John J. Louis, Jr.

John Jeffry Louis, Jr. (June 10, 1925 – February 15, 1995) was an American businessman and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom.[1]

Born in Evanston, Illinois to Chicago advertiser John Jeffry Louis and Johnson Wax heiress Henriette Johnson Louis, John J. Louis, Jr. grew up in the Chicago area.

During the Second World War, he served in the United States Army Air Force (1943-1945), where he was a second lieutenant and pilot.[2] After the war, he attended Williams College (B.A., 1949), then continued his studies at Dartmouth College (M.B.A., 1949).

Entering business in 1951, John J. Louis, Jr. started in his father's advertising firm, Needham, Louis, and Brorby.[2] In 1953, he married Josephine Louis (née Peters), with whom he had three children.[1] He then joined S.C. Johnson and Son in 1958. S.C. Johnson was the successor company of his great-grandfather's company, Johnson Wax. At S.C. Johnson, John J. Louis, Jr. was director of international marketing until 1961.

From 1961 to 1968, he was chairman of KTAR Broadcasting in Phoenix, Arizona, until it merged with a local billboard company to form Combined Communications Corporation. He then served as chair of the merged company. In 1979, Combined Communications merged with Gannett, and John J. Louis, Jr. joined Gannett.

His first diplomatic work was in the ceremonial role of Special Ambassador in 1972 at an independence celebration in Gabon, during the presidency of Richard Nixon. More substantially, he was nominated to the post of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom by President Ronald Reagan on March 27, 1981.[2] He served in that post until his resignation on September 19, 1983. In his resignation, Ambassador Louis expressed optimism about the quality of relations with the United Kingdom and the government of Margaret Thatcher, yet stated his desire to return to corporate and philanthropic pursuits.[3]

John J. Louis, Jr. served as a trustee of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and he had the journalism and speech building named for his father, John J. Louis, who had also been a trustee of the university.[4]

On February 15, 1995, former Ambassador Louis died in his home in Winnetka, Illinois, at age 69. His son John Jeffry Louis, III has continued the family legacy, serving on the boards of directors of S.C. Johnson and Gannett, as well as the Northwestern University board of trustees.[5]

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Kingman Brewster, Jr.		 U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom
1981–1983		 Succeeded by
Charles H. Price II

References

  1. ^ a b "John J. Louis, Jr.". Wilmette Life: pp. 168. 1995-02-23. http://news.wilmette.lib.il.us/details.asp?NewsID=98774. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  2. ^ a b c Ronald Reagan White House. March 27, 1981. "Nomination of John J. Louis, Jr., To Be United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom." Public Papers of the Presidents. Accessed 2008-11-01.
  3. ^ Ronald Reagan White House. September 19, 1983. "Letter Accepting the Resignation of John J. Louis, Jr., as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom". Public Papers of the Presidents. Accessed November 1, 2008.
  4. ^ Northwestern University. "John J. Louis Hall - 107". Evanston Campus Interactive Map. http://aquavite.northwestern.edu/maps/buildinglookup.cgi?lookupid=107. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
  5. ^ "Board of Directors". Gannett. http://www.gannett.com/about/management/board_of_directors.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
Ministers Plenipotentiary to
the Court of St. James's
1785–1811

John Adams 1785–1788 · Thomas Pinckney 1792–1796 · Rufus King 1796–1803 · James Monroe 1803–1807 · William Pinkney 1808–1811 · Jonathan Russell (chargé d'affaires) 1811–1812
Envoys Extraordinary and
Ministers Plenipotentiary to
the Court of St. James's
1815–1893

John Quincy Adams 1815–1817 · Richard Rush 1818–1825 · Rufus King 1825–1826 · Albert Gallatin 1826–1827 · James Barbour 1828–1829 · Louis McLane 1829–1831 · Martin Van Buren 1831–1832 · Aaron Vail (chargé d'affaires) 1832–1836 · Andrew Stevenson 1836–1841 · Edward Everett 1841–1845 · Louis McLane 1845–1846 · George Bancroft 1846–1849 · Abbott Lawrence 1849–1852 · Joseph R. Ingersoll 1852–1853 · James Buchanan 1853–1856 · George M. Dallas 1856–1861 · Charles Adams, Sr. 1861–1868 · Reverdy Johnson 1868–1869 · John Lothrop Motley 1869–1870 · Robert C. Schenck 1871–1876 · Edwards Pierrepont 1876–1877 · John Welsh 1877–1879 · James Russell Lowell 1880–1885 · Edward J. Phelps 1885–1889 · Robert Todd Lincoln 1889–1893
Ambassadors Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary to
the Court of St. James's
1893–present

Thomas F. Bayard, Sr. 1893–1897 · John Hay 1897–1898 · Joseph Choate 1899–1905 · Whitelaw Reid 1905–1912 · Walter Page 1913-1918 · John W. Davis 1918–1921 · George Harvey 1921–1923 · Frank B. Kellogg 1924–1925 · Alanson B. Houghton 1925–1929 · Charles G. Dawes 1929–1931 · Andrew W. Mellon 1932–1933 · Robert Bingham 1933–1937 · Joseph P. Kennedy 1938–1940 · John G. Winant 1941–1946 · W. Averell Harriman 1946 · Lewis W. Douglas 1947–1950 · Walter S. Gifford 1950–1953 · Winthrop W. Aldrich 1953–1957 · John Hay Whitney 1957–1961 · David K. E. Bruce 1961–1969 · Walter H. Annenberg 1969–1974 · Elliot L. Richardson 1975–1976 · Anne Armstrong 1976–1977 · Kingman Brewster, Jr. 1977–1981 · John J. Louis, Jr. 1981–1983 · Charles H. Price II 1983–1989 · Henry E. Catto, Jr. 1989–1991 · Raymond G. H. Seitz 1991–1994 · William J. Crowe 1994–1997 · Philip Lader 1997–2001 · William Stamps Farish III 2001–2004 · Robert H. Tuttle 2005–2009 · Louis Susman 2009–