George Howard Earle III
| George Howard Earle III | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| United States Ambassador to Bulgaria | |
| In office February 14, 1940 – April 2, 1940 |
|
| President | Franklin Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Ray Atherton |
| Succeeded by | Donald Heath |
| Member of the Democratic National Committee from Pennsylvania |
|
| In office May 22, 1936[1] – February 21, 1940[2] |
|
| Preceded by | Sedgwick Kistler |
| Succeeded by | David Lawrence |
| 30th Governor of Pennsylvania | |
| In office January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939 |
|
| Lieutenant | Thomas Kennedy |
| Preceded by | Gifford Pinchot |
| Succeeded by | Arthur James |
| United States Minister to Austria | |
| In office July 24, 1933 – March 25, 1934 |
|
| President | Franklin Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Gilchrist Baker Stockton |
| Succeeded by | George Messersmith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 5, 1890 Devon, Pennsylvania |
| Died | December 30, 1974 (aged 84) Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Democratic |
George Howard Earle III (December 5, 1890 – December 30, 1974) was an American politician. He was great-grandson of noted abolitionist and philanthropist Thomas Earle, grandson of Philadelphia lawyer George H. Earle, Sr., and son of Philadelphia lawyer and "financial diplomat," George H. Earle, Jr. Earle served as the U.S. Minister to Austria from 1933 to 1934,[3] and as the 30th Governor of Pennsylvania from January 15, 1935 to January 17, 1939.
In 1943, when Earle was a United States Navy Lieutenant Commander and the President's special emissary to the Balkans, he "...presented a plan to President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) that Earle believed might end the war in Europe early. The German ambassador and the head of the German secret service secretly proposed to Earle that German troops could surround Hitler’s headquarters and turn Hitler over to the Allies as a war criminal. German troops then would be repositioned to defend against the Russian military. The plot was never approved."[4]
In 1944, FDR assigned Earle to compile information on the Katyń massacre, the massacre of the Polish intelligentsia by the Soviet government. Earle did so, using contacts in Bulgaria and Romania, and concluded that the Soviet Union was guilty.
After consulting with Elmer Davis, the director of the Office of War Information, Roosevelt rejected Earle's conclusion, saying that he was convinced of the responsibility of Nazi Germany, and ordered Earle's report suppressed. When Earle formally requested permission to publish his findings, the President gave him a written order to desist. Earle was reassigned and spent the rest of World War II in American Samoa.[5]
After the war, "...Earle became the first governor of a US state to be divorced. In 1945, he remarried to Jacqueline Sacre of Belgium with whom he had a daughter and a son. That same year, he was appointed assistant governor of Samoa. After his term in that office he returned to private business."[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Earle Victory in Committee Election Seen". The Reading Eagle. May 22, 1936. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D-UxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zuIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2647,4636554&dq=sedgwick+kistler+earle&hl=en. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
- ^ "Earle Resigns Committee Post". The Christian Science Monitor. February 21, 1940. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/289870532.html?dids=289870532:289870532&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Feb+21%2C+1940&author=By+a+Staff+Correspondent+of+The+Christian+Science+Monitor&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Earle+Resigns+Committee+Post&pqatl=google. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ "FORMER U.S. AMBASSADORS TO AUSTRIA". U.S. Embassy in Vienna. http://vienna.usembassy.gov/en/embassy/former_amb.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-24.[dead link]
- ^ a b "George Howard Earle", Governors of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
- ^ Fischer, Benjamin B., "The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field", Studies in Intelligence, Winter 1999-2000
[edit] External links
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ray Atherton |
United States Ambassador to Bulgaria 1940 |
Succeeded by Donald Heath |
| Preceded by Gilchrist Baker Stockton |
United States Minister to Austria 1933–1934 |
Succeeded by George Messersmith |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Gifford Pinchot |
Governor of Pennsylvania 1935–1939 |
Succeeded by Arthur James |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Sedgwick Kistler |
Member of the Democratic National Committee from Pennsylvania 1936–1940 |
Succeeded by David Lawrence |
| Preceded by John Hemphill |
Democratic nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania 1934 (won) |
Succeeded by Charles Alvin Jones |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
