Foster Waterman Stearns | |
|---|---|
 Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Hampshire's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Charles W. Tobey |
| Succeeded by | Sherman Adams |
| Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives | |
| In office 1937–1938 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 29, 1881 |
| Died | June 4, 1956 (aged 74) |
| Resting place | Exeter Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Amherst College, 1903;Harvard University, 1906;Boston College, 1915 |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Sixteenth Infantry,First Division, and at the General Headquarters of theAmerican Expeditionary Forces in France |
| Years of service | 1917 – August 5, 1919 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Foster Waterman Stearns (July 29, 1881 – June 4, 1956) was aU.S. Representative fromNew Hampshire.
Born inHull, Massachusetts, Stearns attended public schools. He graduated fromAmherst College in 1903,Harvard University in 1906, andBoston College in 1915. He was Librarian of theMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 1913 to 1917, and State Librarian ofMassachusetts in 1917.
During theFirst World War, Stearns served as afirst lieutenant with the Sixteenth Infantry, First Division, and at the General Headquarters of theAmerican Expeditionary Forces in France, where he served as assistantmilitary attaché from November 27, 1917, until discharged August 5, 1919. He received theSilver Star andPurple Heart decorations in recognition of his service.
He served in theDepartment of State,Washington, D.C., in 1920 and 1921, and was third secretary of the American Embassy, attached to the United States High Commission, inConstantinople, 1921-1923. He was second secretary of the American Embassy atParis in 1923 and 1924.
Returning to the United States, Stearns was Librarian of theCollege of the Holy Cross inWorcester, Massachusetts, from 1925 to 1930. He moved toHancock, New Hampshire, in 1927.
He served as member of theNew Hampshire House of Representatives in 1937 and 1938, and served as delegate to theRepublican National Conventions in 1940 and 1948. He was Regent of theSmithsonian Institution, 1941-1945. In 1941 he became a hereditary member of the New HampshireSociety of the Cincinnati.
Stearns was elected as a Republican to theSeventy-sixth,Seventy-seventh, andSeventy-eighth Congresses (January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1945). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1944, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination forUnited States Senator.
A confidential 1943 analysis of theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee byIsaiah Berlin for the BritishForeign Office described Stearns as[1]
One of the liberal Republicans who supported the Administration's foreign policy on all major measures, and is reported to be in theWillkie camp, although likely to go along with the Democratic majority on the committee; unlikely to be much of a force, being a kindly old derelict rather than a man of parts. Previously in the State Department and in the American Embassy in Paris. A Catholic; age 62. A mild internationalist.
In 1942, Stearns became a director of the Rumford Printing Co. ofConcord, New Hampshire. He moved toExeter in 1948, where he died June 4, 1956. He was interred in Exeter Cemetery.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew Hampshire's 2nd congressional district January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1945 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
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