Leland B. Harrison (April 25, 1883 – June 6, 1951) was a United States diplomat.

Family and education

The son of W. Henry Harrison and Helen (Skidmore) Harrison, he was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Career

After law school, Harrison became the private secretary of

United States Ambassador to Japan The is the ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Since the opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, in 1854, the U.S. has maintained diplomatic relations with Japan, except for the ten-year period between the at ...

Thomas J. O'Brien. He was appointed

Third Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings ...

of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on June 10, 1908. He later filled posts in the

United States embassies The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo a ...

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, London, and

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. In 1918, he became diplomatic secretary of the

American Commission to Negotiate Peace The American Commission to Negotiate Peace, successor to The Inquiry, participated in the peace negotiations at the Treaty of Versailles from January 18 to December 9, 1919. Frank Lyon Polk headed the commission in 1919. The peace conference was su ...

. He later became counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Paris. In 1916 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 ...

allowed Secretary of State

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 ...

and

Frank Polk 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. Early life Polk was born in New York City. He was the son of W ...

quietly and informally to channel the flow of military and law enforcement material into the State Department's

Bureau of Secret Intelligence The Bureau of Secret Intelligence (Office of the Chief Special Agent) was founded in 1916. The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Secret Intelligence, later known as the Office of Security (SY) and now as the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, wa ...

(U-1), what is now known as the

Diplomatic Security Service The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS or DS) is a security and law enforcement agency that acts as the operational division of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which is a branch of the United States Department of State. Its primary mission is ...

. The two men picked

Leland Harrison Leland B. Harrison (April 25, 1883 – June 6, 1951) was a United States diplomat. Family and education The son of W. Henry Harrison and Helen (Skidmore) Harrison, he was educated at Eton College, Harvard College, and Harvard Law School. Career ...

"to take charge of the collection and examination of all information of a secret nature coming into the Department from various sources and also to direct the work of the agents specially employed for that purpose." In 1921, Harrison moved to Washington, D.C. to become assistant to the Conference on the Limitation on Armament. On March 21, 1922, Harrison was named

United States 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 ...

and he held this office from March 31, 1922, to June 30, 1924. In 1927, Harrison was named Minister to Sweden, a post he held from May 31, 1927, to November 11, 1929. He also headed the U.S. delegation to the International Telegraph Conference in Brussels in 1928. In 1929, he became Minister to Uruguay, holding this post from April 11, 1930, to October 9, 1930. He then resigned temporarily from the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

. A short time later, however, he returned to government service as chief of the International Relations Division of the

United States Tariff Commission The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of trade. It is an independent, bipartisan entity that analyze ...

. On May 15, 1935, he was named Minister to Romania, serving there from July 24, 1935, to September 3, 1937.

Ambassador to Switzerland

He was then Minister to Switzerland from September 10, 1937, to October 14, 1947. As Ambassador to Switzerland, Harrison was sympathetic to Jewish rescue and relief operations and worked closely with

Gerhardt Riegner Gerhardt is a masculine name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It can refer to the following: As a first name * Ants Eskola (1908–1989), Soviet-Estonian actor and singer born Gerhardt Esperk * Gerhardt Laves (1906–1993), American linguis ...

, the representative of the World Jewish Congress in Geneva and sent several reports regarding the murder of the Jews of Europe to the

United States 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 n ...

in Washington D.C. He endorsed many of these reports as being credible and recommended action be taken to assist in the relief and rescue of Jews in Nazi-controlled territories.

Personal life, retirement and death

He married Anne C. Coleman on June 27, 1925. Harrison retired on February 29, 1948. After his death in June 1951, he was buried in the cemetery of the

Church of St. James the Less The Church of St. James the Less is a historic Episcopal church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was architecturally influential. As St. James-the-Less Episcopal Church, it was designated a National Historic Landmark for its Gothic Revival ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

References

Political Graveyard file
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Leland 1883 births 1951 deaths United States Assistant Secretaries of State Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden Ambassadors of the United States to Uruguay Ambassadors of the United States to Switzerland Ambassadors of the United States to Romania Harvard Law School alumni People educated at Eton College Harvard College alumni United States Foreign Service personnel Burials at the Church of St. James the Less Politicians from New York City