Dwight Morrow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator fromNew Jersey | |
| In office December 3, 1930 – October 5, 1931 | |
| Preceded by | David Baird, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | William W. Barbour |
| United States Ambassador to Mexico | |
| In office October 29, 1927 – September 17, 1930 | |
| President | Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover |
| Preceded by | James R. Sheffield |
| Succeeded by | J. Reuben Clark |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dwight Whitney Morrow (1873-01-11)January 11, 1873 Huntington,West Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | October 5, 1931(1931-10-05) (aged 58) Englewood,New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Dwight Whitney Morrow Jr.,Constance Morrow Morgan,Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Elizabeth Reeve Morrow Morgan |
| Residence | North Haven, Maine (seasonal)[1] |
| Military service | |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Dwight Whitney Morrow (January 11, 1873 – October 5, 1931) was an American businessman, diplomat, and politician, best known as the U.S. ambassador who improved U.S.–Mexico relations, mediating the religious conflict in Mexico known as theCristero rebellion (1926–29), but also contributing to an easing of conflict between the two countries over oil. The Morrow Mission to Mexico was an "important step in the 'retreat from imperialism.' "[2] He was the father ofAnne Morrow and father-in-law ofCharles A. Lindbergh.
Of Scotch-Irish descent, Morrow was born inHuntington, West Virginia. He moved with his parents, James Elmore and Clara (Johnson) Morrow toAllegheny, Pennsylvania in 1875. His father James was principal of Marshall College, which is nowMarshall University. Morrow's great-great-grandfather Alexander Morrow had immigrated to America from Ireland around the year 1803. Before this, Alexander's ancestors had come from Scotland.[3] After graduating fromAmherst College in 1895, Morrow studied law atColumbia Law School and began practicing at the law firmSimpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City. In 1903, he marriedElizabeth Reeve Cutter, his college sweetheart, with whom he had four children.Anne Morrow, his daughter, later marriedCharles A. Lindbergh, whom she met while her father was Ambassador to Mexico. In 1913, he became a partner atJ.P. Morgan & Co., one of the largest and most powerful commercial and investment banks in the United States during this era, financially backing industrial giants such asGeneral Motors and3M. As a partner at Morgan, he served as a director on many corporate and financial boards.
With the onset ofWorld War I in Europe, the bank lentBritain andFrance large sums of money with which they purchased war materials in the U.S. When the United States entered the war, Morrow became the director of the National War Savings Committee for the State ofNew Jersey. He also served abroad as adviser to theAllied Maritime Transport Council and as a civilian member of the Military Board of Allied Supply. With his proven logistical and intellectual talents, Morrow was sent to France by President Woodrow Wilson to serve as chief civilian aide toGeneral John J. Pershing.
In 1925, Morrow was summoned by his old Amherst College classmate and friend,PresidentCalvin Coolidge,[4] to lead a board of inquiry into aviation in the U.S. In September of that year, Coolidge ordered thecourt-martial of ColonelBilly Mitchell of theArmy Air Service for "conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline." The trial was scheduled for November. Anticipating adverse political reaction to the trial, and seeking to shape aviation policy in accordance with his own economic views, Coolidge asked Morrow to head a board of military and civilian aviation experts to inquire into all aspects of aviation. The board's report, published before Mitchell's conviction, recommended the creation of an Air Corps within the Army equivalent to theSignal Corps orQuartermaster Corps, which resulted in the establishment of theU.S. Army Air Corps in July 1926.
Morrow was appointedUnited States Ambassador to Mexico by Coolidge from 1927 to 1930.[5] Upon learning the news, the Mexican press had expected that the appointment of a partner of the financial firm J.P. Morgan was "a return toDollar Diplomacy."[6][7] However, the Coolidge administration planned on changing relations between Mexico and the U.S., which Morrow was to implement. One of Morrow's first acts in Mexico was to change the sign identifying the embassy from "American Embassy" to "United States Embassy"; the appropriation of the words "America" and "American" to refer solely to the United States had long rankled other countries in the hemisphere, including Mexico.[6]
Morrow was widely hailed as a brilliant ambassador, mixing popular appeal with sound economic and financial advice to the Mexican government. In 1927, he invited popular humorist-actorWill Rogers and famed aviator Charles Lindbergh for a goodwill tour of Mexico. His daughter,Anne Morrow, was introduced to Lindbergh, and the two were soon engaged. To thank the town ofCuernavaca, where Morrow owned a vacation home, Morrow hired the Mexican artistDiego Rivera to paint murals in thePalace of Cortez, which are a chronicle of Mexican history from a post-Mexican Revolution point of view.[6]
Morrow initiated a series of breakfast meetings with PresidentPlutarco Elías Calles (1924–1928), at which the two would discuss a range of issues, from oil and irrigation to a religious uprising in Mexico. This earned Morrow the nickname "ham and eggs diplomat" in U.S. newspapers.[6] Morrow also invited Rogers to accompany him and Calles on a tour of Mexico, with Rogers sending favorable human-interest stories about Mexico and Mexicans back to U.S. newspapers, helping to change U.S. perceptions of Mexico.[6]
In a dispute about Mexican petroleum, with U.S. and other foreign oil companies demanding protection of their interests in Mexico, Morrow helped prevent Mexican nationalization of the oilfields.[2] The nationalization did, however, occur ten years later in 1938.
Morrow's best known accomplishment was his mediation of the conflict between the Mexican government and theCatholic Church in Mexico which had escalated into a violent armed revolt, known as theCristero rebellion.[2][8] It was not in the security interests of the United States for such internal disorder to be occurring in its neighbor to the south, not least because of the flight of Mexican refugees to the U.S. from the regions of conflict. Morrow's efforts at mediation were successful,[2] and he was aided by FatherJohn J. Burke of theNational Catholic Welfare Conference.[9] TheVatican was also actively seeking peace in Mexico.[10]
After the assassination in 1928 of the newly re-elected PresidentÁlvaro Obregón, former president Calles was ineligible to serve again due to term limits, and the Mexican Congress namedEmilio Portes Gil as president. In practice, Calles remained in power during a period known as theMaximato. As interim president in December 1928, Portes Gil permitted Morrow and Burke to revitalize their peace initiative. Portes Gil told a foreign correspondent on May 1 that "the Catholic clergy, when they wish, may renew the exercise of their rites with only one obligation, that they respect the laws of the land."[citation needed]
Morrow managed to bring the war parties to agreement on June 21, 1929. His office drafted a pact called thearreglos (agreement) that permitted worship to resume in Mexico and granted three concessions to the Catholics: only priests who were named by hierarchical superiors would be required to register, religious instruction in the churches (but not in the schools) would be permitted, and all citizens, including the clergy, would be allowed to make petitions to reform the laws. Theanticlerical articles of theConstitution of 1917 remained in place but were not systematically enforced.
In 1930 Morrow was elected as a Republican to theUnited States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofWalter Evans Edge. At the same time he was elected for the full-term commencing on March 4, 1931. He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society that same year.[11] He served in the Senate from December 3, 1930, until his death inEnglewood, New Jersey, on October 5, 1931.
Following a speaking engagement in New York City, Morrow suffered a stroke in his sleep at his home in Englewood, New Jersey and died the next afternoon on October 5, 1931.[12]
A partner at J.P. Morgan, Morrow was one of the richest men in New Jersey. Morrow's death occurred within 30 days of the next election allowing the Republican GovernorMorgan Foster Larson to appointWilliam Warren Barbour as Morrow's successor in the U.S. Senate.[13]
Morrow was interred atBrookside Cemetery in Englewood.[14]
Morrow's will was dated January 24, 1927, and made over $1 million in specific bequests, including $200,000 toAmherst College, $200,000 toSmith College, $100,000 to theSmithsonian Institution, and several other bequests to family and friends.[15] The estate was valued at about $10 million (equivalent to $181 million in 2024). The large $1,000,000 in estate taxes paid to the state of New Jersey enabled the state to balance their books.[12] In addition, a $1 million trust fund had been set up forAnne Morrow Lindbergh in 1929.[16]
Morrow's personal papers are held by the Archives & Special Collections inRobert Frost Library atAmherst College. In 1934, Betty Morrow requested that the British diplomat and writerHarold Nicolson write the definitive biography of her late husband.[17] Nicolson stayed with the family at Englewood and in Maine for several months, drawing on interviews with them, Morrow's partners at J.P. Morgan, and with former Mexican presidentPlutarco Elias Calles for his book. It was published asDwight Morrow in October 1935.[18]
Dwight Morrow High School, founded in 1932, was named in his honor. It is a public school serving students in Englewood and Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
TheWorld War IILiberty ShipSS Dwight W. Morrow was named in his honor.[19]
He was portrayed byBruce Greenwood in the 2012 filmFor Greater Glory set during theCristero War.
| U.S. Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Senator from New Jersey 1930–1931 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican Nominee for theU.S. Senate (Class 2) fromNew Jersey 1930 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Mexico 1927–1930 | Succeeded by |
