Alvey Augustus Adee (November 27, 1842 – July 4, 1924) was a long-time official with the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

who served as the acting Secretary of State in 1898 during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

. He was the second of three senior State Department officials—the first being William Hunter and the third Wilbur J. Carr—whose overlapping careers provided continuity and good management in American foreign policy for over a century, from the administration of President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

until that of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Early years

Adee was born at Astoria, New York, November 27, 1842, son of Amelia Kinnaird Graham and Augustus Alvey Adee, fleet surgeon in the

U.S. navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. His siblings are George, Willie, William and David Graham Adee. Adee was educated under private tutors. A native of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, he got his start in diplomacy by becoming the private secretary of Daniel Sickles, whom Adee accompanied to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

when Sickles was named the U.S. Minister to Spain in 1869. While in Madrid, Adee met and was befriended by John Hay, who was then the Secretary of the U.S. Legation there. Adee was appointed the position at Madrid, on September 9, 1870, where he served as chargé d'affaires several times.

Career

Adee stayed at the Legation in Madrid for eight years, then returned to the United States to take a temporary secretary position in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

with the State Department on July 9, 1877, and a year later, on June 11, 1878, he was named the Chief of the department's Diplomatic Bureau. On July 18, 1882, he was promoted to Third Assistant Secretary, and on August 3, 1886, he was promoted again to Second Assistant Secretary, a position he held until his death 38 years later. He received the degree of A.M. from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1888. The apex of Adee's career came during the

in 1898. The Secretary of State,

John Sherman John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as ...

, was old and in poor health, and the

Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs ...

, William R. Day, was inexperienced in diplomacy, which meant that Adee, as the third-ranking officer in the department, effectively supervised U.S. diplomacy during the war. With both Sherman and Day having left the department, from September 17 to 29 of that year, Adee became acting Secretary of State in name as well as fact for two weeks, until John Hay returned from England to take over as the new Secretary. Adee was again in effective charge of the State Department during the Boxer Rebellion in August and September, 1900, because Hay was ill and the Assistant Secretary

David Jayne Hill Rev. David Jayne Hill (June 10, 1850 – March 2, 1932) was an American academic, diplomat and author. Early life The son of Baptist minister David T. Hill, David Jayne Hill was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on June 10, 1850. He graduated f ...

was away from Washington.

Last years

After 1909, Adee's influence (and health) steadily waned, though he was allowed to remain as Second Assistant Secretary. He continued to work until his death on July 4, 1924, at his residence, 1019 Fifteenth Street Northwest. He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in

Adee never married and fathered no children. He was well known for his annual summer bicycling trips through Europe, which he continued until the outbreak of the First World War, and on which he was usually accompanied by Alexander Montgomery Thackara, American consul general at Berlin and later Paris, and his wife Eleanor, daughter of General

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

Legacy

Adee is said to be a major influence on characterization of

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery (fiction), mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West ...

Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and ...

according to the latter's official biographer John J. McAleer. Adee being a scholar, sleuth, gourmet, bachelor, a model of efficiency, a master of the English language is said to have inspired the characterization of Wolfe.

References

Citations

Sources

*
An Appreciation of Alvey Adee
at www.unc.edu

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adee, Alvey A. 1842 births 1924 deaths 19th-century American diplomats 20th-century American diplomats People from Astoria, Queens United States Assistant Secretaries of State Acting United States Secretaries of State Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)