Frank Polk
Frank Lyon Polk (September 13, 1871 — February 7, 1943) was a prominent United States lawyer and a name partner of the law firm today known as Davis Polk & Wardwell, and for some years held prominent diplomatic positions.[1]
Biography
He was born on September 13, 1871 in New York City,[1] the son of William Mecklenburg Polk, dean of the Cornell Medical School, and grandson of bishop and general Leonidas Polk.[2]
Polk graduated from Yale College[3] (B.A., 1894) and Columbia University Law School[3] (LL.B., 1897). He was a member of the Scroll and Key Society.
In 1897, Polk began his law practice in New York City. He served on a variety of City boards and commissions. He was member of the civil service commission of New York from 1907 to 1909, and in 1907 and 1910 was a member of the New York City Board of Education. On 24 January 1914 Mayor Mitchel appointed him corporation counsel, in which office he remained until his appointment on 16 September 1915 as counselor for the United States Department of State at Washington, D.C.[4]
He served in the Department of State as Counselor until 1919, and then as Acting Secretary of State (1920) and Under Secretary of State (1919–1920). Polk headed the American Commission to Negotiate Peace (1919), and after President Wilson's and Secretary Lansing's departure from Paris in 1919, he represented the United States at the peace conference.[5] He managed the 1924 Democratic presidential convention campaign of John W. Davis, another name partner of his law firm.
His portrait was painted by Sir Oswald Birley in 1923.
He died on February 7, 1943 in New York City.[2]
References
- 1 2 "Frank Lyon Polk papers". Retrieved 2015-04-17.
Frank Lyon Polk was born in New York City on September 13, 1871. He graduated from Yale College (B.A., 1894) and Columbia University Law School (LL.D., 1897). Polk served on a variety of New York City boards and commissions (1906-1913) and as Corporation Counsel (1914-1915). He also served in the Department of State as Counselor (1915-1919), Acting Secretary of State (1918-1919), and Under Secretary of State (1919-1920). Polk headed the American Mission to Negotiate Peace (1919) and managed the 1924 Democratic presidential convention campaign of John W. Davis. Polk died in New York City on February 7, 1943. ...
- 1 2 "Frank Lyon Polk". New York Times. February 7, 1943. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
His father, dean of the Cornell Medical School, had been a pupil of Stonewall Jackson's at the Virginia Military Institute and at 17 Jackson's drillmaster. His grandfather, Bishop and Lieutenant General, another Bishop called 'a man whom noble men might love and meaner men might fear.'
- 1 2 Frank Lyon Polk "Frank Lyon Polk was a partner of the law firm of Davis, Polk, Lansing, Wardwell & Reed of New York City."
- ↑
Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Polk, Frank Lyon". Encyclopedia Americana. - ↑ "Polk, Frank Lyon". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
External links
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert Lansing |
Secretary of State (Acting) February 14 - March 12, 1920 |
Succeeded by Bainbridge Colby |
| First | Under Secretary of State July 1, 1919 – June 15, 1920 |
Succeeded by Norman H. Davis |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded by Henry M. Waite |
President of the National Municipal League 1923 – 1927 |
Succeeded by Richard S. Childs |
|