James H. R. Cromwell

Born June 4, 1896(1896-06-04)
Manhattan
Died March 19, 1990(1990-03-19) (aged 93)
Mill Valley, California
Parents Eva Roberts
Oliver Eaton Cromwell, Sr.
Relatives Louise Cromwell Brooks, sister
Douglas MacArthur brother-in-law
Oliver Eaton Cromwell, Jr., brother
Edward T. Stotesbury, step-father

James Henry Roberts Cromwell (June 4, 1896 – March 19, 1990) was an American diplomat, candidate for the United States Senate, author, and one-time husband of Doris Duke, "the richest girl in the world".[1]

Biography

He was born in Manhattan on June 4, 1896 to Eva Roberts and Oliver Eaton Cromwell. Cromwell’s sister Louise Cromwell Brooks was the first wife of Douglas MacArthur and the third wife of Lionel Atwill. After the death of her husband, Eva Cromwell married Edward T. Stotesbury in 1912 and moved to Philadelphia where Cromwell grew up.[2]

Cromwell's first wife was automotive company heiress Delphine Dodge, the only daughter of Horace Dodge of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, one of the two co-founders of the Dodge Motor Company. Cromwell and Delphine were the parents of one daughter, Christine Cromwell, born in 1922. They were divorced in 1928.

In 1935, Cromwell married the 22 year-old Doris Duke. It was a "marriage from hell".[2] Politically, both Cromwell and Duke were supporters of Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal. He published books to present his economic ideas and advocated a tighter control of the Federal Reserve.[1] In 1940, for 142 days,[3] he was the United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Canada. He resigned to run for Senator of New Jersey in the 1940 elections, where he was defeated.[4] After bitter and protracted legal proceedings Cromwell and Duke were divorced in 1948.

Cromwell was married to his third wife, Maxine MacFetridge, from April 24, 1948,[5] until her death in 1968.[6] Their daughter, Maxine Hope Cromwell (later Hopkins[7]), was born in New York on November 17, 1948.[8] Germaine Benjamin was Cromwell's fourth and last wife, from 1971 until her death in 1987.[1]

Cromwell died in the Marin Terrace retirement home in Mill Valley, California, at the age of 93.[1]

Books by Cromwell

References

  1. ^ a b c d Fowler, Glenn (March 23, 1990). "James H. R. Cromwell Dies at 93. Married 'Richest Girl in World'". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3061FFF3F550C708EDDAA0894D8494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fD%2fDuke%2c%20Doris. Retrieved 2007-07-03. "James H. R. Cromwell, a wealthy businessman who was briefly a politician and diplomat and best known in the 1930's and 40's as the husband of the richest girl in the world, Doris Duke, died of a pulmonary ailment on Monday at the Marin Terrace retirement home in Mill Valley, Calif. He was 93 years old." 
  2. ^ a b Pony Duke. Too Rich.The Family Secrets of Doris Duke.. HarpersCollins, 1996. p. 83ff. 
  3. ^ "U.S. Chiefs of Mission to Canada". Embassy of the United States of America, Ottawa. 2005-06-29. http://ottawa.usembassy.gov/content/textonly.asp?section=embconsul&document=uschiefs. Retrieved 2007-07-03. 
  4. ^ "Moffat to Ottawa". Time. 1940-06-10. http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,763990,00.html. Retrieved 2007-07-03. 
  5. ^ James Cromwell Marries Maxine MacFetridge Here, Wash. Post, Apr. 25, 1948, p. S1.
  6. ^ Mrs. Cromwell, Wife of Diplomat, Wash. Post, July 9, 1968, p. B4 (obituary).
  7. ^ Maxine Cromwell Is Married To Dale Hopkins at St. James' , N.Y. Times, Dec. 2, 1974, p. 39.
  8. ^ Daughter Is Born To J.H.R. Cromwells, Wash. Post, Nov. 18, 1948, p. 3.
Party political offices
Preceded by
William H. J. Ely		 Democratic Nominee for the U.S. Senate (Class 1) from New Jersey
1940		 Succeeded by
Elmer H. Wene
Phillips (1927–29) · MacNider (1930–32) · Robbins (1933–35) · Armour (1935–39) · Roper (1939) · Cromwell (1940) · Moffat (1940–43) · Atherton (1943–48) · Steinhardt (1949–50) · Woodward (1950–53) · Stuart (1953–56) · Merchant (1956–58) · Wigglesworth (1959–60) · Merchant (1961–62) · Butterworth (1962–68) · Linder (1968–69) · Schmidt (1969–74) · Porter (1974–75) · Enders (1976–79) · Curtis (1979–81) · Robinson (1981–85) · Niles (1985–89) · Ney (1989–92) · Teeley (1992–93) · Blanchard (1993–96) · Giffin (1997–2001) · Cellucci (2001–05) · Wilkins (2005–09) · Jacobson (2009-Present)