Philip Jessup

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Philip Caryl Jessup (January 5, 1897 - January 31, 1986) was a diplomat, scholar, and jurist from New York City.

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[edit] Early Life and Education

Philip C. Jessup received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in 1919. He then went on to earn a law degree from Yale Law School in 1924 and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1927.[1]

Jessup married Lois Walcott Kellogg in 1921.[2]

[edit] Career

While pursuing his Ph.D., and for a good time thereafter (1925-1946), Jessup served as a lecturer and professor in international law at Columbia University. In 1946, he was named the Hamilton Fish Professor of International Law and Diplomacy at Columbia, a post he held until 1961. [3]

Jessup served as assistant secretary-general of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) conference in 1943 and the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference (the "Bretton Woods" conference) in 1944. He was a technical advisor to the American delegation to the San Francisco United Nations charter conference in 1945.

Jessup became a primary target of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who charged in the 1950 Tydings Committee hearings that Jessup was a security risk who had "an unusual affinity... for Communist causes." Although Jessup was cleared of all charges by the Loyalty Board of the State Department and the Tydings Committee, and McCarthy was rebuked by many fellow senators and other statesmen, McCarthy's allegations severely damaged Jessup's reputation and career.

President Harry S. Truman appointed Jessup as United States delegate to the United Nations in 1951. When the appointment came before the Senate, however, it was not approved, largely because of McCarthy's influence. President Truman circumvented the Senate action by assigning Jessup to the United Nations on an "interim appointment."

Shortly after John F. Kennedy took office as president, the State Department approved the appointment of Jessup as U.S. candidate for the International Court of Justice, a post that did not need Senate confirmation. He served from 1961 until 1970.

Upon returning from the the Netherlands, Jessup took up a series of academic positions at The University of Georgia School of Law, Columbia University, and Wellesley College.[4]

[edit] Honors

An international law moot court competition, the Philip C. Jessup Cup, is named in Jessup's honor. It is held annually in Washington D.C. and is attended by law students from around the world.

[edit] Books by Philip Jessup

Elihu Root (Dodd, Mead & Co., 1938)
A Modern Law of Nations (Macmillan Co., 1948)
Transnational Law (Yale University Press, 1956)
The Birth of Nations (Columbia University Press, 1974)

[edit] References

[edit] Further Reading