Winthrop W. Aldrich

Winthrop Williams Aldrich GBE (November 2, 1885 – February 25, 1974) was an American banker and financier, scion of a prominent political family, and US Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Contents

Early years

Aldrich was born in Rhode Island in 1885, the son of Nelson W. Aldrich. He attended Harvard University, receiving a bachelor's degree and a J.D. degree.

Career

Aldrich served as president and chairman of the board of Chase National Bank from 1930 to 1953. During and after World War II, he was a leader in the organization of relief efforts and financial assistance to Europe. In 1953, he became US Ambassador to the UK under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and he remained in London until 1957. He belonged to and served on the boards of many charitable organizations.

Private life

In 1916 Aldrich married Harriet Alexander.[1] His sister Abby Aldrich was the wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr..

He was an amateur musician, an artist whose specialty was watercolor seascapes, and a yachtsman who was navigator of the America's Cup defender Enterprise.[2]

Honors

In 1947, he was appointed an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire by King George VI.[2] This entitled him to use the postnominal letters GBE, but not to the prenominal title "Sir".

References

  1. ^ Miss Alexander a Bride, The New York Times, December 8, 1916, p. 9
  2. ^ a b Time, 8 December 1952

Further reading

Winthrop W. Aldrich: Lawyer, Banker, Diplomat by Arthur M. Johnson. 1968. Harvard University.

External links

Business positions
Preceded by
Albert H. Wiggin		 Chase CEO
1930-1953		 Succeeded by
John J. McCloy
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–