September 24, 1961(1961-09-24) (aged 68) Bernardsville, New Jersey, U.S.
Resting place
Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Spouses
Esther "Hope" Slater
(m. 1915; div. 1923)
Mathilde Scott Townsend
(m. 1925; died 1949)
Harriette Appleton Post
(m. 1952)
Children
2
Parent
Benjamin Welles (father)
Occupation
Diplomat
government official
Signature
Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892 – September 24, 1961)[1] was an American government official and diplomat. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State from 1936 to 1943, during Roosevelt's presidency.
Born in New York City to a wealthy, well-connected political family, Welles graduated from Harvard College in 1914. He entered the Foreign Service at the advice of Franklin Roosevelt, who was a family friend. Welles was excited by Woodrow Wilson's ideas about how American principles could reorder the international system based on liberal democracy, free-trade capitalism, international law, a league of nations, and an end to colonialism.[2]
Welles specialized in Latin American diplomatic affairs and served several posts in Washington and in the field. President Calvin Coolidge distrusted Welles because of his divorce, and dismissed him from the foreign service. Welles left public service for some years, and wrote a book on the history of the Dominican Republic.[3]
When Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, he put Welles in charge of Latin American affairs as Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs. Welles became heavily involved in negotiations that removed Cuban president Gerardo Machado from power and replaced him with rival Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada. He was later promoted to Under Secretary of State, in which role he continued to be active in Latin American issues, but also expanded into European affairs as World War II began in Europe in 1939. In 1940, he issued the Welles Declaration which condemned Soviet occupation of the Baltic states and proved to be a minor point of contention among the Soviets and their Western allies once the U.S. entered the war in 1941. Welles used American power and his senior position to intrude into the domestic affairs of other countries, especially choosing leaders who supported American policies. After the fall of France, he downgraded French affairs because they no longer were a major power. Roosevelt relied on Welles much more than on the official Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, who became the enemy of Welles.[4]
Welles was forced out of government service by Secretary Hull after his enemies began to spread word of a 1943 incident in which he had propositioned two male railroad porters for sex.[5] Returning to private life, he continued to write books on foreign relations and became an advisor to media organizations. He was a target of the House Un-American Activities Committee during the post-war "red scare", though he was never formally sanctioned. He died in New Jersey in 1961, survived by his third wife and 2 children from his first marriage.
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Benjamin SumnerWelles (October 14, 1892 – September 24, 1961) was an American government official and diplomat. He was a major foreign policy adviser...
scandal involving the United States Under-Secretary of State SumnerWelles in September 1940. Welles — who was a closeted bisexual — was traveling with President...
Sumner, for whom the Sumner Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, is named, and 20th-century diplomats SumnerWelles and Sumner Gerard. Increase Sumner was...
and Benjamin SumnerWelles (1823–1904), a dry-goods merchant who was a descendant of Colonial Gov. Thomas Welles and Gov. Increase Sumner. His siblings...
The Welles Declaration was a diplomatic statement issued on July 23, 1940, by SumnerWelles, the acting US Secretary of State, condemning the June 1940...
State SumnerWelles' fact-finding mission, he met with Joachim von Ribbentrop and listened to him speak almost non-stop for two hours. Welles came away...
by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada and brokered by US ambassador SumnerWelles. Machado has been described as a dictator. Machado was born in 1869...
departure of Machado on August 12, 1933, a power vacuum was created and SumnerWelles initially proposed the replacement of Machado with Herrera. Unfortunately...
Directory and Ramón Grau was named president. U.S. ambassador to Cuba SumnerWelles noted in a telegram to the Secretary of State that late at night on...
Heights, Prince George's County, Maryland. It was designed in 1928 for SumnerWelles (1892-1961) by the Washington architect, Jules Henri de Sibour (1872-1938)...
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811 – March 11, 1874) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States...
husband of Florence Magee Ellsworth (1902–1943) in 1942. Harriet married SumnerWelles in 1952. Her husband died on April 1, 1926, in New York City, and he...
(1828–1858), who married Benjamin SumnerWelles (1823–1904), a descendant of Colonial Gov. Thomas Welles and Gov. Increase Sumner. Caroline Webster Schermerhorn...
Sumner Murray Redstone (né Rothstein; May 27, 1923 – August 11, 2020) was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the founder and...
route. Amongst those sailing with Empress of Russia in this period was SumnerWelles, who was to become one of President Franklin Roosevelt's foreign policy...
American role in World War II was handled by Roosevelt who worked through SumnerWelles, the second-ranking official at the State Department. Hull did not attend...
The doctrine was also invoked by US Under-Secretary of State SumnerWelles in the Welles Declaration on July 23, 1940, which announced non-recognition...
was drafted by US State Department advisers such as Cordell Hull and SumnerWelles, who presented it to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 10 August. Their...
Safire, Winston Churchill attributed the phrase to American diplomat SumnerWelles. Some public relations professionals have argued against the use of...
offered the position of President by ambassador SumnerWelles. He took office on 13 August 1933, and Welles proposed that "general elections may be held...
or Connecticut Witch Trials. Welles was born in Tiddington, Warwickshire, England around 1590, the son of Robert Welles and Alice Hunt of Stourton, Whichford...
figures targeted by the magazine were former Under Secretary of State SumnerWelles and Arthur H. Vandenberg Jr., who had briefly served as President Eisenhower's...
and Bad Lieutenant. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post-punk, synth-pop, and techno music scenes, as well as their various related...
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