Frank Lyon Polk (September 13, 1871 – February 7, 1943) was an American lawyer and diplomat, who was also a name partner of the law firm today known as

Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, better known as Davis Polk is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City with 980 attorneys worldwide and offices in Washington, D.C., Northern California, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Beiji ...

Early life

Polk was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He was the son of

William Mecklenburg Polk William Mecklenburg Polk (15 August 1844 – 1918) was an American physician. Biography He was the son of Leonidas Polk, born at Ashwood, Maury Co., Tenn. He served in the Confederate army under his father during the Civil War, advancing f ...

, the dean of the

Cornell Medical School The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York. Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with N ...

, and the grandson of Bishop and

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

General

Leonidas Polk Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk (April 10, 1806 – June 14, 1864) was a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and founder of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, which separated from the Episcopal Chur ...

, who was a

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

James Polk James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

Frank Lyon Polk
"Frank Lyon Polk was a partner of the law firm of Davis, Polk, Lansing, Wardwell & Reed of New York City." in 1894 and

Columbia University Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestig ...

in 1897. He was a member of the

Scroll and Key The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Yale secret societies and reputedly the wealthiest. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies ...

Society.

Career

In 1897, Polk began his law practice in

. He served on a variety of City boards and commissions. He was member of the civil service commission of New York from 1907 to 1909, and in 1907 and 1910 was a member of the

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

. On January 24, 1914,

New York City Mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

John Purroy Mitchel John Purroy Mitchel (July 19, 1879 – July 6, 1918) was the 95th mayor of New York, from 1914 to 1917. At 34, he was the second-youngest mayor and he is sometimes referred to as "The Boy Mayor of New York." Mitchel is remembered for his sho ...

appointed him corporation counsel, which he remained until his appointment on September 16, 1915, as counselor for the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

Washington, DC ) , 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 ...

, confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on December 17, 1915. On April 17, 1914, Polk was wounded by gunfire when a former city employee attempted to assassinate Mitchel. He served in the Department of State as Counselor until 1919, US Under Secretary of State in 1919 and 1920, and then as Acting

US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

in 1920. Polk headed the American Commission to Negotiate Peace in 1919, and after President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

's and Secretary

Robert Lansing Robert Lansing (; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as Counselor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I, and then as United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wils ...

's departure from Paris in 1919, he represented the United States at the Paris peace conference. He also managed the 1924 Democratic presidential convention campaign of

John W. Davis John William Davis (April 13, 1873 – March 24, 1955) was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served under President Woodrow Wilson as the Solicitor General of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom ...

, another name partner of his law firm. Polk served as president of the New York Public Library from April 13, 1932 until his death on February 7, 1943.

Personal life

Polk was married to Elizabeth Sturgis Potter. Elizabeth was the daughter of James Potter, the

Cunard Line Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...

representative in Philadelphia and former

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

owner, and Elizabeth (Sturgis) Potter. The Polks lived at 6 East Sixty-eighth Street in

, had a home in Syosset on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

and in

Boca Grande, Florida Boca Grande is a small residential community on Gasparilla Island in southwest Florida. Gasparilla Island is a part of both Charlotte and Lee counties, while the actual village of Boca Grande, which is home to many seasonal and some year-rou ...

. Together, they had five children: John, Elizabeth, Frank, James, and Alice. His portrait was painted by Sir

Oswald Birley Sir Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley (31 March 1880 – 6 May 1952) was an English portrait painter and royal portraitist in the early part of the 20th century. Early life and family Birley was born in New Zealand to Hugh Francis Birley (1855–19 ...

in 1923. Frank Lyon Polk died on February 7, 1943, in

Descendants

Polk is the grandfather of financier

Lewis Polk Rutherfurd Lewis Polk Rutherfurd (born August 3, 1944) is an American-born financier who lives in Hong Kong. He was married to Janet Jennings Auchincloss, the half-sister of First Lady Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier from 1966 until her death in 1985. In 1 ...

. Rutherfurd was married to

Janet Jennings Auchincloss Janet Jennings Auchincloss Rutherfurd (June 13, 1945 – March 13, 1985) was an American socialite. She was the half sister of the former First Lady of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and socialite Lee Radziwill. Early life Auch ...

, the half-sister of former First Lady

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A pop ...

, from 1966 until her death in 1985.

References

External links

* Frank Lyon Polk Papers,1883-1942 (MS 656). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
Davis Polk & Wardwell
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polk, Frank 1871 births 1943 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American diplomats Acting United States Secretaries of State Columbia Law School alumni Lawyers from New York City New York (state) Democrats

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...