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Wiley T. Buchanan Jr.

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Wiley T. Buchanan Jr.
9th Chief of Protocol of the United States
In office
February 4, 1957 – January 23, 1961
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byJohn F. Simmons
Succeeded byAngier Biddle Duke
United States Ambassador to Austria
In office
April 2, 1975 – March 31, 1977
PresidentGerald Ford
Preceded byJohn P. Humes
Succeeded byMilton A. Wolf
United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
In office
December 1, 1953 – December 20, 1956
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byPerle Mesta
Succeeded byVinton Chapin
Personal details
Born
Wiley Thomas Buchanan, Jr.

(1913-01-04)January 4, 1913
Van Zandt County, Texas, U.S.
DiedFebruary 16, 1986(1986-02-16) (aged 73)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting placeOak Hill Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Ruth Elizabeth Hale
​
​
(m. 1940⁠–⁠1986)​
Children3, including Dede Wilsey
Parent(s)Wiley Thomas Buchanan
Lilla Youngblood Buchanan
Residence(s)Underoak, Washington
Beulieu House, Newport
Alma materSouthern Methodist University
George Washington University

Wiley Thomas Buchanan, Jr. (January 4, 1913 – February 16, 1986) was an American diplomat and author who served as the Chief of Protocol of the United States and the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg and Austria.[1]

Early life

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Buchanan was born on January 4, 1913[1][2][3] in Grand Saline in Van Zandt County, Texas. He was the son of Wiley Thomas Buchanan (1880–1953) and Lilla (née Youngblood) Buchanan (1885–1975).[4] Along with his siblings, which included Ava Nell Buchanan Inglish, Kathleen Millie Buchanan Tennison, and Avon Arnold Buchanan,[5] he was a "Texas cotton, lumber and oil heir."[6][2]

His paternal grandparents were James Richard Buchanan, a relative of President James Buchanan,[7] and Mary Cordelia (née Bohanan) Buchanan, who married William Pittman Sides after his grandfather's death in 1883.[8]

Buchanan attended the Terrill School in Dallas,[5] then Southern Methodist University, also in Texas, and George Washington University in Washington, D.C.[2]

Career

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Mr. Buchanan began his government career with a World War II agency called the War Production Board. He later became an official with the National Production Authority in the early 1950s.[6]

Diplomatic career

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On September 12, 1953, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Luxembourg by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to replace fellow Texan and outsize personality and steel heiress Perle Mesta.[5] He presented his credentials on December 1, 1953, and, two years later, when the two countries agreed to raise their respective missions to embassy level, he was promoted, appointed on September 9, 1956, and confirmed (during a recess of the U.S. Senate), as the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. Buchanan left his post in Luxembourg on December 20, 1956.[9]

Shortly after returning from Luxembourg, Eisenhower appointed Buchanan became Chief of Protocol, a role designed to assist the international diplomats stationed in the United States.[6] He was protocol chief until January 1961 when John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as President and he was succeeded by Angier Biddle Duke, the former Ambassador to El Salvador and a close friend of Kennedy.[10] In 1959, The Washington Post described Buchanan as follows:[7]

"What kind of a man is Wiley Buchanan? ... He is of medium height--five feet, eight and a half inches of shrewd determination... Buchanan has the same firm lines around his jaw and the same love of hospitality which characterized his ancestor, the fifteenth President of the United States, James Buchanan... His formidable fortune, flowing originally from Texas lumber, cotton, and oil, keeps multiplying through his Washington real estate foresight."[7]

After leaving the government, he wrote an amusing memoir in which he candidly discussed his work as head of protocol. The book, Red Carpet at the White House: Four Years as Chief of Protocol in the Eisenhower Administration, was published in 1964.[1] Buchanan was a close friend of Richard Nixon,[7] and contributed to his campaign for president.[6]

On March 25, 1975, then President Gerald Ford appointed Buchanan as the U.S. Ambassador to Austria. He presented his credentials on April 2, 1975, and served throughout the rest of the Ford administration, leaving his post on March 13, 1977.[9] Upon Jimmy Carter's election to the presidency, Buchanan was succeeded by Milton A. Wolf, a former investment banker and real estate developer from Cleveland, Ohio.[11]

In Washington, he was a member of the Federal City Council, L'Enfant Plaza Corporation, and the National Symphony, of which he sat on the board for the last two. He was a trustee of his alma mater, George Washington University, and the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.[2]

Personal life

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Beulieu House, the Buchanan residence in Newport, Rhode Island, when it was owned by Grace Vanderbilt.

On April 12, 1940, Buchanan was married to heiress Ruth Elizabeth Hale (1918–2019), the daughter of Helen (née Dow) Hale and William Jay Hale.[12] Ruth was the niece of architect Alden B. Dow, and the granddaughter of Grace and Herbert Henry Dow, the founder of Dow Chemical.[13][14] Together, they were the parents of:[15]

  • Bonnie Ruth Buchanan (b. c. 1942),[4] who married Charles Tompkins Matheson, an architect, in 1961.[16]
  • Diane Dow Buchanan (b. 1944), who married shipping magnate and art collector John Traina in 1965,[17] The Trainas divorced and she later married Al Wilsey,[18] who had recently divorced Patricia Montandon.[19]
  • Wiley Thomas Buchanan III (b. c. 1946)[4][20]

In Washington D.C., they lived at Underoak on Nebraska Avenue Northwest.[15] In 1961, Buchanan and his wife purchased Beulieu House in Newport, Rhode Island, the former home of John Jacob Astor III, Cornelius Vanderbilt III, and his wife Grace Vanderbilt, where they spent their summers. He was a member of the Metropolitan Club and Chevy Chase Club.[2]

Buchanan died from Alzheimer's disease at the Potomac Valley Nursing Home on February 16, 1986, in Washington.[1][6] He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[3] His widow Ruth died at her home in Washington, at age 101, on November 18, 2019.[21]

Descendants

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Through his daughter Bonnie, he was the grandfather of sculptor Lilla Youngblood Matheson (namesake of Buchanan's mother), who married Christopher Finley Ohrstrom, a real-estate investor and the son of Mary, Viscountess Rothermere (widow of Esmond Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere)[22] and Ricard Riggs Ohrstrom, in 1987.[23] In 1993, they lived in Strasbourg, France.[22]

Through his daughter Diana, he was the grandfather of Todd, a film producer,[24] and Trevor Traina, who served as Ambassador to Austria from 2018 to 2021.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Wiley T. Buchanan Jr.; Former Protocol Chief". The New York Times. February 18, 1986. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "OBITUARIES | Wiley T. Buchanan Jr". The Washington Post. February 17, 1986. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. - Montrose" (PDF). oakhillcemeterydc.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-08-14. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  4. ^ a b c Buzz (29 Sep 1953). "Get The Point?". Grand Prairie Daily News. p. 1. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Texas Family Planning to Use New 'Formula' in Luxembourg". Abilene Reporter-News. 20 Sep 1953. p. 22. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Ex-Protocol Chief W. Buchanan Dies". Los Angeles Times. 19 February 1986. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d Wilsey, Sean (2006). Oh the Glory of It All. Penguin. p. 56. ISBN 9780143036913. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  8. ^ Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the United States Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1975. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Wiley Thomas Buchanan Jr. - People - Department History". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  10. ^ Severo, Richard (30 April 1995). "Angier Biddle Duke, Diplomat, 79, Dies; Scion of a Prominent American Family". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Milton A. Wolf, longtime and honorary CWRU trustee, alumnus and former U.S. ambassador to Austria, dies at 80". 2005-05-20. Archived from the original on 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  12. ^ Kohrman, Robert. "William J. Hale, Founder of the Midland Section ACS". www.midlandacs.org. Midland Section of the American Chemical Society. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  13. ^ Hamlin, Jesse (2005-10-11). "PROFILE: Dede Wilsey / De Young built on one woman's charm, savvy / Undaunted by 2 failed bond measures, Dede Wilsey led $190 million campaign". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  14. ^ Wadler, Joyce (2005-05-15). "A Tale of Diamonds and Mud". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  15. ^ a b The Washington Times (February 25, 2008). "Family, friends toast Ruth Buchanan's 90th". The Washington Times. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  16. ^ "Charles T. Matheson Weds Bonnie Buchanan in Capital" (PDF). The New York Times. June 24, 1961. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  17. ^ "Diane D. Buchanan To Be Wed Today". The New York Times. June 19, 1965. p. 15.
  18. ^ Holson, Laura M. (September 24, 2016). "Dede Wilsey Is the Defiant Socialite". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  19. ^ Wadler, Joyce (2005-05-17). "Society queen, evil stepmother or both?". The New York Times.
  20. ^ "Wiley T. Buchanan III". washingtonlife.com. Washington Life Magazine. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  21. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (29 June 2020). "Ruth Buchanan, Philanthropist and Hostess Extraordinaire, Is Dead at 101". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  22. ^ a b "Viscountess Rothermere, Socialite, Is Dead". The New York Times. April 7, 1993. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  23. ^ "LILLA Y. MATHESON WEDS C. F. OHRSTROM". The New York Times. September 27, 1987. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  24. ^ Zinko, Carolyne (February 5, 2008). "Todd Traina's passion is movies, not money". SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  25. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Trevor Traina of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Austria". whitehouse.gov. January 22, 2018 – via National Archives.
[edit]
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Austria
1975–1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Protocol of the United States
1957–1961 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
1953–1956 		Succeeded by
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