Vincent William de Roulet (1925 – August 11, 1975) was an American businessman, politician, and statesman. He served as

United States Ambassador to Jamaica This is a list of United States ambassadors to Jamaica. The U.S. Embassy is located in Jamaica's capital, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, and was established there on August 16, 1962. Ambassadors Notes See also *Jamaica – United States relatio ...

from 1969 through 1973.

Biography

De Roulet was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He lived there until moving to

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York. It is considered the anchor communi ...

in 1954.

Business career

De Roulet was elected to the board of directors of the Meadow Brook National Bank in 1964. He also owned Towne-Oller and Associates, a market research firm. De Roulet served as mayor of

North Hills, New York North Hills is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 5,464 at the 2020 census. History The glacial action that formed much of Long Island depo ...

Ambassadorship

De Roulet was appointed

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Richard M. Nixon in August 1969, and presented his credentials on October 23, 1969. While serving as ambassador, he allegedly sought political contributions from American corporations for foreign elections;

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

gave these contributions to Jamaican officials. He left the post on July 18, 1973, when the

Government of Jamaica Politics in Jamaica takes place in the framework of a representative parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The 1962 Constitution of Jamaica established a parliamentary system whose political and legal traditions closely fol ...

declared him ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

'';

Michael Manley Michael Norman Manley (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been d ...

, the

Prime Minister of Jamaica The prime minister of Jamaica is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Holness, as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was sworn in as prime minister on 7 September 2020, having been re-elected as a result of ...

, requested that de Roulet be recalled after it was revealed that de Roulet suggested the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

make a pre-election political deal before the 1972 Jamaican elections. He officially resigned in August. During the hearings of the

United States Senate Watergate Committee The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inve ...

, it was alleged that de Roulet received an "express commitment" from the

Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 37th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Richard Nixon, his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974 ...

through

Herbert W. Kalmbach Herbert Warren Kalmbach (October 19, 1921 – September 15, 2017) was an American attorney and banker. He served as the personal attorney to United States President Richard Nixon (1968–1973). He became embroiled in the Watergate scand ...

, Nixon's personal lawyer, to receive a more prestigious ambassadorship in Europe in exchange for a campaign donation of $100,000 to Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign; de Roulet and Nixon both denied the charge.

Personal life

De Roulet married

Lorinda de Roulet Lorinda "Linda" de Roulet ('' née'' Payson; born May 8, 1930) is an American philanthropist. She is the former president of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. She served in the role from 1975 through 1980. She succeeded her mother, Joa ...

(''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Payson), the daughter of

Joan Whitney Payson Joan Whitney Payson (February 5, 1903 – October 4, 1975) was an American heiress, businesswoman, philanthropist, patron of the arts and art collector, and a member of the prominent Whitney family. She was also co-founder and majority owner of ...

and Charles Shipman Payson, in 1951. The couple had three children, daughters Whitney and Bebe, and son Daniel. De Roulet died in 1975 of a heart attack.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Roulet, Vincent 1925 births 1975 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Jamaica Year of birth uncertain New York (state) Republicans People from Manhasset, New York Mayors of places in New York (state) Politicians from Los Angeles 20th-century American politicians