John Campbell White (diplomat)
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John Campbell White | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Ambassador to Peru | |
| In office April 4, 1944 – June 17, 1945 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Raymond Henry Norweb |
| Succeeded by | William D. Pawley |
| United States Ambassador to Haiti | |
| In office March 14, 1941 – February 24, 1944 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Ferdinand L. Mayer |
| Succeeded by | Orme Wilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 17, 1884 London, England |
| Died | June 11, 1967 (aged 83) New York City, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Barclay Moffat
(m. 1921) |
| Children | Margaret Rutherfurd White |
| Parent(s) | Henry White Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
John Campbell White (March 17, 1884 – June 11, 1967) was a prominent United States diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Haiti (1941–1944) and Peru (1944–1945).[1]
White was born at the American Legation in London on March 17, 1884. He was the son of Henry White (1850–1927)[2] and Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherfurd (1853–1916).[3] His father was a diplomat during the 1890s and 1900s who served as United States Ambassador to France and Italy,[4] and one of the signers of the Treaty of Versailles.[5] His only sibling was Margaret Muriel White (1880–1943), who married Count Ernst Hans Christoph Roger Hermann Seherr-Thoss, a Prussian aristocrat in 1909.[5] After his mother's death, his father remarried to Emily Vanderbilt Sloane (1852–1946)[6] in 1920.[5] His stepmother was the daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt (1821–1885) and the granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877).[7]
His paternal grandparents were John Campbell White and Eliza Ridgely. They family was wealthy and socially well-connected in Maryland where, as a boy, his father was taken to meet then-President Franklin Pierce and spent much of his childhood at Hampton, the family estate which today is run by the National Park Service.[8] His maternal grandparents were Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (1816–1892), the lawyer and pioneering astrophotographer, and Margaret Stuyvesant Chanler (1820–1890).[9] Through his mother, his uncle was Stuyvesant Rutherfurd and another uncle was Winthrop Rutherfurd.[10]
White graduated from Harvard University in 1907.[11]
Career
White served in the U.S. Foreign Service as a diplomat from 1914 to 1945. In 1932, he was the counselor of the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[12] In 1933, White, who was then Chargé d'affaires in Buenos Aires, was licensed as a third-class international pilot in the country.[13]
On June 19, 1940, he was appointed Diplomatic Agent/Consul General to Morocco. He presented his credentials on August 14, 1940 and left his post on January 6, 1941.[14] On November 29, 1940, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Haiti, beginning his service on March 14, 1941.[15] On April 14, 1943, the legation was upgraded to an Embassy and he became the United States Ambassador to Haiti, serving until February 24, 1944.[14]
On January 29, 1944, he was appointed the United States Ambassador to Peru, beginning his service on April 4, 1944 and serving until June 17, 1945 when he left his post.[14]
