Harrison Freeman Matthews (May 26, 1899 – October 19, 1986) was an American career diplomat who served as

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to three European countries. He was born on May 26, 1899, and served in the United States Navy during World War I, and became a career employee of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

in 1924. He died on October 19, 1986, at 87 years old.

Early life

Harrison Freeman "Doc" Matthews was born in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, on May 26, 1899. He served in the United States Navy during World War I, and received

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...

(1921) and

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

(1922) degrees from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. From 1922 to 1923 he studied at the

École Libre des Sciences Politiques Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

, in Paris, France.

Career

Matthews became a career employee of the

, and his assignments included secretary positions in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(1924 to 1926) and

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

(1926 to 1929). From 1930 to 1933 he served at the State Department as Deputy Chief of the Latin American Affairs Division. In 1933, Matthews moved to a secretary position in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, where he served until 1937. He occupied a similar position in Paris, France, from 1937 to 1940, and was the consul there from 1938 to 1940. During 1939 he was acting Ambassador to Spain. From 1940 to 1941 he was First Secretary in the U.S. embassy to France during the Vichy French government. Just before France's surrender to Germany in 1940 he took custody of the

Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactl ...

and the

Treaty of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two Peace treaty, peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy R ...

from the French foreign office, which he then had couriered to the United States for safe-keeping for the duration of the war. From 1941 to 1943 he was counselor at the American embassy in London, England. From 1943 to 1947, he served again at the State Department, assigned as Chief of the European Affairs Division and Director of the Office of European Affairs. During the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (), held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three sta ...

he and

Harry Hopkins Harold Lloyd Hopkins (August 17, 1890 – January 29, 1946) was an American statesman, public administrator, and presidential advisor. A trusted deputy to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hopkins directed New Deal relief programs before ser ...

convinced President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

to accede to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

's and

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

's demands that France be given a seat on the

Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council (ACC) or Allied Control Authority (), also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allies of World War II, Allied Allied-occupied Germany, occupation zones in Germany (1945–1949/1991) and Al ...

alongside the US, the USSR, and the UK. Matthews was Ambassador to Sweden from 1947 to 1950. From 1950 to 1953, he served as Deputy Undersecretary of State. He was acting Secretary of State for the one day between the departure of

Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson ( ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American politician and lawyer. As the 51st United States Secretary of State, U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to ...

and the swearing in of

John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the ...

. In 1953, Matthews was appointed to succeed

Selden Chapin Selden Chapin (September 19, 1899 – March 26, 1963) was a career foreign service officer and United States diplomat. Biography Selden Chapin was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of Captain Frederic Lincoln Chapin (who was commander of the ...

as Ambassador to the Netherlands, and he remained in this post until 1957 when he was replaced by Philip Young. He succeeded

Llewellyn Thompson Llewellyn E. "Tommy" Thompson Jr. (August 24, 1904 – February 6, 1972) was an American diplomat. He served in Sri Lanka, Austria, and for a lengthy period in the Soviet Union, where his tenure saw some of the most significant events of the Cold ...

as the Ambassador to Austria from 1957 until his 1962 retirement when he was succeeded by

James Williams Riddleberger James Williams Riddleberger (September 21, 1904 – October 17, 1982) was an American diplomat and career foreign service officer. During his career, he served three ambassadorships: in Austria, Yugoslavia and Greece. Biography Early life and ...

Later career

After his retirement from the Foreign Service, he served from 1963 to 1969 as a member of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

's Board of National Estimates and as the American chairman of the

Permanent Joint Board on Defense The Permanent Joint Board on Defense (, spelled Defence in Canadian English) is the senior advisory body on continental military defence of North America. The board was established by Canada and the United States on August 17, 1940 under the Og ...

, between America and Canada, from 1963 to 1969.

Personal life

In 1925, Matthews was married to

Covington, Virginia Covington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,737, making it the second-least populous city in Virginia. It is surrounded by Alleghany County, of which it is also the county seat ...

-born Elizabeth Rodgers "Frisk" Luke (1900–1955), daughter of Thomas Luke of

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...

. Before his first wife's death from cancer in 1955, they were the parents of: * H. Freeman Matthews Jr. (1927–2006), who was also a career diplomat. * Thomas Luke Matthews (1933–1993), who married Emily Hill, daughter of Charles Beekman Hill Jr., in 1957. After the death of his first wife, in 1957 he remarried to Helen Lewis Skouland, a former member of the United States Foreign Service who died aboard the MV ''Kungsholm'' in 1966. He remarried for a third time to Elizabeth Bluntschli in 1967. Matthews died in Washington, D.C., on October 19, 1986. He is buried at Friends Cemetery in Baltimore.

References

External links

Harrison Freeman Matthews biography
Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State *
H. Freeman Matthews Papers
at

Princeton University Library Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 48,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is among the largest libraries in the world by number of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, H. Freeman 1899 births 1986 deaths Diplomats from Baltimore 20th-century people from Washington, D.C. Princeton University alumni United States Navy personnel of World War I Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden Ambassadors of the United States to the Netherlands Ambassadors of the United States to Austria United States career ambassadors United States Foreign Service personnel Acting United States secretaries of state 20th-century American diplomats