| The Right Honourable Sir Alexander Cadogan OM, GCMG, KCB |
|
|---|---|
| Ambassador from the United Kingdom to the Republic of China | |
| In office 3 September 1933 – 5 April 1936 (Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary before 15 June 1935) |
|
| Monarch | George V |
| Preceded by | E. M. B. Ingram |
| In office 15 June 1935 – 5 April 1936 |
|
| Monarch | George V Edward VIII |
| Succeeded by | Sir Robert George Howe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Montague George Cadogan 25 November 1884 Chelsea, London, England[1] |
| Died | 9 July 1968 (aged 83) Westminster, London, England[2] |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Spouse(s) | Theodosia Louisa Acheson |
| Occupation | Civil Servant |
Sir Alexander George Montagu Cadogan PC OM GCMG KCB (25 November 1884 – 9 July 1968) was a British civil servant. He was Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1938 to 1946.
Cadogan was the eighth son and youngest child of George Cadogan, 5th Earl Cadogan, and his first wife Lady Beatrix Jane Craven, and was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. He served in the Diplomatic Service from 1908 to 1950 and was Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1938 to 1946, representative to the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in 1944, Britain's representative to the United Nations from 1946 to 1950. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1946 and was later Chairman of Board of Governors of the BBC from 1952 to 1957.
It was in 1938 that Cadogan replaced Robert Vansittart, whose style he felt to be emotional and disordered, compared to Cadogan's terse and efficient manner. There were no significant divergences in policy, although Vansittart's detestation of the dictators was more publicly known.
Cadogan's long tenure of the Permanent Secretary's office makes him one of the central figures of British policy before and during the Second World War. His diaries are a source of great value and give a sharp sense of the man and his life. Like most senior officials at the Foreign Office he was bitterly critical of the appeasement policies of the 1930s, whilst accepting that until British rearmament was better advanced, there were few other options. In particular he stressed that without an American commitment to joint defence against Japan, Britain would be torn between the eastern and western spheres. Conflict with Germany would automatically expose Britain's Asian Empire to Japanese aggression.[1]
At the end of the war Cadogan had hoped for the Washington embassy but this went to Clerk Kerr. Instead Cadogan was appointed Britain's first Ambassador to the UN.
Cadogan married Lady Theodosia Louisa, daughter of Archibald Acheson, 4th Earl of Gosford, in 1912. They had one son and three daughters. He died in July 1968, aged 83.
Cadogan's name is well known by some golfers who use it to time their swing, saying 'Alexander' on the up-swing and 'Cadogan' on the down-swing.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert Gilbert Vansittart |
Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs 1938–1946 |
Succeeded by Orme Sargent |
| Media offices | ||
| Preceded by Ernest Simon |
Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors 1952 - 1957 |
Succeeded by Sir Arthur fforde |