Joseph Edward Willard (May 1, 1865 – April 4, 1924) was an American politician, philanthropist, and diplomat.

Early life

The son of prominent Washington

hotelier A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to management of hotel staff, bu ...

and Union Army commissary major Joseph Clapp Willard (1820–1897) and former Confederate spy

Antonia Ford Antonia Ford Willard (July 23, 1838 – February 14, 1871) was a volunteer civilian spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources ...

, Joseph Willard had two brothers who died in infancy.

Career

Willard served for eight years in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

, prior to his election as the 19th

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held by Winsome Earle ...

. He held that office from 1902 through 1906, leaving after an unsuccessful run for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. The Virginia General Assembly then elected him a commissioner of the relatively new Virginia State Corporation Commission, where he served for four years. In 1913, 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 Willard as the

United States Ambassador to Spain The incumbent ambassador is Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, she was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on January 7, 2022 and presented her credentials on February 2, 2022. This is a list of United States ambassadors to Spain from 1779 to th ...

. Upon the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Willard was vacationing in the United States and returned to Europe aboard the , although his daughter, Belle, was sick with typhoid fever (she would recover). Ambassador Willard held his position under successive presidents of both political parties until shortly before his death.

Personal life

Willard and his wife, Belle Layton Wyatt (1869–1954), had two daughters, Belle Wyatt, (1892–1968) who later married

Kermit Roosevelt Kermit Roosevelt Military Cross, MC (October 10, 1889 – June 4, 1943) was an American businessman, soldier, explorer, and writer. A son of Theodore Roosevelt, the List of Presidents of the United States, 26th President of the United States, K ...

on June 10, 1914, and Mary Elizabeth, (1898-1979) who later married The Hon.

Mervyn Herbert The Honourable Mervyn Robert Howard Molyneux Herbert (27 December 1882 – 26 May 1929) of Tetton, Kingston St Mary in Somerset, was a career diplomat and a first-class cricket player. Origins Herbert was born at Highclere Castle in Hampshire ...

, third son of

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, in 1921. His daughter, Belle, and Roosevelt had four children: #

Kermit Roosevelt Jr. Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (February 16, 1916 – June 8, 2000) was an American intelligence officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services during and following World War II. A grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United S ...

(1916-2000); married Mary Lowe Gaddis (1917-2013) and had four children. # Joseph Willard Roosevelt (1918-2008); married (1) Nancy Thayer/Cummings, daughter of poet

E.E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...

and had two children; married (2) Carole Adele Russell and had three children. # Belle Wyatt Roosevelt (1919-1985); married John Gorham Palfrey Jr., grandson of John G. Palfrey, 2nd great-grandson of William Palfrey, and grand-nephew of Francis Winthrop Palfrey; had three children. # Dirck Roosevelt (1925-1953) Willard had at least 12 grandchildren, including

Mark Roosevelt Mark Roosevelt (born December 10, 1955) is an American academic administrator and politician serving as the seventh president of the Santa Fe campus of St. John's College. He was the President of Antioch College from January 2011 to December 2 ...

; his great-grandchildren include

Kermit Roosevelt III Kermit Roosevelt III (born July 14, 1971) is an American author, lawyer, and legal scholar. He is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a great-great-grandson of United States President Theodore Roosevelt and a distant cous ...

John Palfrey John Gorham Palfrey VII (born 1972) is an American educator, scholar, and law professor. He is an authority on the legal aspects of emerging media and an advocate for Internet freedom, including increased online transparency and accountabilit ...

and

Quentin Palfrey Quentin Palfrey (born April 29, 1974) is an American lawyer, policymaker, and political candidate. He currently serves as Deputy General Counsel at the United States Department of Commerce. He previously served as the Executive Director of the ...

Death

Joseph Willard tomb - Amphitheater section - Oak Hill Cemetery - 2013-09-04

Willard died in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York, on April 4, 1924. His remains were returned to Washington, D.C., for burial at Oak Hill cemetery.

Sources

Willard Family Papers

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 libra ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Joseph Edward 1865 births 1924 deaths Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Lieutenant Governors of Virginia Ambassadors of the United States to Spain Virginia Military Institute alumni Virginia lawyers 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers People from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American diplomats 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)