Robert Douglas Stuart (January 20, 1886 – January 5, 1975) was a United States businessman who served as United States Ambassador to Canada from 1953 to 1956.

Early life

Stuart was born in

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in 1886, the son of Robert Stuart and his wife, Margaret Shearer. In 1899, Stuart's father and his business partner,

Henry Parsons Crowell Henry Parsons Crowell (1855–1944) was an American businessman, 1901 founder of the Quaker Oats Company and a philanthropist.Musser, Joe (1997). ''The Cereal Tycoon''. Moody Press. , p.3, 154. Career As the founder of the Quaker Oats Company, He ...

, used a

proxy fight A proxy fight, proxy contest or proxy battle (sometimes even called a proxy war) is an unfriendly contest for the control over an organization. The event usually occurs when a corporation's stockholders develop opposition to some aspect of the corp ...

to gain control of the American Cereal Company from

Ferdinand Schumacher Ferdinand Schumacher (1822–1908),
at www.quakersquare.com. Accessed 10 August 2006. also known as The Oatmeal King ...

. In 1901, they renamed the company the Quaker Oats Company to take advantage of the brand that had been built up by Crowell's

Quaker Mill Company The Quaker Mill Company was a 19th-century American oat mill company in Ravenna, Ohio. After merging with three other companies in 1901, the company became the Quaker Oats Company. Today it is a subsidiary of PepsiCo. History Henry D. Seymour and ...

. Stuart's father was thus one of the co-founders of the Quaker Oats Company.

Business

From 1901 to 1921, Robert Stuart had been responsible for managing the Quaker Oats Company's facilities, and Crowell had been responsible for marketing. Douglas Stuart's older brother, John Stuart, was groomed to take over Robert Stuart's responsibilities, while Douglas Stuart trained under Crowell. In 1922, the elder Stuart and Crowell retired, and John and Douglas Stuart took over the day-to-day operations of the company.

Politics

Stuart was active in the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. His son,

R. Douglas Stuart Jr. Robert Douglas Stuart Jr. (April 26, 1916 – May 8, 2014) was the son of Quaker Oats Company co-founder R. Douglas Stuart, the founder of the America First Committee in 1940, the CEO of Quaker Oats from 1966 to 1981, and United States Ambassado ...

, was the founder of the America First Committee, which opposed United States participation in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in September 1940.

Postwar

After World War II, Stuart took Quaker Oats' marketing in a bold new direction, with Quaker Oats becoming one of the first companies to employ the services of more than one

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

. Besides Quaker Oats, Stuart was active in the community. He was a delegate to the

1952 Republican National Convention The 1952 Republican National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 7 to 11, 1952, and nominated the popular general and war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower of New York, nicknamed "Ike," for president and ...

. Stuart was also long-time president of the Chicago Council of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

Ambassador

In 1953,

President of the United States 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 ...

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

named Stuart United States Ambassador to Canada. Stuart presented his credentials to Vincent Massey,

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

, on July 15, 1953. He served in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

until May 4, 1956.

Later life

After serving as ambassador, Stuart returned to Quaker Oats. He retired as

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

in 1962. In addition to his son, Stuart and his wife had three daughters, one, Anne, who would go on to marry

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

politician Clifton Batchelder. Stuart died at his home in

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest ...

on January 5, 1975.

References

Profile from Political Graveyard
*"R. Douglas Stuart", ''Chicago Tribune'', Jan. 7, 1975 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Robert Douglas 1886 births 1975 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Canada Businesspeople from Chicago Illinois Republicans Quaker Oats Company people 20th-century American businesspeople