Loy Wesley Henderson (June 28, 1892 – March 24, 1986) was a United States
Foreign Service Officer
A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, cons ...
and diplomat.
Background
Loy Wesley Henderson was born on June 28, 1892, in
Rogers, Arkansas
Rogers is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Ozarks, it is part of the Northwest Arkansas region, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. Rogers was the location of the first Walmart store, whose cor ...
, to a poor Methodist preacher. He attended college in a small town in Kansas before transferring to
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
.
Career
Early career
An arm injury prevented Henderson from fighting in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, so he served as a Red Cross volunteer instead.
In 1922, Henderson joined 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 ...
.
Eastern Europe and USSR
After an initial consular tour in Ireland, Henderson began a 24-year focus on Soviet and Eastern European Affairs. He then investigated the connection between the Soviet
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...
and left wing organizations in the United States while serving in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
In 1933, the Roosevelt Administration extended diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union and Henderson was assigned to Russia to help reopen the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Aiding him in this task were fellow junior officers
George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...
and
Charles Bohlen, who along with Henderson would later be considered the Department's top Soviet specialists. In 1935, the Kremlin broke its pledge not to interfere in U. S. domestic politics. In response, Ambassador Bullitt returned to Washington in disgust, leaving Henderson for a time as chargé d'affaires in Moscow. As chargé, Henderson warned Washington that the Soviet Union was likely to cooperate with Nazi Germany. Four years later, Moscow signed the
Soviet-German Non-aggression Pact of 1939. Henderson was one of the contributors to the
Welles declaration of 1940, which established US non recognition policy of
Baltic states occupation by Soviet Union.
Henderson deeply distrusted the Kremlin and was at odds with the enthusiasm most Americans—and President Roosevelt—had in early 1942 for their new Soviet wartime allies. On the occasion of the third anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, however, he submitted in a memorandum as Chargé in the Soviet Union to the 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 Roosevel ...
, dated November 16, 1936, a description of the failure of the last years giving a lot place to the arguments of the Soviet side to raise a better understanding. Nevertheless, Eleanor Roosevelt and other Soviet sympathizers in the White House pressured the State Department to transfer Henderson out of the Soviet section. As a result, Henderson was sent to Baghdad as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. "A man of the highest character, absolutely incorruptible....Overruled time after time, he asked in 1943 to be relieved of his duties as chief of the division".
Near Eastern Affairs
In between serving as
U.S. Minister in Iraq (1943–45),
Ambassador to India (1948–51) and
Ambassador to Iran (1951–54), Henderson returned to Washington in 1945 to serve at the State Department as the director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs.
In 1945, Syrians in Damascus led an uprising against French rule. In response, French forces bombed Damascus. Henderson, as head of Near Eastern Affairs, advised President
Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
to force the French to withdraw. Henderson argued that the French bombing undermined not only the newly created United Nations but also the West's relations with the Arab world. Henderson correctly predicted that if the West did not maintain close relations with Syria, it would fall into the Soviet sphere.
In early 1946, Soviet troops advanced south to the outskirts of
Tabriz
Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
in northwestern Iran, sparking an early Cold War stand-off known as the
Iran crisis. Henderson showed the Truman administration how such movements threatened Turkey, Iraq, and the Iranian oil fields. Following Henderson's advice, Truman issued a stern warning to Stalin. Stalin thereafter pulled back his troops.
[ George Lenczowski]
''American Presidents and the Middle East''
(1990), p. 7-13
Henderson came under fierce criticism from San Francisco attorney
Bartley Crum
Bartley Crum (November 28, 1900 – December 9, 1959) was an American lawyer who became prominent as a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, for his book on that experience, and for defending targets of HUAC, particularly the Hollywoo ...
, who had served on the
Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry
The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry was a joint British and American committee assembled in Washington, D.C., on 4 January 1946. The committee was tasked to examine political, economic and social conditions in Mandatory Palestine and the well ...
formed to examine political, economic and social conditions in Mandatory Palestine and to make recommendations for both short-term and long-term solutions to problems in the region. Crum named Henderson as a symbol of State Department duplicity in supporting the Arab cause in Palestine.
[
]
In late 1946, the Kremlin attempted to bully Ankara into ceding territory in eastern Turkey and control of the Dardanelles, which would have given Moscow its long-desired warm water port. Henderson, with Acting Secretary of State
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 ...
, convinced Truman to express support for Turkey and to dispatch navy units to the eastern Mediterranean. In response, the Soviets withdrew some of their demands.
In 1947, the British embassy in Washington informed Henderson that the United Kingdom was no longer able to bolster the pro-Western forces against the Communist agitators in the
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...
. Once again, Henderson convinced Truman to actively defend Western interests in the Mediterranean against Soviet encroachment. Henderson designed the
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine is a Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy that pledges American support for democratic nations against Authoritarianism, authoritarian threats. The doctrine originated with the primary goal of countering ...
plans to strengthen Greece and Turkey, an early move which would influence U.S. containment policy for decades to come.
In 1948, Henderson clashed with domestic groups lobbying for the creation of the state of Israel. Secretary of State George C. Marshall and Henderson, speaking for the Department of State, opposed the United Nations resolution dividing Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, as they felt Israel would not be able to defend itself and would ruin Washington's relationships with the Arab world; their view was that the area should remain a trust under the UN. On the other side, Presidential advisors such as David Niles and Clark Clifford, along with American Jewish groups and much of the general public, favored the partition of Palestine into the State of Israel and an Arab state. Henderson was harshly criticized for his opposition to the creation of Israel. His views did not prevail in 1948 and his transfer to the ambassadorship for India was rumored by his supporters to have been the result of political pressure from the pro-Zionist groups. In 1954, he was appointed as Assistant Secretary of State for Administration.
Henderson returned to the Middle East in 1951 as Ambassador to Iran. There he dealt with the newly elected prime minister,
Mohammed Mossadegh
Mohammad Mosaddegh (, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 30th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, elected by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of the Iranian parliament from ...
, on questions associated with
Iran's oil reserves
Proven oil reserves in Iran, according to its government, rank fourth largest in the world at approximately as of 2013, although it ranks third if Oil reserves, Canadian reserves of unconventional oil are excluded. This is roughly 10% of the w ...
previously owned by British interests that Mossadegh had recently nationalized. The United States was opposed to the nationalization, and he helped orchestrate the 1953 CIA-assisted
coup which removed Mossadegh, a democratically elected leader. In 1956, he was named a
Career Ambassador
Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the president and confirmation by the United States Sen ...
.
He retired in 1960 and spent seven years teaching International Relations at Washington, D.C.'s
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
. His memoirs, entitled "A Question of Trust: the origins of U.S.-Soviet diplomatic relations" were published in 1986.
Death
Henderson died at 93 on March 24, 1986, in a
Bethesda,
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 ...
,
nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...
.
Legacy
A conference room in the State Department headquarters, the
Harry S Truman Building
The Harry S Truman Building is the headquarters of the United States Department of State. It is located in Washington, D.C., and houses the office of the United States secretary of state.
The Truman Building is located in the Foggy Bottom neighbo ...
, is named in his honor.
Career summary
References
Further reading
* Brands, H. W. ''Inside the Cold War: Loy Henderson and the Rise of the American Empire, 1918–1961'' (Oxford University Press, 1991).
* Henderson, Loy Wesley. ''A Question of Trust: The Origins of US-Soviet Diplomatic Relations: the Memoirs of Loy W. Henderson'' (Hoover Institution Press, 1986), a primary sourc
online* Jones, Kenneth Paul, ed. ''U.S. Diplomats in Europe, 1919–41'' (ABC-CLIO. 1981
onlineon Henderson's role with USSR Europe, pp 149–164.
* Kuniholm, Bruce R. "Loy Henderson, Dean Acheson, and the Origins of the Truman Doctrine." in ''Dean Acheson and the Making of US Foreign Policy'' (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1993) pp. 73–108.
External links
- Short summary of details.
*
ttp://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/hendrson.htm Oral history interviewfrom 1973at the Harry S. Truman Library.
Memoirs of Loy W. Henderson in the Library of Congress*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Loy W.
1892 births
1986 deaths
People from Rogers, Arkansas
Northwestern University alumni
Ambassadors of the United States to India
Ambassadors of the United States to Iran
Ambassadors of the United States to Iraq
United States career ambassadors
Recipients of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service
20th-century American diplomats