Henry Prather Fletcher (April 10, 1873 – July 10, 1959) was an American diplomat who served under six presidents.

Early life

Fletcher was born in

Greencastle, Pennsylvania Greencastle is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,996 at the 2010 census. Greencastle lies within the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylv ...

, in 1873 to Louis Henry Fletcher (1839–1927) and Martha Ellen ( née Rowe) Fletcher (1840–1896). His siblings included James Gilmore Fletcher (1875–1960), David Watson Fletcher (1880–1957) and Florence Fletcher (1883–1957). He was the fourth cousin once removed of

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

. Fletcher planned to attend

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, but his family could not afford to send him, therefore, he studied law and shorthand in his uncle's law office. Shortly after beginning to practice law, 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 ...

broke out and the United States declared war on Spain in 1898. Fletcher joined

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

Rough Riders The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and di ...

as a private in Troop K. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, both in Cuba and in the Philippines for two years.

Career

After returning from the Philippines, he entered the diplomatic service under President Roosevelt's administration as secondary secretary of the United States legation in Havana, Cuba. In 1903, he was transferred to

Beiping "Beijing" is from pinyin ''Běijīng,'' which is romanized from , the Chinese name for this city. The pinyin system of transliteration was approved by the Chinese government in 1958, but little used until 1979. It was gradually adopted by various ...

and then, in 1905, as secretary to the legation in

Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

. In 1907, he returned to China and negotiated an agreement whereby US capital was allowed to participate on equal terms with European capital for the first time. As a reward, President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

named him US Minister to Chile in 1909. He was in that position until 1914, by which time the mission had been raised to the status of an Embassy, making him the first

United States Ambassador to Chile The following is a list of ambassadors that the United States has sent to Chile. The current title given by the United States State Department to this position is Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. See also *Ambassadors o ...

. He served in that role until March 9, 1916. 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 ...

appointed him

United States Ambassador to Mexico The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with Mexico since 1823, when Andrew Jackson was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to that country. Jackson declined the appointment, however, and Joel R. Poinsett bec ...

, his term coinciding with the height of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. On January 19, 1917, the German Secretary of State,

Arthur Zimmermann Arthur Zimmermann (5 October 1864 – 6 June 1940) was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire from 22 November 1916 until his resignation on 6 August 1917. His name is associated with the Zimmermann Telegram during World War ...

, sent a message to Mexico promising Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to Mexico if it entered the War on German's side. The note was intercepted in Washington and made public and is considered one of the immediate causes for the United States entering the war six weeks later. He presented his credentials on March 3, 1917, and served as ambassador in Mexico until January 25, 1919, when he returned to the United States. In 1920, after directing the State Department's Latin American affairs for a year, he resigned and was appointed

Under Secretary of State Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the Assistant Secretaries and below the Deputy Secretary. From 1919 to 1972, the Under Secretary was the second-ranking off ...

by President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

, serving from March 8, 1921, to March 6, 1922, under Secretary

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...

. Thereafter, he served as ambassador to Belgium from 1922 until 1924 under both Harding and his successor, Calvin Coolidge, who became president after Harding's death in 1923. In 1923, he was sent to the

Pan-American Conference The Conferences of American States, commonly referred to as the Pan-American Conferences, were meetings of the Pan-American Union, an international organization for cooperation on trade. James G. Blaine, a United States politician, Secretary ...

in Santiago, taking the place of Secretary of State

, who had declined to go. At that time, the United States Secretary of State was ''ex officio'' chair of the Pan-American Conference, although that changed in Santiago after Latin American criticism. From April 2, 1924, to August 3, 1929, he was appointed by Coolidge and served as the Ambassador to Italy. He was on close terms with the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini.

Later career

On April 22, 1930, President Hoover appointed him chairman of the United States Tariff Commission after the

Tariff Act of 1930 A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...

. He was said to have accomplished more work in one year than what had been done in the previous seven. From 1934 to 1936, he was the chairman of the Republican Party and was a delegate to the Republican national conventions in 1936 and 1940.

Personal life

In 1917, he married Beatrice Bend (1874–1941), a daughter of George H. Bend, a member of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

who had gone bankrupt. Bend's sister, Amy Bend (1870–1957), was married to Cortlandt F. Bishop in 1899. Henry and Beatrice did not have any children. He died in 1959 at his home in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, and is buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. He left an estate worth $3,000,000, and donated his personal papers to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

. He also left a portrait of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, by Edward Savage, to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

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, ...

Honours

* 1929: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold.

References

;Notes ;Sources *

External links

Bio from Allison-Antrim Museum

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Henry P. 1873 births 1959 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Belgium Ambassadors of the United States to Chile Ambassadors of the United States to Italy Ambassadors of the United States to Luxembourg Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Pennsylvania Republicans People from Franklin County, Pennsylvania Republican National Committee chairs Rhode Island Republicans United States Under Secretaries of State Bend family 20th-century American diplomats