Spruille Braden ( ; March 13, 1894 – January 10, 1978) was an American

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

, businessman,

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

, and member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

. He served as the ambassador to various Latin American countries, and as

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs within the United States Department of State, the foreign affairs department of the United States federal government. The A ...

. He is notable for his interventionist activities and his prominent role in several coups d'état.

Early life

Born in Elkhorn, Montana, Braden was the son of a leading engineer at

Anaconda Copper The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, known as the Amalgamated Copper Company between 1899 to 1915, was an American mining company headquartered in Butte, Montana. It was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century and one of the largest mi ...

Company's properties in Chile, William Burford Braden. He attended Montclair Kimberley Academy and Yale, earning a degree in engineering in 1914. He was a mining engineer and consultant to governments in Latin America, returning to the US in 1920. Braden first came to prominence as one of the owners of the

Braden Copper Company Braden Copper Company was an American company that controlled the El Teniente copper mine in Chile until 1967 when its copper holdings were nationalized. History Braden Copper Company was founded on 18 June 1904 by E.W. Nash, Barton Sewell, Willi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and as a shareholder in the

United Fruit Company The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...

. He also directed the

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...

Securities Corporation. As an agent of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...

, he played a role in the

Chaco War The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko ÑorairõBolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

and espoused an openly anti-union position. Braden was a delegate to the

Montevideo Convention The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States is a treaty signed at Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 26, 1933, during the Seventh International Conference of American States. The Convention codifies the declarative theory of state ...

(Seventh International Conference of American States) in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1933, where he sat with Secretary of State

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ...

; former American ambassador to Mexico

J. Reuben Clark Joshua Reuben Clark Jr. (September 1, 1871 – October 6, 1961) was an American attorney, civil servant, and a prominent leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Born in Grantsville, Utah Territory, Clark was a ...

; American minister to Uruguay

J. Butler Wright Joshua Butler Wright (October 18, 1877 – December 4, 1939) was a United States diplomat who served as representative of the US in Hungary, Uruguay, Czechoslovakia, and Cuba. He was the twentieth and last Third Assistant Secretary of State. W ...

; and University of Chicago professor

Sophonisba Breckinridge Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge (April 1, 1866 – July 30, 1948) was an American activist, Progressive Era social reformer, social scientist and innovator in higher education. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in political science and ...

Latin American diplomatic roles

He held several brief but important ambassadorships in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

(1939–1942),

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

(1942), and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. As ambassador to Argentina for four months in 1945, Braden encouraged the opposition against President Edelmiro Julián Farrell and

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected ...

. Perón exploited his intervention with a slogan, ''Braden o Perón'' ("Braden or Perón"), which contributed to Perón's victory in the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

the following year. Braden accused Perón of being pro- Axis and anti-

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

, and of plotting against Allied interests in South America, including the protection of industrial and commercial Axis assets and massive violations of

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. In 1945, Braden served as

under

Harry 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 ...

. He clashed with George S. Messersmith, former ambassador to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, with whom he had many disagreements about foreign policy in Latin America.Trask, Roger R. ''Spruille Braden versus George Messersmith: World War II, the Cold War, and Argentine Policy, 1945–1947'' in the ''Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs'', Vol. 26, No. 1 (Feb., 1984), pp. 69–95 The disagreement with Braden would eventually force Messersmith out of the foreign service. Beginning in 1948, Braden was a paid

for the United Fruit Company. When the company's interests were threatened in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

by President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, Braden helped to conceive and execute the 1954 coup d'état that overthrew him. In his first act as newly-ignaugurated

President of Nicaragua The president of Nicaragua ( es, Presidente de Nicaragua), officially known as the president of the Republic of Nicaragua ( es, Presidente de la República de Nicaragua), is the head of state and head of government of Nicaragua. The office was ...

on May 1, 1967,

Anastasio Somoza Debayle Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was ''de facto'' ruler of t ...

conferred Nicaragua's highest decoration, the Grand Cross of Ruben Dario, on Ambassador Spruille Braden and his wife Verbena for their "unstinting efforts in the cause of freedom in all of Latin America".

Later life

Braden served as president of the

Metropolitan Club The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, t ...

of New York, founded in 1891 by

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

, from 1967 to 1973. He died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

of a heart ailment after unsuccessfully lobbying against the Torrijos–Carter Treaties.

Works

*''Diplomats and Demagogues: The Memoirs of Spruille Braden'', Arlington House, 1971,

References

Works cited

*Scenna, Miguel A. (1974), ''Braden y Perón'', Buenos Aires: Korrigan. *Frank, Gary (1980). ''Juan Peron vs. Spruille Braden : the story behind the blue book''. Lanham, MD : University Press of America *Trask, Roger R. ''Spruille Braden versus George Messersmith: World War II, the Cold War, and Argentine Policy, 1945–1947'' in the ''Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs'', Vol. 26, No. 1 (Feb., 1984), pp. 69–95

External links

Democracy’s Bull
''

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

'', November 15, 1945 {{DEFAULTSORT:Braden, Spruille 1894 births 1978 deaths Montclair Kimberley Academy alumni United States Assistant Secretaries of State People from Jefferson County, Montana Ambassadors of the United States to Cuba Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina Ambassadors of the United States to Colombia Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) 20th-century American diplomats Yale University alumni