Leland B. Harrison (April 25, 1883 – June 6, 1951) was a United States diplomat. He held several high appointments in the foreign service, most notably as U.S. minister to Switzerland throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Family and education

The son of W. Henry Harrison and Helen (Skidmore) Harrison, he was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

Career

After law school, Harrison became the private secretary of

United States Ambassador to Japan The is the Ambassadors of the United States, ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Beginning in 1854 with the Convention of Kanagawa, use of gunboat diplomacy by Commodore (United States), Commodore Matthew C. Perry, ...

Thomas J. O'Brien. He was appointed

Third Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on June 10, 1908. He later filled posts in the

United States embassies The United States has the second largest number of active diplomatic posts of any country in the world List of diplomatic missions of China, after the People's Republic of China, including 272 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 174 co ...

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

, London, 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 ...

. In 1918, he became diplomatic secretary of the

American Commission to Negotiate Peace The American Commission to Negotiate Peace, successor to The Inquiry, participated in the peace negotiations at the Treaty of Versailles from January 18 to December 9, 1919. Frank Lyon Polk headed the commission in late 1919. The peace conferen ...

. He later became counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Paris. In 1916 President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

allowed Secretary of State

Robert Lansing Robert Lansing (; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 42nd United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1915 to 1920. As Counselor to the State Department and then a ...

and

Frank Polk Frank Lyon Polk (September 13, 1871 – February 7, 1943) was an American lawyer and diplomat, who was also a name partner of the law firm today known as Davis Polk & Wardwell. Early life Polk was born in New York City. He was the son of ...

quietly and informally to channel the flow of military and law enforcement material into the State Department's

Bureau of Secret Intelligence The Bureau of Secret Intelligence (Office of the Chief Special Agent) was founded in 1916. The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Secret Intelligence, later known as the Office of Security (SY) and now as the Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Dipl ...

(U-1), what is now known as the

Diplomatic Security Service The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is the principal Specialist law enforcement agency, law enforcement and security agency of the United States Department of State (DOS). Its primary mission is to protect diplomatic assets, personnel, and info ...

. The two men picked Leland Harrison "to take charge of the collection and examination of all information of a secret nature coming into the Department from various sources and also to direct the work of the agents specially employed for that purpose." In 1921, Harrison moved to Washington, D.C. to become assistant to the Conference on the Limitation on Armament. On March 21, 1922, Harrison was named

United States Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the Under Secretary of State, under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the Under Sec ...

and he held this office from March 31, 1922, to June 30, 1924. In 1927, Harrison was named Minister to Sweden, a post he held from May 31, 1927, to November 11, 1929. He also headed the U.S. delegation to the International Telegraph Conference in Brussels in 1928. In 1929, he became Minister to Uruguay, holding this post from April 11, 1930, to October 9, 1930. He then resigned temporarily from the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carr ...

. A short time later, however, he returned to government service as chief of the International Relations Division of the

United States Tariff Commission The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of trade. It was created by Congress in 1916 as the U.S. Tari ...

. On May 15, 1935, he was named Minister to Romania, serving there from July 24, 1935, to September 3, 1937.

Ambassador to Switzerland

He was then Minister to Switzerland from September 10, 1937, to October 14, 1947. As Ambassador to Switzerland, Harrison was sympathetic to Jewish rescue and relief operations and worked closely with Gerhardt Riegner, the representative of the World Jewish Congress in Geneva and sent several reports regarding the murder of the Jews of Europe to 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 Washington D.C. He endorsed many of these reports as being credible and recommended action be taken to assist in the relief and rescue of Jews in Nazi-controlled territories.

Personal life, retirement and death

He married Anne C. Coleman on June 27, 1925. Harrison retired on February 29, 1948. After his death in June 1951, he was buried in the cemetery of the Church of St. James the Less in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

References

Political Graveyard file
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Leland 1883 births 1951 deaths United States assistant secretaries of state Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden Ambassadors of the United States to Uruguay Ambassadors of the United States to Switzerland Ambassadors of the United States to Romania Harvard Law School alumni People educated at Eton College Harvard College alumni United States Foreign Service personnel Burials at the Church of St. James the Less Politicians from New York City