Henry Francis Grady (February 12, 1882 – September 14, 1957) was an American diplomat. Born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, to John Henry and Ellen Genevieve (Rourke) Grady, he earned a PhD in economics from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. On October 18, 1917, he married Lucretia Louise del Valle (daughter of California State Senator

Reginaldo Francisco del Valle Reginaldo Francisco del Valle (December 15, 1854 – September 20, 1938) was a Californio statesman and lawyer, who served as a member of the California Senate and California Assembly. He was the youngest ever President pro tempore of the C ...

and Helen M. (White) del Valle, and granddaughter of

Ygnacio del Valle Ygnacio Ramón de Jesus del Valle (July 1, 1808 – 1880) was a Californio ranchero and politician. He owned much of the Santa Clarita Valley and served briefly as Mayor of Los Angeles and as a California State Assemblyman. Early life Del Va ...

). Grady's daughter, Patricia Louise Grady, was born in Paris, France, May 11, 1920, and died May 28, 2000, in

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...

, Buncombe, North Carolina. On August 24, 1942, she married diplomat John Paton Davies, Jr.

Early career

Grady worked at the US Commerce Department in economics as an aide to Secretary

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

in 1921. He was the dean, College of Commerce at the

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

from 1928 to 1937. He became president of the shipping company

American President Lines APL, formerly called American President Lines Ltd., is an American container shipping company that is a subsidiary of French shipping company CMA CGM. It operates an all-container ship fleet, including 9 U.S. flagged container vessels. In 1938, ...

in 1941, remaining there until 1947.

Diplomatic career

In October 1945, he was appointed by US President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

as his personal representative to the Allied commission supervising elections in Greece because of the volatile situation created by the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...

.statement by US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, ''Department of State Bulletin'', October 21, 1945, p. 611 In July 1946, Grady, together with British Deputy Prime Minister

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the UK Cabinet as member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minis ...

, proposed the " Morrison-Grady Plan," a proposal for the solution of the Palestine problem that called for federalization under overall British trusteeship. Ultimately, the plan was rejected by both Arabs and Jews. Grady was the first

US Ambassador to India The United States Ambassador to India is the chief diplomatic representative of United States in India. The U.S. Ambassador's office is situated at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Chiefs of Mission to India U.S. Ambassadors to the Dominion of ...

, serving from 1947 to 1948 (concurrently US Ambassador to Nepal 1948). He was then appointed as US Ambassador to Greece from 1948 to 1950, and US Ambassador to Iran 1950–1951. He was a member of the

Pacific-Union Club The Pacific-Union Club is a social club located at 1000 California Street in San Francisco, California, at the top of Nob Hill. It is considered to be the most elite club of the West Coast, and one of the most elite clubs in the United States, a ...

, and of the Family Club.

Death

He died September 14, 1957, on board the SS ''President Wilson'', Pacific Ocean, from heart failure and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, California.

References

External links

* * Ambassadors of the United States to India Ambassadors of the United States to Greece Ambassadors of the United States to Iran 1882 births 1957 deaths Columbia University alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Nepal 20th-century American diplomats {{US-diplomat-stub