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Laurence Steinhardt

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Laurence Steinhardt
2nd United States Ambassador to Canada
In office
November 1, 1948 – March 28, 1950
PresidentHarry Truman
Preceded byRay Atherton
Succeeded byStanley Woodward
United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia
In office
July 20, 1945 – September 19, 1948
PresidentHarry Truman
Preceded byAnthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr.
Succeeded byJoseph E. Jacobs
10th United States Ambassador to Turkey
In office
March 10, 1942 – April 2, 1945
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byJohn Van Antwerp MacMurray
Succeeded byEdwin C. Wilson
United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union
In office
August 11, 1939 – November 12, 1941
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byJoseph E. Davies
Succeeded byWilliam H. Standley
United States Ambassador to Peru
In office
September 13, 1937 – April 10, 1939
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byFred Morris Dearing
Succeeded byRaymond Henry Norweb
United States Minister to Sweden
In office
August 28, 1933 – June 26, 1937
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byJohn Motley Morehead III
Succeeded byFred Morris Dearing
Personal details
Born
Laurence Adolph Steinhardt

October 6, 1892
New York City, US
DiedMarch 28, 1950(1950-03-28) (aged 57)
near Ramsayville, Ontario, Canada
Resting placeArlington National Cemetery
SpouseDulcie Hofmann Steinhardt Beau
Alma materColumbia University (BA, MA, LLB)
Professiondiplomat, lawyer

Laurence Adolph Steinhardt (October 6, 1892 – March 28, 1950) was a United States diplomat. He served as the U.S. Minister to Sweden and U.S. Ambassador to Peru, the USSR, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, and Canada.[1] He was the first United States Ambassador to be killed in office.

Biography

Steinhardt was born October 6, 1892 in New York City. He graduated from Columbia College, Columbia University in 1913, and received his M.A. and LL.B. in 1915.[2][3] He served as a Sergeant in the Quartermaster Corps in the US Army in World War I.

He was a member of the Federation of American Zionists and the American Zion Commonwealth. He practiced law at Guggenheimer, Untermyer and Marshall, where his uncle Samuel Untermyer was partner, from 1920 through 1933. In 1932, he worked on the presidential campaign of Franklin Roosevelt.[4]

Steinhardt was appointed U.S. Minister to Sweden in 1933 by Roosevelt. He was appointed ambassador to Peru in 1937, the Soviet Union in 1939.

On 23 February 1940, writing a letter from Moscow to Loy Henderson at the US Dept of State, Steinhardt reported that after having visited Riga, Tallinn and Leningrad with John Cooper Wiley that he "could find no evidence in Riga or Tallinn – and John agrees with me – that there is any move presently on foot by the Soviets to "take over."[5] Of course, the take over occurred several months later in June 1940.

In 1941, he evacuated the Moscow embassy to Kuybyshev.[6]

On January 12, 1942, he was appointed ambassador to Turkey. While ambassador to Turkey, Steinhardt, particularly because he was Jewish, was involved in the rescue of Hungarian Jews from Bergen Belsen. He also played a significant role in helping many eminent intellectuals fleeing Europe to find refuge in Turkey.[4]

In 1945, President Truman appointed Steinhardt ambassador to Czechoslovakia, and to Canada in 1948. While serving as the Ambassador to Canada, he was killed in a plane crash on March 28, 1950 near Ramsayville, Ontario, while en route to New York.

He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[7][8]

Family

He married the former Dulcie Yates Hofmann (1917–1974); they had one daughter, Dulcie Ann.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.nndb.com/people/338/000120975/
  2. ^ Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Columbia College, for the Year 1915. D. Van Nostrand. 1915. p. 274.
  3. ^ "Steinhardt, Laurence A. (Laurence Adolph), 1892–1950 - Social Networks and Archival Context". snaccooperative.org. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  4. ^ a b http://digitalassets.ushmm.org/photoarchives/detail.aspx?id=1135012&search=LAURENCE&index=1 [dead link‍]
  5. ^ Steinhardt to Henderson, File 315, 23 Feb 1940, Yellow Folder, Box 78, Laurence A Steinhardt Papers, Library of Congress
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ Burial Detail: Steinhardt, Laurence A (Section 30, Grave 728) – ANC Explorer
  8. ^ Carbone, Nick (September 12, 2012). "Before Libya: US Ambassadors Who Have Died in the Line of Duty". newfeed.time.com. Time.

Sources

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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Peru
1937–1939 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union
1939–1941 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Turkey
1941–1945 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia
1944–1948 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Canada
1948–1950 		Succeeded by
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