Christian A. Herter Jr.
Christian A. Herter Jr. | |
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Member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council for the 3rd District | |
In office 1957–1959 | |
Preceded by | Endicott Peabody |
Succeeded by | |
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 4th Middlesex District | |
In office 1951–1953 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Christian Archibald Herter Jr. January 29, 1919 Brooklyn |
Died | September 16, 2007 Washington D.C. | (aged 88)
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater | Harvard College Harvard Law School |
Christian Archibald Herter Jr. (January 29, 1919 – September 16, 2007) was an American politician, diplomat, oil executive and academic and the son of U.S. Secretary of State Christian A. Herter Sr.
Early life[]
Christian Archibald Herter Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 29, 1919, and raised in Boston. His father, Christian A. Herter Sr., was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1942, and in 1953 was elected Governor of Massachusetts. In 1959, the elder Mr. Herter became the United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Herter's mother, the former Mary Caroline Pratt, was a granddaughter of Charles Pratt, a partner in Standard Oil of New Jersey and the founder of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
He received his bachelor's from Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948 and eventually joined the Boston law firm of Bingham, Dana & Gould, where he became an authority on helping U.S. companies trying to expand into the international market.
World War II[]
Herter joined the U.S. Army in 1941, before the Pearl Harbor attack. In World War II, Herter was an officer in Europe, serving as an intelligence officer with the 14th Armored Division and was wounded by artillery shrapnel. He was awarded the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, among other commendations.
Career[]
In 1950, he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives as the representative for West Newton; he was re-elected two years later but stepped down after his father became governor. "I found it difficult to represent Newton," he told the Boston Globe, "while I was almost unanimously regarded as spokesman for my father."[1]
In 1953 he became an aide to Vice President Richard Nixon and travelled with Nixon on his first tour of Asia that same year.[2] After working with Nixon, Herter became the general counsel to the Foreign Operations Administration, an overseas aid program then led by former Minnesota Governor Harold E. Stassen.
Herter returned to Massachusetts in the mid-1950s and served one term on the Governor's Council.
Believing the Democratic leadership at the State House had ignored development and turned the state into an economic shell, he decided to run against Governor Foster Furcolo, a Democrat. He failed to win the support of the Republican Party of Massachusetts convention in the summer, however, and withdrew to support the nominee, Massachusetts Attorney General George Fingold.
The party backed Herter to run for attorney general. He lost the general election to Democrat Edward J. McCormack.
In 1961 Herter joined the Mobil Oil Corporation, rising to become a Vice President of that company by 1967. In that same year New York Mayor John V. Lindsay appointed him as one of the inaugural members of the , a group of business, labour and neighbourhood leaders created to aid the city's slums. Mr. Herter was the coalition's chairman until 1969.
In 1970 President Nixon appointed Herter to the post of deputy assistant secretary of state for environmental and population affairs.
Mr. Herter later taught environmental law at the University of New Mexico and international law at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan appointed him deputy United States commissioner on the International Whaling Commission.[3] Herter later served chairman of the U.S. Section of the International Joint Commission of the United States and Canada.
Clubs[]
Herter was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Metropolitan Club, the Cosmos Club and the Chevy Chase Club.
Family[]
Mr. Herter's marriages to Suzanne Clery (later Treadway) and Susan Cable ended in divorce. He was survived by his wife, the former Catherine Hooker, two brothers, a sister, three children from his marriage to Treadway, four stepchildren, 16 grandchildren and step-grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Death[]
Herter died at his home in Washington D.C. of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on September 16, 2007. He was 88 years old.
See also[]
Notes[]
- ^ "Christian Herter Jr., legislator, Bay State scion - The Boston Globe". www.boston.com.
- ^ RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon p. 1182
- ^ Notice of Appointment
Sources[]
- New York Times Obituary Christian Herter Jr., Longtime Public Servant, Dies at 88
- Boston Globe Obituary Christian Herter Jr., legislator, Bay State scion - The Boston Globe
- Obituary at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies SAIS Mourns Loss of Christian A. Herter Jr.
- Statement by Christian A. Herter Jr., special assistant to the Secretary of State for Environmental Affairs, in the Preparatory Committee for the Conference on Human Environment, March 11, 1970 Statement by Christian A. Herter, Jr., Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Environmental Affairs, in the Preparatory Committee for the Conference on Human Environment, March 11, 1970
- 1919 births
- 2007 deaths
- People from Brooklyn
- Politicians from Boston
- Military personnel from New York City
- Massachusetts Republicans
- Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
- Members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council
- United States Army personnel of World War II
- Harvard Law School alumni
- Massachusetts lawyers
- University of New Mexico faculty
- Johns Hopkins University faculty
- Deaths from respiratory disease
- American diplomats
- American businesspeople in the oil industry
- Charles Pratt family
- Lawyers from Boston
- Harvard College alumni
- United States Army officers