Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 49thUnited States Ambassador toSpain | |
| In office May 25, 1961 – October 12, 1961 | |
| President | John F. Kennedy |
| Preceded by | John Davis Lodge |
| Succeeded by | Robert F. Woodward |
| 1stUnited States Ambassador toCzechoslovakia | |
| In office July 12, 1943 – December 1, 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Minister) |
| Succeeded by | Laurence A. Steinhardt |
| 1stUnited States Ambassador toYugoslavia | |
| In office November 3, 1942 – September 28, 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Minister) |
| Succeeded by | Lincoln MacVeagh |
| 1stUnited States Ambassador toGreece | |
| In office October 30, 1942 – March 16, 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Minister) |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Comstock Kirk |
| 1stUnited States Ambassador toNorway | |
| In office May 13, 1942 – December 1, 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Minister) |
| Succeeded by | Lithgow Osborne |
| 1stUnited States Ambassador tothe Netherlands | |
| In office May 8, 1942 – December 1, 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Minister) |
| Succeeded by | Stanley Hornbeck |
| 22ndUnited States Minister toGreece | |
| In office November 28, 1941 – October 30, 1942 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Lincoln MacVeagh |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as Ambassador) |
| 7thUnited States Minister toCzechoslovakia | |
| In office October 28, 1941 – July 12, 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Wilbur J. Carr |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as Ambassador) |
| 5thUnited States Minister toYugoslavia | |
| In office October 3, 1941 – October 3, 1942 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Arthur Bliss Lane |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as Ambassador) |
| 30thUnited States Minister tothe Netherlands | |
| In office March 27, 1941 – May 8, 1942 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | George A. Gordon |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as Ambassador) |
| 9thUnited States Ambassador toBelgium | |
| In office March 24, 1941 – December 1, 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | John Cudahy |
| Succeeded by | Charles W. Sawyer |
| 7th and 9thUnited States Minister toNorway | |
| In office March 20, 1941 – May 13, 1942 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Florence Harriman |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as Ambassador) |
| In office September 7, 1935 – May 21, 1937 | |
| Preceded by | Hoffman Philip |
| Succeeded by | Florence Harriman |
| 5thUnited States Ambassador toPoland | |
| In office June 2, 1937 – December 1, 1943 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | John Cudahy |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Bliss Lane |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1897 -12-17)December 17, 1897 |
| Died | November 13, 1961(1961-11-13) (aged 63) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4, includingMary |
| Parent |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1917–1919; 1944–1955 |
| Rank |  Major General |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. (December 17, 1897 – November 13, 1961) was an American diplomat who served as ambassador to several countries between the 1930s and 1961. He served in theUnited States Army during World Wars I and II, continuing after the war and rising from an enlisted Private to a commissionedmajor general.[1]
Biddle was the son of millionaireAnthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr. (1874–1948), and Cordelia Rundell Bradley (1873–1947). A member of theBiddle family, he was born inPhiladelphia, on December 17, 1897.His father, grandson of bankerAnthony Joseph Drexel and great-grandson of bankerNicholas Biddle, was an eccentric boxing fan. When he was ten years old, the younger Biddle was in an exhibition match withBob Fitzsimmons, who knocked him into a wall with a punch traveling about two inches.[2]
He graduated fromSt. Paul's School inConcord, New Hampshire, but never attended college.[3]
In World War I, he first enlisted as a private, and was promoted to rank ofcaptain. In the 1920s he engaged in several business ventures, which were known as social successes but financial failures. For example, he managed Belgian boxer René deVos, and invested in theSt. Regis Hotel. A party he held for the boxer at the hotel was marked by the loss of many bottles of fine champagne (at great expense due toprohibition in the United States). "Guests" even tried to wheel out the piano before it was retrieved.[3]
Biddle also made a deal to rent part ofCentral Park in New York City and open an expensive nightclub calledCentral Park Casino. After theWall Street crash of 1929 many of his investments failed. The Casino was raided and shut down.[4]
In 1931 he and other directors of the bankrupt Sonora Products Corporation of America (formerly Acoustic Products Company, in the phonograph and radio business) were sued by the Irving Trust Company. The directors were accused of diverting profits from stock sales into their own accounts. A district court dismissed the claims against the defendants, but the dismissal of Biddle and several others was reversed on appeal.[5][6]
After Biddle was appointedEnvoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Norway on July 22, 1935, he settled the Irving case out of court to avoid a bond required before leaving the country to assume the post.[7] He presented his credentials on September 7, 1935. It was widely suspected he was a political appointee resulting from his support of theDemocratic Party andGeorge Howard Earle III, its 1934 successful candidate forGovernor of Pennsylvania. However, his social skills made him and his wife ideally suited to being a diplomat.[3][8]
On May 4, 1937, he was promoted toAmbassador to Poland and presented his credentials inWarsaw, Poland, on June 2, 1937.[9] In September 1939Germany invaded Poland, which was a major cause of World War II. After Biddle's house was hit with bomb fragments, his family and embassy staff fled to various temporary quarters.[10] After the escape, he joined thePolish government in exile in France until June 1940, when he and his wife Margaret received transit visas from the Portuguese consulAristides de Sousa Mendes, in Bordeaux, and crossed into Portugal.[11] They stayed inEstoril, at the Hotel Palácio, between 19 July and 31 July 1940.[12] On 1 August 1940, they boarded theS.S. Excalibur headed for New York City, arriving on 10 August.[13]
On February 11, 1941, he also commissioned to the governments-in-exile ofBelgium,Czechoslovakia,Greece,Luxembourg, theNetherlands,Norway, andYugoslavia. Biddle arrived in London on March 14, 1941, and continued as ambassador through 1943.[9] During the period, he ownedSaint Hill Manor inWest Sussex, a country estate which was later sold toChurch of Scientology founderL. Ron Hubbard.
In January 1944, Biddle resigned from the State Department and joined the Army as lieutenant colonel to serve on the staff ofDwight Eisenhower. His contacts with "underground" movements and free military units in occupied nations provided intelligence for the planning ofOperation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France.[14] He continued on Eisenhower's staff supervising European reconstruction after the war ended. In March 1951 he was promoted to brigadier general. At his promotion ceremony, Eisenhower pinned on one of Biddle's stars.
In April 1955, he resigned from the Army to become Adjutant General of thePennsylvania National Guard.[15] Nevertheless, as a member of theArmy Reserve, he was promoted tomajor general in August.[16]
In 1961, Biddle became theUnited States Ambassador to Spain, though he did not speak Spanish fluently;[17] in which he served until shortly before his death.[1]
On June 16, 1915, Biddle marriedMary Lillian Duke (1887–1960), a tobacco heiress who was the daughter ofBenjamin Newton Duke.[18] They divorced in 1931 after having two children:
His second wife, whom he married in 1931, was Margaret Thompson Schulze (d. 1956), the only child of mining magnateWilliam Boyce Thompson and recent divorcee of Theodore M. Schulze, a New York banker.[21] Through this marriage he had two stepchildren, (Margaret) Boyce Schulze and Theodore Schulze Jr, as well as a son before their divorce in 1945:[21]
He married as his third wife, in 1946, Margaret Atkinson Loughborough (1915–2013), the former wife of William Ellery Loughborough[23] and had two more children:
He died November 13, 1961, in Washington, D.C., at theWalter Reed Army Hospital.[1] He was interred atArlington National Cemetery.[25] Hiscenotaph is atThe Woodlands Cemetery inPhiladelphia. After Biddle's death, she married, as her third husband, Colonel Edwinston Robbins.[26]
A wealthy socialite, Biddle was known for being elegantly dressed. On October 4, 1943, he appeared on the cover ofLife magazine.[27]The one published picture of Biddle without his impeccable suit was when he had to pack in a hurry to escape German bombers in Poland viaRomania.[10]He was recognized in 1960 byGeorge Frazier as one of the best dressed men in the US, on a short list with such stars asFred Astaire. He was noted for his small number of fine custom-made suits[28] and his starched, horizontally-stripedCharvet shirts.[29]
His sister Cordelia Drexel Biddle wrote a book with Kyle Crichton about the family, focusing on her marriage withAngier Buchanan Duke who was the brother of Anthony's first wife. It was made into a play and the 1967 musical filmThe Happiest Millionaire.He was portrayed byPaul Petersen in the film.[citation needed]His nephewAngier Biddle Duke (1915–1995) also became a diplomat.[30][31]
His multiple appointments from 1941 to 1943 were togovernments-in-exile in London.
Note – Ambassador Drexel also received numerous foreign orders and decorations.
Plans have been completed for the wedding of Miss Mary Lillian Duke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin N. Duke, and A. J. Dexter Biddle, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Dester Biddle of Philadelphia, which is to take place on Wednesday afternoon, June 16 at 3 o'clock.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Norway 1935–1937 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Poland 1937–1943 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador 1941–1943 To the governments-in-exile in England. Commissioned also toBelgium,Czechoslovakia,Greece,Luxembourg,the Netherlands,Norway,Poland, andYugoslavia; resident at London. | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Spain 1961 | Succeeded by |
| Chargé d'Affaires |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Minister Resident | ||
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | ||
| Czechoslovakia (1919–1992) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic (1993–present) | ||
 Kingdom of Greece(1868–1924) | |
|---|---|
| Second Hellenic Republic | |
| Kingdom of Greece (1935–1973) Military junta (1967–1974) | |
 Junta-declared Republic (1973–1974) Third Hellenic Republic(1974–present) | |
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| Ministers Plenipotentiary to Spain (1779–1825) | |
|---|---|
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain (1825–1913) | |
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Spain (1913–present) | |
