J. Butler Wright

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J. Butler Wright
Born October 18, 1877
Irvington, Westchester County, New York, USA
Died December 4, 1939
Havana, Cuba

Joshua Butler Wright ([1877 – 1939) was a United States diplomat who served as the representative of the US in Hungary, Uruguay, Czechoslovakia, and Cuba.

Wright was born in Irvington, in Westchester County New York on 18 October 1877.

In 1925 Wright was serving as Assistant Secretary of State under president Calvin Coolidge and Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes.[1]

Coolidge appointed Wright to served as Envoy to Hungary in 1927. Herbert Hoover appointed Wright as Envoy to Uruguay in 1930, and Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Wright as Envoy to Czechoslovakia in 1934, and afterwards as the U.S. Ambassador to Cuba from 1937 to 1939. During his stint as ambassador to Cuba, the SS St. Louis with its cargo of mostly German Jewish refugees tried to land in Havana in 1939. This incident was the basis for the 1976 film Voyage of the Damned.

Wright died at his post in Havana on 4 December 1939 after an operation.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Clear Understanding", Time, 1925-02-09. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. 
  2. ^ "Milestones", Time, 1939-12-11. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. 
  • Wright, J. Butler; William Allison (2002). Witness to Revolution: The Russian Revolution Diary and Letters of J. Butler Wright. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 027597474X. OCLC 48038358. 
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Theodore Brentano
United States Envoy to Hungary
June 18, 1927October 24, 1930
Succeeded by
Nicholas Roosevelt
Preceded by
Leland Harrison
United States Envoy to Uruguay
9 February 193110 July 1934
Succeeded by
Julius G. Lay
Preceded by
Francis White
United States Envoy to Czechoslovakia
October 25, 1934June 1, 1937
Succeeded by
Wilbur J. Carr
Preceded by
Jefferson Caffery
United States Ambassador to Cuba
23 August 19374 December 1937
Succeeded by
George S. Messersmith
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