Harry Frank Guggenheim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Ambassador to Cuba | |
| In office 1929–1933 | |
| President | Herbert Hoover |
| Preceded by | Noble Brandon Judah |
| Succeeded by | Sumner Welles |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1890-08-23)August 23, 1890 West End, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | January 22, 1971(1971-01-22) (aged 80) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingDiane Hamilton |
| Parent(s) | Daniel Guggenheim Florence Shloss Guggenheim |
| Relatives | Guggenheim family |
| Education | Columbia Grammar School Sheffield Scientific School |
| Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Businessman, newspaper publishing, statesman, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, aviator |
Harry Frank Guggenheim (August 23, 1890 – January 22, 1971) was an American businessman, diplomat, publisher, philanthropist, aviator, and horseman.
He was born August 23, 1890, in theWest End section ofLong Branch, New Jersey.[1] He was the second son of Florence (née Shloss) Guggenheim (1863–1944) andDaniel Guggenheim.[2] He had an older brother,U.S. Ambassador to PortugalMeyer Robert Guggenheim, and a younger sister,Gladys Guggenheim Straus. His father who assumed control of the Guggenheim family enterprises after his grandfather's death in 1905,[2] and his mother was a co-founder, and president, of theGuggenheim Foundation as well as the treasurer of theWomen's National Republican Club from its inception in 1921 to 1938.[3]
He graduated in 1907 from theColumbia Grammar School in Manhattan, and then he attended theSheffield Scientific School ofYale University. He later left Yale and served a three-year apprenticeship at theAmerican Smelting and Refining Company in Mexico. The company was owned by the Guggenheim family. He resumed his education in 1910 at England'sPembroke College atCambridge University from which he was awarded aB.A. and anM.A., both in 1913.[1]
In 1917 he bought aCurtiss flying boat and moved toManhasset, New York. In September 1917 he joined theUnited States Navy Reserve and served overseas in France, England and Italy as a member of theFirst Yale Unit during World War I.[4]
In 1920 Guggenheim wrote a response to the criticism of the living conditions in the copper mine ofChuquicamata, owned by the Guggenheim'sChile Exploration Company, which had been published in a 1917 book by Laura Jorquera.[5]
In 1924, his parents established theDaniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation and he was made a director and later president. He sponsoredRobert H. Goddard's private research into liquid fuel rocketry and space flight.[6] He provided funds for the establishment of the first Guggenheim School of Aeronautics atNew York University in 1925. Guggenheim became president of theDaniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics a year later. This fund, totaling $3 million, included an equipment loan for operating the first regularly scheduled commercial airline in the United States. It also provided for the establishment of the first weather reporting exclusively for passenger airplanes.
Guggenheim was inducted into theNational Aviation Hall of Fame in 1971 for his service to aviation.[7]
In World War I, he was commissioned Lt. J. G., USNRF, and was sent to France. He also served in England and Italy until theArmistice, when he left the Navy with the rank of Lt. Commander. Guggenheim was a lieutenant commander.[8] In World War II, he was recalled to active duty in the Navy and served in theSouth Pacific as a tail gunner on atorpedo bomber.[9] Guggenheim rose to the rank of captain by the end of the war.
Guggenheim was the United States ambassador toCuba from 1929 until his resignation in 1933. According to his obituary, "much of his time during that period was devoted to prevailing on the Cuban dictator‐president, Gen.Gerardo Machado y Morales, "not to murder too many of his political enemies", as Mr. Guggenheim later put it.[1]
In 1929, PresidentHerbert Hoover appointed Guggenheim to serve on the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics, a position that he held until 1938. In 1948, as president of theDaniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation, he continued to support United States aviation progress when he helped organize the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Jet Propulsion Center at theCalifornia Institute of Technology and the Guggenheim Laboratories for Aerospace Propulsion Sciences atPrinceton University.[1]
Guggenheim was a participant in the founding of theNew York Racing Association. From 1929 he was a majorthoroughbredracehorse owner and breeder. HisCain Hoy Stable raced in the United States and was the owner of numerous successful horses including the 1953Kentucky Derby winnerDark Star, the only horse ever to defeat the legendaryNative Dancer, andEclipse Award winnerBald Eagle. Also he was the breeder and owner (until his death) ofAck Ack, who is in theThoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and wasAmerican Horse of the Year in 1971.[1]
Guggenheim, with his third wife,Alicia Patterson, founded the newspaperNewsday in 1940.[citation needed] Guggenheim was president of the company, while his wife was editor and publisher until her death in 1963, then he assumed those duties until 1967.[citation needed] The circulation of Newsday reached 450,000 and received thePulitzer Prize in 1954.[1]
In 1967, he turned over the publisher position toBill Moyers and continued as president and editor-in-chief. But Guggenheim was disappointed by the liberal drift of the newspaper under Moyers, criticizing the "left-wing" coverage of Vietnam War protests.[10][11] The two split over the 1968 presidential election, with Guggenheim signing an editorial supportingRichard Nixon, when Moyers supportedHubert Humphrey.[12] Guggenheim sold his majority share to the then-conservativeTimes Mirror Company over the attempt of newspaper employees to block the sale, even though Moyers offered $10 million more than the Times-Mirror purchase price; Moyers resigned a few days later.[10][13][14] Guggenheim, who died a year later, disinherited Moyers from his will.[15]
On November 10, 1910, Guggenheim was married to Helen Rosenberg at the Rosenberg residence on 166West 78th Street. Helen was a daughter of Herman Rosenberg.[16] Before their divorce in 1923, they were the parents of two daughters:[1]
His second marriage was on February 3, 1923, to Caroline (née Morton) Potter (1882–1952), a daughter ofPaul Morton, the former vice president of theSanta Fe Railroad who served asSecretary of the Navy under PresidentTheodore Roosevelt. Caroline, the former wife ofWilliam Chapman Potter (president of theGuaranty Trust Co. who had done business with Guggenheim in 1920), was also the niece ofJoy Morton, founder ofMorton Salt, and a granddaughter ofJulius Sterling Morton, who had served asSecretary of Agriculture under PresidentGrover Cleveland.[21] Before their divorce in July 1939, they were the parents of one daughter:[1]
On July 1, 1939, Guggenheim married for the third time toAlicia (née Patterson) Brooks (1906–1963) inJacksonville, Florida. Alicia, the former wife ofU.S. RepresentativeJames Simpson Jr. and football coachJoseph W. Brooks, was a daughter ofJoseph Medill Patterson (founder of theNew York Daily News) and sister ofJames Joseph Patterson.[24]
Guggenheim died ofcancer on January 22, 1971, at "Falaise",[25] his home atSands Point onLong Island,New York.[26] He was buried inSalem Fields Cemetery inBrooklyn, New York.[1]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Cuba 1929–1933 | Succeeded by |
