Sumner Gerard | |
|---|---|
| United States Ambassador to Jamaica | |
| In office June 4, 1974 – April 15, 1977 | |
| President | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Vincent de Roulet |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Irving |
| Montana Senate Minority Leader | |
| In office 1965–1966 | |
| Preceded by | J. S. Brenner |
| Succeeded by | Jean Turnage |
| Member of theMontana Senate fromMadison County | |
| In office 1962–1966 | |
| Montana House Minority Leader | |
| In office 1959–1961 | |
| Preceded by | Rudy Juedeman |
| Succeeded by | James P. Lucas |
| Member of theMontana House of Representatives fromMadison County | |
| In office 1955–1961 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 15, 1916 Melville, New York, United States |
| Died | February 24, 2005 (aged 88) Vero Beach, Florida, United States |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Parent(s) | Sumner Gerard Helen Coster |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge(BA,MA) |
| Awards | Order of the British Empire |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army United States Navy United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1940–1945 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Army Commendation Medal |
Sumner Gerard Jr.MBE (July 15, 1916 – February 24, 2005) was an American businessman, politician, and diplomat. Born in New York to a prominent family, Gerard attendedGroton School andTrinity College, Cambridge. After serving in the army, navy, and Marine Corps duringWorld War II, he moved to Montana and became involved in business, including mining and ranching, and politics.
During the 1950s and 1960s, he was a member of both theMontana House of Representatives and theMontana Senate, serving asRepublicanminority leader in both. In 1974, PresidentRichard Nixon appointed himUnited States Ambassador to Jamaica, a position he held through the administration of PresidentGerald Ford, leaving in 1977. He then moved toFlorida, serving as an adjunct professor of marine archaeology at theUniversity of Miami and sponsoring and participating in underwater archaeology expeditions. He died in 2005 inVero Beach, Florida, aged 88.
Gerard was born inMelville, New York, a hamlet in theLong Island town ofHuntington.[1][2] Born to Sumner Gerard and Helen Coster, he had two brothers.[3]
His paternal ancestors, the Gerards, were FrenchHuguenots who emigrated to New York in 1776 after several generations inScotland.[3] One of his ancestors from the maternal side of the Gerard family wasIncrease Sumner,Governor of Massachusetts and associate justice of theMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.James W. Gerard, theUnited States Ambassador to Germany duringWorld War I, was his uncle.[3] The family became prominent in business, law, and politics.[3][4] Gerard Avenue inThe Bronx is named for them.[1] The Gerard family were members of theEpiscopal Church.[4][5]
Gerard graduated from theGroton School, a private boarding secondary school inGroton,Massachusetts.[1][2][5] He attendedTrinity College at theUniversity of Cambridge, earning aBachelor of Arts in 1937 and aMaster of Arts in 1939.[1][4][5][2]
DuringWorld War II, Gerard served in theUnited States Army, theNavy, and theMarine Corps.[1][5][6] He started out as abuck private in theArmy Air Corps, spent time as aparachutist, and ended his service four years later as aninfantrycaptain of intelligence in the Marines.[1][6] His service spanned such locations as theMiddle East andNorth Africa,Washington, D.C.,China,Burma, andCalifornia.[2][6] In 1942, he flew withWinston Churchill toMoscow,Soviet Union, to meetJoseph Stalin.[2] Gerard received theArmy Commendation Medal and theOrder of the British Empire.[6]
After the war 1940s, Gerard became involved in his family's real estate business, the Aeon Realty Company, with interests in Manhattan, Long Island, andNew Jersey.[1][5] However, Gerard wished to move to the western United States.[7] He began studyingranching, and in 1947 toured several western states, deciding onMontana.[7] In 1948, he purchased what is now known as the Bar 7 Ranch inEnnis,[7] Montana, moving there with his family in 1949.[1][2] Gerard operated the ranch as both a home and a livestock operation, raising cattle and horses.[7] He also owned another ranch in the town ofDillon.[2][5] However, the ranch was never profitable, and Gerard received assistance from his father through monies and stocks in order to help him reduce with his significant debt.[7]
Thanks to his father's financial assistance as well as that of a company owned by his family, Gerard was able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, covering ranch expenses, educational expenses for his children, and costs of operating a private airplane.[7] In addition to ranching, Gerard had business interests inBillings andBozeman,[2][5] and was a mining executive for Newmont Resources and a director of Cardinal Petroleum, both based in Billings.[1]
Sometime after moving to Montana, Gerard became involved in state politics.[1][2][3][7] In 1954, he was elected to theMontana Legislature as aRepublican representingMadison County, with his term beginning in 1955.[2][4][5][7] He was elected to three terms in the House, serving in his final term asminority leader from 1959 to 1961.[1][7][8][9]
On December 17, 1959, Gerard announced his campaign for the Republican nomination for theUnited States Senate, and said:
[I am] convinced that Montana must look and think ahead, or we will forfeit our potential. I intend to file for nomination to the U.S. Senate with the hope that Montana will send new blood with a fresh outlook to Washington to best represent all Montanans."[6]
However, Gerard lost the nomination in theRepublican primary, finishing second in a six-way race, earning 27% of the vote, compared to 39% of votes for nomineeOrvin B. Fjare.[4][7] His father helped fund his campaign, which cost $20,000.[7] One source writes that he may have lost in the primary "because Montanans did not believe him to be authentically Montanan."[4]
In 1962, Gerard earned the Republican nomination for theMontana Senate from Madison County.[10] He won the election, serving in the Senate from 1962 to 1966.[1][2][3][5] He was elected minority leader, serving in that capacity from 1965 to 1966.[1][9]
In 1969, Gerard left Montana to pursue a career as a diplomat,[2][5] and relocated temporarily to New Jersey.[11] In 1969, theNixon administration sent him toRome,Italy, as a delegate to theFood and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations.[1][2][5] In 1970, he was named mission director for theUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID) inTunisia, a position he held until 1974.[1][2][12] On March 22, 1974, PresidentRichard Nixon appointed himUnited States Ambassador to Jamaica, and he presented credentials on June 4, 1974.[11] He served as ambassador through the presidency ofGerald Ford and the beginning of theCarter administration, leaving the position in 1977.[1][2][3][4][11][13]
After leaving his ambassadorship, Gerard relocated toFlorida from New Jersey.[1] He was an active benefactor ofmarine biology and a frequent sponsor of underwater archaeological expeditions and in 1977 became anadjunct professor ofmaritime archaeology at theUniversity of Miami.[1][2]
Gerard was married twice: first in 1944 to Louise Taft Grosvenor, a daughter ofThelma Cudlipp and granddaughter ofEdwin A. Grosvenor, before divorcing in 1966, and next to Teresa Dabrowska, a native ofWarsaw, Poland,[12] whom he married in the 1960s and divorced in 2004.[1][2][5] He had five children with his first wife: Jenny, Molly, Helen, Anne, and Sumner.[1][2][5]
Gerard died of natural causes in a hospital inVero Beach, Florida, on February 24, 2005.[1][2][5] A memorial service was held at theSmithsonian Marine Station inFort Pierce, Florida, on March 1, before an afternoon funeral service atSt. Thomas Episcopal Church in Manhattan on March 3.[1][2][5]
