize theplebiscitessupporting the annexations as "faked."[30]In April 1942, he wrote that the annexation was "not only indefensible from every moral standpoint, but likewise extraordinarily stupid." He believed any concession on the Baltic issue would set a precedent that would lead to additional border struggles in eastern Poland and elsewhere.[31]

Rivalries

edit
Cordell Hull
Secretary of State, 1933–1944

ANew York Timesprofile described Welles in 1941: "Tall and erect, never without his cane,... he has enough dignity to beViceroy of Indiaand... enough influence in this critical era to make his ideas, principles, and dreams count. "[13]

He appeared on thecoverofTimeon August 11, 1941,[32]and in that issueTimeassessed Welles's role within Hull's Department of State:[10]

Sumner Welles is one of the very few career men ever to become Under Secretary of State, and as matters now stand may eventually become Secretary... Grave, saintly Mr. Hull, never an expert at paper-shuffling, has long left the actual administration of the Department to his chief aide, Sumner Welles. And Cordell Hull may choose not to retire. But even if Welles never becomes Secretary, he will still hold his present power: through Presidential choice, his own ability, background and natural stamina, he is the chief administrative officer of U.S. foreign policy.

Roosevelt was always close to Welles and made him the central figure in theState Department,much to the chagrin of secretaryCordell Hull,who could not be removed because he had a powerful political base.[33]

The clash became more public in mid-1943, whenTimereported "a flare-up of long-smoldering hates and jealousies in the State Department".[34]After Welles was forced out of office, journalists noted that two men who shared "aims and goals" were at odds because of a "clash of temperament and ambitions".[35]

Resignation

edit
See also:Pullman porter affair

Welles was a closeted bisexual.[36]In September 1940, Welles accompanied Roosevelt to the funeral of formerSpeaker of the HouseWilliam B. BankheadinHuntsville, Alabama.While returning to Washington by train, Welles – who was drunk and under the influence of barbiturates – solicited sex from two male African-AmericanPullmancar porters.[37]Cordell Hull dispatched his confidant, former AmbassadorWilliam Bullitt,to provide details of the incident to Republican SenatorOwen BrewsterofMaine.Brewster, in turn, gave the information to journalistArthur Krock,a Roosevelt critic; and to SenatorsStyles BridgesandBurton K. Wheeler.WhenFBIDirectorJ. Edgar Hooverwould not release the file on Welles, Brewster threatened to initiate a senatorial investigation into the incident. (In 1995,Deke DeLoachtoldC-SPAN'sBrian LambonBooknotesthat file cabinets behindJ. Edgar Hoover's secretaryHelen Gandycontained two-and-a-half drawers of files, including information about "an undersecretary of state who had committed a homosexual act."[38]) Roosevelt was embittered by the attack on his friend, believing they were ruining a good man, but he was obliged to accept Welles's resignation in 1943. Roosevelt particularly blamed Bullitt; his sonElliott Rooseveltwrote that President Roosevelt believed that Bullitt had bribed the porters to entrap Welles.[39]

In August 1943, reports that Welles had resigned as Under-Secretary of State circulated for more than a week. The press reported it as fact on August 24, despite the lack of an official announcement. Writing inThe New York Times,Arthur Krocksaid that opinion in Washington saw Welles's departure as an attempt to end factionalism in the State Department: "The long-existing struggle disorganized the department, bred Hull and Welles factions among its officials, confused those having business with the department and finally produced pressure on the President to eliminate the causes." Despite the "personal fondness" of the President and his wife for Welles, he continued, the President sided with Hull because supporting a subordinate would promote revolts in other government agencies, Hull was politically connected and popular with Congress, and the Senate, he was told, would not support Welles for Secretary of State or any other office. Krock added a cryptic explanation: "Other incidents arising made the disagreements between the two men even more personal. It was those which aroused the Senate to opposition to Mr. Welles that was reported to the President."[40]

The U.S. still awaits a clarification of its foreign policy and the forced resignation of Sumner Welles made an already murky issue even more obscure.

Time,September 6, 1943

While Welles vacationed inBar Harbor, Maine,[41]"where he held to diplomatically correct silence",[42]speculation continued for another month without official word from the White House or the State Department. Observers continued to focus on the Hull–Welles relationship and believed that Hull forced the President to choose between them to end "departmental cleavage".[43]Others read the situation politically and blamed FDR's "appeasement ofSouthern Democrats".[42]Without confirming his resignation or speaking on the record, Welles indicated he would accept any new assignment the President proposed.[43]Finally, on September 26, 1943, the President announced the resignation of Welles and the appointment ofEdward R. Stettiniusas the new Under-Secretary of State. He accepted Welles's resignation with regret and explained that Welles was prompted to leave government service because of "his wife's poor health". Welles's letter of resignation was not made public as was customary and one report concluded, "The facts of this situation remained obscure tonight."[44]Timesummarized the reaction of the press: "Its endorsement of Sumner Welles was surprisingly widespread, its condemnation of Franklin Roosevelt and Cordell Hull surprisingly severe."[42]It also described the resignation's impact: "In dropping Sumner Welles [Hull] had dropped the chief architect of the US'sGood Neighbor Policyin South America, an opponent of those who would do business with Fascists on the basis of expediency, a known and respected advocate of U.S. cooperation in international affairs. The U.S. still awaits a clarification of its foreign policy and the forced resignation of Sumner Welles made an already murky issue even more obscure. "[42]

Later years

edit

Welles made his first public appearance following his resignation in October 1943. Speaking to theForeign Policy Association,he sketched his views of the postwar world, including American participation in a world organization with military capability. He also proposed the creation of regional organizations. He also called on the President to express his opinions and help shape public opinion, praising him at length as "rightly regarded throughout the world as the paladin of the forces of liberal democracy" without once mentioning Hull.[45]

Continuing his career-long focus on Latin America, he said that "if we are to achieve our own security every nation of theWestern Hemispheremust also obtain the same ample measure of assurance as ourselves in the world of the future. "He also foresaw the end tocolonialismas a guiding principle of the new world order:[46]

Can the peaceful, the stable, and the free world for which we hope be created if it is envisioned from the outset as half slave and half free?—if hundreds of millions of human beings are told that they are destined to remain indefinitely under alien subjection? New and powerful nationalistic forces are breaking into life throughout the earth, and in particular in the vast regions of Africa, of the Near East, and of the Far East. Must not these forces, unless they are to be permitted to start new and devastating inundations, be canalized through the channels of liberty into the great stream of constructive and cooperative human endeavor?

In 1944, Welles lent his name to a fundraising campaign by theUnited Jewish Appealto bring Jewish refugees from the Balkans toPalestine.[47]

Confidentialexpose, March 3, 1956

The same year, he wroteThe Time for Decision.His proposals for the war's end included modifications in Germany's borders to transferEast Prussiato Poland and to extend Germany's eastern border to include German-speaking populations farther east. Then, he suggested dividing Germany into three states, all of which would be included in a new Europeancustoms union.A politically divided Germany would be integrated to an economically cohesive Europe. He also "favoured the transfer of populations to bring ethnic distributions into conformity with international boundaries."[48]With the public engaged in the debate over America's postwar role,The Time for Decisionsold half a million copies.[49]

Welles became a prominent commentator and author on foreign affairs. In 1945, he joined theAmerican Broadcasting Companyto guide the organization of the "Sumner Welles Peace Forum," a series of four radio broadcasts providing expert commentary on theSan Francisco Conference,which wrote the founding document of theUnited Nations.[50]He undertook a project to edit a series of volumes on foreign relations forHarvard University Press.[51]

In 1948, Welles wroteWe Need Not Fail,a short book that first presented a history and evaluated the competing claims toPalestine.He argued that American policy should insist on the fulfillment of the 1947 promise of theUnited Nations General Assemblyto establish two independent states within an economic union and policed by a United Nations force. He criticized American officials whose obsession with the Soviets required submission to Arab and oil interests. Enforcing the decision of the United Nations was his overarching concern because it was an opportunity to establish the organization's role on the international stage that no other interest could trump.[52]

Later that year, theAmerican Jewish Congresspresented Welles with a citation that praised his "courageous championing of the cause of Israel among the nations of the world."[53]

On December 7, 1948, Welles appeared beforeHCUAas part of its investigation into allegations betweenWhittaker ChambersandAlger Hiss(part of the Hiss Case).[54]Later that month (and after the death of his friendLaurence Duggan), he suffered a serious heart attack.[55]

In April 1950,Senator Joseph McCarthyrepeatedly charged that theInstitute of Pacific Relations(IPR), an organization that fostered the study of the Far East and the Pacific, was a communist front.[56]Welles was a member of the American branch of the IPR.

He remained always in the public eye. For example, his departure on theÎle de Francefor Europe was noted even as he declined to comment on charges made by McCarthy about communists in the State Department.[57]

He sold his estate outside Washington in 1952, whenOxon Hill Manorbecame the home of a "huge collection of Americana."[58]

In 1956,Confidential,a scandal magazine, published a report of the 1940 Pullman incident and linked it to his resignation from the State Department, along with additional instances of inappropriate sexual behavior or drunkenness. Welles had explained the 1940 incident to his family as nothing more than drunken conversation with the train staff.[59]His son Benjamin Welles wrote of the incident in his father's biography as drunken advances to several porters at about 4 a.m. that were rejected and then reported to government and railway officials.[60]

Personal life

edit
External videos
Presentation by Benjamin Welles onSumner Welles: FDR's Global Strategist – A Biography,January 26, 1998,C-SPAN
Welles home, theTownsend Mansion,taken in 2010

On April 14, 1915, Sumner Welles married Esther "Hope" Slater of Boston, the sister of a Harvard roommate, inWebster, Massachusetts.[61]She came from a similarly prominent family that owned a textile empire based in Massachusetts.[62]She was descended from industrialistSamuel Slaterand granddaughter of the Boston painterWilliam Morris Hunt.Welles and his wife had two sons: Benjamin Welles (1916–2002), aforeign correspondentforThe New York Times,later his father's biographer,[60]andArnold Welles(1918–2002)[citation needed]

In 1923, Slater obtained a divorce from Welles in Paris "on grounds of abandonment and refusal to live with his wife".[61]

Welles occasionally gained public notice for his art dealings. In 1925, for example, he sold a collection of Japanese screens that had been on exhibit at theMetropolitan Museum of Artfor several years.[63]

Mathilde Townsend,
second wife of Sumner Welles

On June 27, 1925, Welles married Mathilde Scott Townsend (1885–1949), "a noted international beauty" whose portrait had been painted byJohn Singer Sargent,in upstate New York.[61][17][64]Until World War II, the Welleses lived on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., in the landmark Townsend Mansion, which later became the home of theCosmos Club.[65]Mathilde died ofperitonitisin 1949 while vacationing in Switzerland with Welles.[17]

Welles spent the bulk of his time a few miles outside of Washington in the Maryland countryside at a 49-room "country cottage" known asOxon Hill Manordesigned for him byJules Henri de Sibourand built on a 245-acre property in 1929.[66][67]He entertained foreign dignitaries and diplomats there and hosted informal meetings of senior officials. FDR used the site as an occasional escape from the city as well.[66]

On January 8, 1952, Welles married Harriette Appleton Post, a childhood friend (and a granddaughter of architectGeorge B. Post,designer of theNew York Stock Exchange) who had previously married and divorced twice, and had resumed the use of her maiden name, in New York City at the bride's home onFifth Avenue.[68]

He died on September 24, 1961, at age 68 inBernardsville, New Jersey.[69]He is buried inRock Creek Cemeteryin Washington, D.C.[70]

Legacy

edit

The biography written by his son Benjamin Welles concludes:

Sumner Welles made four major contributions to the Roosevelt era. He conceived and carried out the Good Neighbor policy, arguably the all-time, high-water mark in U.S.–Latin American relations. With Roosevelt, Churchill and Alexander Cadogan, he wrote theAtlantic Charter,the cornerstone of the United Nations. In mid–World War II, at FDR's direction, he drafted the original UN Charter. And during and after the war, he threw his support behind a national homeland for the Jews: Israel. The Good Neighbor policy and the Atlantic Charter are largely memories. The United Nations and Israel endure.[71]

Winston Churchill,who made the phrase "No comment"famous, cited Welles as his source for the cryptic response.[72]

Welles's papers are held by theNational Archivesat theFranklin D. Roosevelt LibraryinHyde Park, New York.[73]

The street adjacent to the current Embassy of the United States inRiga,Latvia, was named after Sumner Welles (asSamnera Velsa iela) in 2012.[74]

Works

edit
  • The Time for Decision(Harper & Brothers, 1944)
  • An Intelligent American's Guide to the Peace(Dryden, 1945),OCLC458932390
  • Where Are We Heading(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1946)
  • We Need Not Fail(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1948)
  • Seven Major Decisions That Shaped History(New York: Harper 1951),OCLC562152843
  • Naboth's Vineyard: The Dominican Republic, 1844–1924(reprint: Arno Press, 1972),ISBN0-405-04596-4

References

edit
  1. ^abDevine, Michael J. (February 2000)."Welles, Sumner (14 Oct. 1892–24 Sept. 1961)".anb.org.Oxford University Press: American National Biography Online.RetrievedMarch 9,2017.
  2. ^O'Sullivan (2008), pp. xii–xvi
  3. ^O'Sullivan (2008), p. 5.
  4. ^O'Sullivan (2008), p. xiii.
  5. ^Benjamin Welles,Global Strategist,pp. 273–274
  6. ^Welles's father studied at theGroton Schoolin Groton, Massachusetts and graduated fromHarvard Universityin 1878. His sister was Emily Frances Welles (1889–1962), who married Harry Pelham Robbins.The New York Times:"Miss Emily Welles a Bride", April 23, 1908,accessed November 8, 2010
  7. ^Donna H. Siemiatkoski,The Descendants of Governor Thomas Welles of Connecticut, 1590–1658, and His Wife, Alice Tomes(Gateway Press, 1990)
  8. ^"Benjamin Wells Dies of Pneumonia; Father of Assistant Secretary of State Was Descendant of Colonial Settlers"(PDF).The New York Times.December 27, 1935.RetrievedJanuary 14,2018.
  9. ^Orson Welles in Italyby Alberto Anile and Marcus Perryman. Indiana University Press (September 25, 2013),ISBN0253010411,p. 26
  10. ^abcdTime:Foreign Relations: Diplomat's Diplomat ", August 11, 1941,accessed November 10, 2010
  11. ^Life,April 26, 1943available online,accessed November 8, 2010
  12. ^abcdefghijklmnoThe New York Times:Harold B. Hinton, "Welles: Our Man of the Hour in Cuba",August 20, 1933, accessed November 8, 2010
  13. ^abcdThe New York Times:James B. Reston, "Acting Secretary",August 3, 1941, accessed November 8, 2010
  14. ^Benjamin Welles,Global Strategist,ch. 9: Crisis in Honduras, 1923 "
  15. ^Nancy Peckenham and Annie Street,Honduras: Portrait of a Captive Nation(New York: Praeger, 1985), 62ff.; Lester D. Langley,The banana wars: United States intervention in the Caribbean, 1898–1934(Le xing ton: University Press of Kentucky, 1983), 172ff.
  16. ^Time:"Foreign News: Honduran Strife",April 21, 1924, accessed November 10, 2010;Time:"Foreign News: Revolutions", April 28, 1924,accessed November 10, 2010;Time:"Foreign News: Revolt Ends?",September 15, 1924, accessed November 10, 2010
  17. ^abcThe New York Times:"Mrs. Welles Dies; Statesman's Wife",August 9, 1949, accessed November 8, 2010
  18. ^In the Bible'sBooks of Kings,Nabothwas stoned to death for refusing to surrender his vineyard toAhab.
  19. ^United States, Department of State (1948).Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, v 5.Washington, DC: Department of State, United States of America. p. 316.
  20. ^Rafael Guas Inclan to Antonio Rafael de la Cova, Feb. 22, 1975
  21. ^SeeHugh Thomas,Cuba or The Pursuit of Freedom(New York: Harper & Row, 1971), Justo Carrillo,Cuba 1933: Students, Yankees, and Soldiers(New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1994), Ricardo Adam y Silva,La Gran Mentira 4 Septiembre 1933(Santo Domingo: Editora Corripio, 1986), Enrique Ros,La Revolucion de 1933(Miami: Ediciones Universal, 2005) and Luis E. Aguilar,Cuba 1933: Prologue to Revolution(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1972).
  22. ^Time:"The Cabinet: Double Upping",May 31, 1937, accessed November 9, 2010
  23. ^Morrison, David (1999).Heroes, Antiheroes, and the Holocaust.Jerusalem & New York:Gefen Publishing House.p. 128.ISBN965-229-210-9.
  24. ^The New York Times:"Sailing for Pan-American Conference", September 16, 1939,accessed November 11, 2010;The New York Times:"Text of Address by Welles Before Inter-American Parley at Panama", September 26, 1939,accessed November 11, 2010;The New York Times:"Welles for Loans to Latin Americas", September 28, 1939,accessed November 11, 2010
  25. ^The Tacoma Times (Tacoma, Wash.), 19 March 1940. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
  26. ^TIME:"Foreign Relations: Peace Moves", March 18, 1940,accessed November 8, 2010
  27. ^Dennis J. Dunn,Caught between Roosevelt & Stalin: America's Ambassadors to Moscow(Le xing ton, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1998), 118available online,accessed November 9, 2010
  28. ^The New York Times:Bertram D. Hulen, "U.S. Lashes Soviet for Baltic Seizure", July 24, 1940,accessed November 9, 2010
  29. ^John Hiden, Vahur Made, David J. Smith,The Baltic Question during the Cold War,39
  30. ^Edward Moore Bennett,Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Search for Victory(Rowman & Littlefield, 1990), 47available online,accessed November 9, 2010
  31. ^Dennis J. Dunn,Caught between Roosevelt & Stalin: America's Ambassadors to Moscow(Le xing ton: University Press of Kentucky, 1998), 118available online,accessed November 9, 2010
  32. ^TIME:Cover, August 11, 1941,accessed November 8, 2010
  33. ^Joseph Lelyveld (2017).His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt.Knopf Doubleday Publishing. p. 69.ISBN978-0345806598.
  34. ^Time:"Foreign Relations: A House Divided",August 23, 1943.
  35. ^The New York Times:[1]Anne O'Hare McCormick,"Abroad: The Changes in the State Department",September 27, 1943, accessed November 9, 2010
  36. ^"Spheres of Influence".The New York Times.
  37. ^Benjamin Welles,Global Strategist,273–274. The story has been recounted in many histories. For additional insight and context, seeLarry Tye,Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class(New York: Henry Holt & Company, 2004), 50–52
  38. ^ "Hoover's FBI".C-SPAN. July 10, 1995.RetrievedJuly 11,2020.
  39. ^Benjamin Welles,Sumner Welles: FDR's Global Strategist: A Biography(NY: St. Martin's Press, 1997)
  40. ^The New York Times:Arthur Krock, "Welles Has Quit, Washington Hears",August 25, 1943, accessed November 9, 2010
  41. ^Time:"Cabinet: Help Wanted (Male)", September 27, 1943,accessed November 9, 2010
  42. ^abcdTime:"One More Scalp", September 6, 1943,accessed November 9, 2010
  43. ^abThe New York Times:Lewis Wood, "Capital Convinced Welles Resigned", August 26, 1943,accessed November 9, 2010
  44. ^The New York Times:"Stettinius Named for Welles Post", September 26, 1943,accessed November 9, 2010
  45. ^The New York Times:"Welles for Force to Maintain Peace", October 17, 1943,accessed November 10, 2010
  46. ^The New York Times:"Text of Address by Sumner Welles Calling for United Use of Force to Preserve World Peace", October 17, 1943,accessed November 10, 2010
  47. ^The New York Times:"Sumner Welles Honored," May 26, 1944,accessed November 8, 2010
  48. ^Brian W. Blouet,Geopolitics and Globalization in the Twentieth Century(London:Reaktion Books,2001), 130–131
  49. ^Hoopes and Brinkley, 129
  50. ^Billboard,April 21, 1945,available online,accessed November 8, 2010
  51. ^Max Hall,Harvard University Press: A History(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986), 114–115;The New York Times:"People Who Read and Write",April 22, 1945, accessed November 8, 2010
  52. ^The New York Times:Crane Brinton, "Sumner Welles on Palestine",June 13, 1948, accessed November 8, 2010
  53. ^The New York Times:"Sumner Welles Honored",November 18, 1948, accessed November 8, 2010
  54. ^ Hearings Regarding Communist Espionage in the United States Government – Part Two(PDF).US GPO. December 1948. pp. 1380–1381 (Robert E. Stripling), 1381–1385 (William Wheeler), 1385–1386 (Keith B. Lewis), 1386–1391 (Sumner Welles), 1391–1399 (John Peurifoy), 1399–1429 (Isaac Don Levine), 1429–1449 (Julian Wadleigh), 1449–1451 (Courtney E. Owens), 1451–1467 (Nathan L. Levine), 1467–1474 (Marion Bachrach). Archived fromthe original(PDF)on January 23, 2017.RetrievedOctober 30,2018.
  55. ^ Weinstein, Allen (1978).Perjury.Knopf. pp. 274, 303–304.
  56. ^The New York Times:"Letters to the Times",April 14, 1950, accessed November 8, 2010
  57. ^The New York Times:"Sumner Welles Off for Stay in Europe",May 5, 1950, accessed November 8, 2010
  58. ^The New York Times:"Civil War Exhibit is Set for Capital",October 25, 1959, accessed November 8, 2010
  59. ^Welles, Benjamin (1997).Sumner Welles: FDR's Global Strategist.St. Martin's Press. pp.370–1.ISBN0312174403.
  60. ^abBohlen, Celestine (January 4, 2002)."Benjamin Welles, Biographer And Journalist, Is Dead at 85".The New York Times.RetrievedMarch 24,2017.
  61. ^abcThe New York Times:No title, June 29, 1925,accessed November 8, 2010
  62. ^The New York Times:"Mrs. Ester Slater Dies in Florida at 59",September 8, 1951, accessed November 8, 2010
  63. ^The New York Times:"Welles's Collection of Screens on Sale",February 15, 1925, accessed November 8, 2010
  64. ^Mathilde had been married as her first husband,Peter Goelet Gerry,the son ofElbridge Thomas Gerry(1837–1927) and Louisa Matilda Livingston, and the great grandson ofElbridge Gerry(1744–1814), the fifthVice President of the United States,from 1910 to 1925. She was the granddaughter ofWilliam Lawrence Scott,a Pennsylvania railroad and coal magnate, who was a member of theU.S. House of Representativesfrom Pennsylvania's 27th district. Her father, Richard H. Townsend, was the President of theErie and Pittsburgh Railroad,and her mother, Mary Scott Townsend, one of Washington's social leaders, known for her elegant entertaining who had hired the New York architectural firmCarrère and Hastingsto build the Townsend Mansion, located in theDupont CircleHistoric District. Richard had died shortly after the house was completed, but she continued to live there until her death in 1931.
  65. ^The New York Times:George W. Oakes, "Washington Walking Tour",September 10, 2010, accessed November 8, 2010. The building was leased to the Canadian Women's Army Corps. The Cosmos Club purchased the building from Mrs. Welles's estate in 1950. She left Welles $200,000 in her will.
  66. ^abNathania A. Branch Miles, Jane Taylor Thomas,Oxon Hill,Images of America Series (Charleston, CA:Arcadia Publishing,2006), 12
  67. ^UPI:"Franklin Roosevelt"; photo of Oxon Hill, 1960,accessed November 8, 2010; the building was later under consideration to become the official home of the vice-president of the U.S.
  68. ^The New York Times:"Sumner Welles Weds Mrs. Post",January 9, 1952, accessed November 8, 2010
  69. ^The New York Times:"Memorial Service is Held for Welles",September 30, 1961, accessed November 10, 2010
  70. ^dc.gov
  71. ^Benjamin Welles, 1998, p. 375.
  72. ^The New York Times Magazine:William Safire,"It Is What It Is",March 5, 2006,
  73. ^National Archives:"Sumner Welles Papers, 1909–1989",accessed November 8, 2010
  74. ^"Remarks at the Dedication of Sumner Welles Street".U.S. Department of State. June 28, 2012.RetrievedNovember 29,2017.

Further reading

edit

Cuba

edit
  • Kapcia, A., "The Siege of the Hotel Nacional, Cuba, 1933: A Reassessment" inJournal of Latin American Studiesv. 34 (2002), 283–309
  • Lazo, Mario,Dagger in the Heart: American Policy Failures in Cuba(New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1968)
  • Phillips, R. Hart,Cuban Side Show,2nd ed. (Havana: Cuban Press, 1935)
  • Phillips, R. Hart,Cuba, Island of Paradox(New York: McDowell, Obolensky, 1959)
  • Thomas, Hugh,Cuba or The Pursuit of Freedom(New York: Harper & Row, 1971)

Primary sources

edit
edit
Wikiquote has quotations related toSumner Welles.
Wikimedia Commons has media related toSumner Welles.
Wikisourcehas original works by or about:
Sumner Welles
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Cuba
1933 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by United States Under Secretary of State
1936–1943 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sumner_Welles&oldid=1257952931"