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Sumner Welles

Sumner WellesAKA Benjamin Sumner Welles

Born: 14-Oct-1892
Birthplace: New York City
Died: 24-Sep-1961
Location of death: Bernardsville, NJ
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, DC

Gender: Male
Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Bisexual [1]
Occupation: Diplomat

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: US Under Secretary of State, 1937-43

One of the most influential American diplomats of the 20th Century.

[1] "Though Welles was married several times and had a family, when he overdrank, latent homosexual tendencies surfaced and he was indiscreet in whom he propositioned. Such was the case when he attempted a liaison with a railroad porter on a train returning from the funeral of Speaker of the House William Bankhead. When [Near East Envoy] Bullitt and [Secretary of State] Hull learned of this, they launched a joint campaign to get rid of Welles, and when the president finally gave in to the pressure after three years of urging and asked Welles to resign in September 1943, this spelled the end of Bullitt's association with FDR." Edward M. Bennett, in Notable U.S. Ambassadors Since 1775, p. 39.

Wife: Esther Slater (m. 1915, two sons)
Son: Benjamin (b. 1916)
Son: Arnold (b. 1918)

    High School: Groton School
    University: Harvard University (1914)

    US Under Secretary of State 1937-43
    US Ambassador to Cuba 1933
    US State Department Division of Latin American Affairs (1920-22)
    US State Department Attaché, Buenos Aires (1917-19)
    US State Department Attaché, Tokyo (1915-17)
    Council on Foreign Relations
    Traveled to Nazi Germany Feb-1940

Author of books:
Naboth's Vineyard (1928)
The World of the Four Freedoms (1943, speeches)
The Time of Decision (1944)
The Intelligent American's Guide to Peace (1945)
Where Are We Heading? (1946)
Seven Decisions That Shaped History (1950)






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