Henry Prather Fletcher (April 10, 1873 – July 10, 1959) was an American diplomat who served under six presidents.{{cite web|title=Mrs. Henry Prather Fletcher (Beatrice Bend, 1874–1941)|url=https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/mrs-henry-prather-fletcher-beatrice-bend-1874-1941|website=www.nyhistory.org|publisher=New-York Historical Society|access-date=3 May 2017|language=en}}

Early life

Fletcher was born in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, in 1873 to Louis Henry Fletcher and Martha Ellen (née Rowe) Fletcher. His siblings included James Gilmore Fletcher (1875–1960), David Watson Fletcher (1880–1957) and Florence Fletcher (1883–1957). He was the fourth cousin once removed of William McKinley.{{cite book|last1=Folly|first1=Martin|last2=Palmer|first2=Niall|title=The A to Z of U.S. Diplomacy from World War I through World War II|date=April 20, 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9781461672418|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-BUiM5yuNcEC&pg=PT185|access-date=12 May 2017|language=en}}

Fletcher planned to attend Princeton University, but his family could not afford to send him, therefore, he studied law and shorthand in his uncle's law office.

Shortly after beginning to practice law, the Spanish–American War broke out and the United States declared war on Spain in 1898.{{cite news|title=Mr. Fletcher's Career.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/06/26/archives/mr-fletchers-career.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=26 June 1929}} Fletcher joined Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders as a private in Troop K.{{cite book|last1=Bisher|first1=Jamie|title=The Intelligence War in Latin America, 1914–1922|date=February 17, 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476620268|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTXECwAAQBAJ&pg=PA163|access-date=12 May 2017|language=en}} He served in the U.S. Army, both in Cuba and in the Philippines for two years.

Career

After returning from the Philippines, he entered the diplomatic service under President Roosevelt's administration as secondary secretary of the United States legation in Havana, Cuba. In 1903, he was transferred to Beiping and then, in 1905, as secretary to the legation in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1907, he returned to China and negotiated an agreement whereby US capital was allowed to participate on equal terms with European capital for the first time.

As a reward, President William Howard Taft named him US Minister to Chile in 1909.{{cite news|title=Denial by Minister Fletcher.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/03/05/archives/denial-by-minister-fletcher.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=5 March 1913}} He was in that position until 1914, by which time the mission had been raised to the status of an Embassy, making him the first United States Ambassador to Chile.{{cite news|title=CARRANZA PARTY NOW RECOGNIZED; Colombia and Nicaragua Act with Seven States of Pan-American Conference. FLETCHER FOR AMBASSADOR Envoy, Now In Chile, Practically Decided Upon;- Arredondo to Represent Carranza.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1915/10/20/archives/carranza-party-now-recognized-colombia-and-nicaragua-act-with-seven.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=20 October 1915}} He served in that role until March 9, 1916.{{cite news|title=CHILEANS HONOR FLETCHER.; Retiring Ambassador, Who Is Banquet Guest, Will Leave on March 8.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F04E7DE1439E233A25756C0A9659C946796D6CF&legacy=true|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=5 March 1916}}{{cite news|title=Names Shea for Chilean Post.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/03/04/archives/names-shea-for-chilean-post.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=4 March 1916}}

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson appointed him United States Ambassador to Mexico, his term coinciding with the height of World War I.{{cite news|title=ENVOY FLETCHER GOES TO MEXICAN CAPITAL; Increasing Bandit Activities May Interrupt Trip of the American Ambassador.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F03E4D8173AE433A25752C1A9649C946696D6CF&legacy=true|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=11 February 1917}} On January 19, 1917, the German Secretary of State, Arthur Zimmermann, sent a message to Mexico promising Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to Mexico if it entered the War on German's side. The note was intercepted in Washington and made public and is considered one of the immediate causes for the United States entering the war six weeks later.{{cite news|title=MEXICO REASSURED BY ENVOY FLETCHER; Issues a Cordial Statement to People to Counteract Reports of Our Suspicions. ONLY FOES CAN CAUSE RIFT He Urges Americans in the Country to Take Care to Maintain a Proper Attitude.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/04/25/archives/mexico-reassured-by-envoy-fletcher-issues-a-cordial-statement-to.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=25 April 1917}} He presented his credentials on March 3, 1917, and served as ambassador in Mexico until January 25, 1919, when he returned to the United States.{{cite news|title=FLETCHER COMING HOME.; Ambassador to Mexico Will Not Discuss Purpose of His Visit.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/07/04/archives/fletcher-coming-home-ambassador-to-mexico-will-not-discuss-purpose.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=4 July 1917}}

In 1920, after directing the State Department's Latin American affairs for a year, he resigned and was appointed Under Secretary of State by President Warren G. Harding, serving from March 8, 1921, to March 6, 1922, under Secretary Charles Evans Hughes.{{cite news|title=BRIAND COMING HERE FOR POWERS' MEETING; French Premier's Decision, Believed, Means Lloyd George Will Attend Also. SENDS WORD BY HERRICK Harding Backs Request for $200,000 Congress Appropriation for Parley.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/08/16/archives/briand-coming-here-for-powers-meeting-french-premiers-decision.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=16 August 1921}}{{cite news|title=HUGHES HAS EXPERT ON RUSSIAN AFFAIRS; He Appoints Montgomery Schuyler of New York as Chiefof That Division.ALSO GETS TREATY EXPERTLeland Harrison, Who Was With Peace Negotiators, Is MadeAid to Fletcher.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/04/12/archives/hughes-has-expert-on-russian-affairs-he-appoints-montgomery.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=12 April 1921}}{{cite news|title=HUGHES GETS FACTS ON FOREIGN POLICY; He and Fletcher Have a Three Hour Conference With Colby and Davis. DISCUSS PRESENT STATUS New Administration Must Fact Issues Involving All Great Powers and the League.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/03/04/archives/hughes-gets-facts-on-foreign-policy-he-and-fletcher-have-a-three.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=4 March 1921}}

Thereafter, he served as ambassador to Belgium from 1922 until 1924 under both Harding and his successor, Calvin Coolidge, who became president after Harding's death in 1923. In 1923, he was sent to the Pan-American Conference in Santiago, taking the place of Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, who had declined to go. At that time, the United States Secretary of State was ex officio chair of the Pan-American Conference, although that changed in Santiago after Latin American criticism.{{cite book|last1=Schoultz|first1=Lars|title=Beneath the United States: a history of U.S. policy toward Latin America|date=1998|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, MA: Harvard University|isbn=0-674-92276-X|pages=[https://archive.org/details/beneathunitedsta00scho/page/285 285–286]|edition=[Fourth printing].|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/beneathunitedsta00scho/page/285}}

From April 2, 1924, to August 3, 1929, he was appointed by Coolidge and served as the Ambassador to Italy.{{cite news|title=FLETCHER RESIGNS AS ENVOY TO ITALY; Hoover in Acceptance Praises His Services as a Diplomat, as Does Stimson. FAREWELL SAID TO KING Fletcher Credited With Hopes of Higher Posts--May Enter Pennsylvania Politics.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F06E7DE1130E33ABC4E51DFB0668382639EDE&legacy=true|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=26 June 1929}} He was on close terms with the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini.{{cite news|title=HENRY P. FLETCHER HOME.; Former Ambassador to Italy Says He Is Out of Public Life.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/08/14/archives/henry-p-fletcher-home-former-ambassador-to-italy-says-he-is-out-of.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=14 August 1929}}{{cite news|title=Fletcher Sees Mussolini.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D05E4D71E3AEE3ABC4950DFBE66838D639EDE&legacy=true|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=31 August 1926}}{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Arnaldo Cortesi Wireless To The New York|title=MUSSOLINI HAILS FLETCHER AS FRIEND; Premier, in Letter Stressing His Amity, Regrets Ambassador's Plan to Retire. THANKS HIM FOR ITALY II Duce Recalls Our Envoy's Work in Strengthening the Ties Between the Nations.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/07/19/archives/mussolini-hails-fletcher-as-friend-premier-in-letter-stressing-his.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=19 July 1929}}

=Later career=

On April 22, 1930, President Hoover appointed him chairman of the United States Tariff Commission after the Tariff Act of 1930. He was said to have accomplished more work in one year than what had been done in the previous seven.

From 1934 to 1936, he was the chairman of the Republican Party{{cite news|last1=Auld|first1=George P.|title=MR. FLETCHER'S SCIENTISTS; Republican Quest for Knowledge Evokes Observations.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E07E7D71430E13BBC4C52DFB266838D629EDE&legacy=true|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=14 April 1936}} and was a delegate to the Republican national conventions in 1936 and 1940.{{cite news|title=USE OF THE HATCH ACT|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/08/08/archives/use-of-the-hatch-act.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=8 August 1940}}{{cite news|last1=Fletcher|first1=Henry P.|title=NEW DEAL AND THE CONSTITUTION.; Chairman of the Republican National Committee, in a Radio Speech From Washington.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F06E3DC113EE53ABC4C53DFBE66838E629EDE|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=4 August 1935}}

Personal life

In 1917, he married Beatrice Bend (1874–1941),{{cite news|title=MRS. HENRY B. FLETCHER; Wife of Ex-U. S. Ambassador Dies in Greencastle, Pa.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/09/10/archives/mrs-henry-b-fletcher-wife-of-exu-s-ambassador-dies-in-greencastle.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=10 September 1941}} a daughter of George H. Bend, a member of the New York Stock Exchange who had gone bankrupt.{{cite news|title=HENRY P. FLETCHER, AMBASSADOR, WEDS; American Envoy to Mexico Marries Miss Beatrice Bend in Old Westbury, L.I. ROMANCE BEGAN IN CHINA Bridegroom's Father and Four Brothers at Ceremony in W.D. Straight's Country Home.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/07/26/archives/henry-p-fletcher-ambassador-weds-american-envoy-to-mexico-marries.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=26 July 1917}} Bend's sister, Amy Bend (1870–1957), was married to Cortlandt F. Bishop in 1899.{{cite news|title=AN ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCED.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/09/11/archives/an-engagement-announced.html|access-date=3 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=11 September 1899}}{{cite news|title=Bishop-Bend Engagement Confirmed.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F01EFDC1538E733A25751C1A96F9C94689ED7CF&legacy=true|access-date=3 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=12 September 1899}}{{cite web|title=Ex libris: Amy Bend Bishop|url=http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/ex-libris-amy-bend-bishop-110461|website=Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|access-date=3 May 2017|language=en|date=2 September 2016}} Henry and Beatrice did not have any children.

He died in 1959 at his home in Newport, Rhode Island,{{cite news|title=Obituary 2 -- FLETCHER|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/07/12/archives/obituary-2-no-title.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=12 July 1959}}{{cite news|title=HENRY FLETCHER, DIPLOMAT, 86, DIES; Envoy for Almost 30 Years Served Six Presidents * G.O.P. Chairman '34-36|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/07/11/archives/henry-fletcher-dipl0t-86-dies-i-envoy-for-almost-30-years-served.html?_r=0|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=11 July 1959}} and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He left an estate worth $3,000,000,{{cite news|title=$3,000,000 Left by Fletcher|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/08/02/archives/3000000-left-by-fletcher.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=2 August 1959}} and donated his personal papers to the Library of Congress. He also left a portrait of George Washington, by Edward Savage, to the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.{{cite news|title=LEGACY TO U. S. LIBRARY; H. P. Fletcher, Former Envoy, Wills His Personal Papers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/07/17/archives/legacy-to-u-s-library-h-p-fletcher-former-envoy-wills-his-personal.html|access-date=11 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=17 July 1959}}

Honours

1929: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold.

References

Notes

Sources

{{cite journal |last=Marvin |first=George |date=February 1916 |title=Henry P. Fletcher: Our First Ambassador To Reconstituted Mexico |journal=The World's Work: A History of Our Time |volume=XXXI |pages=442–450 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09_Sr9emceQC&pg=PA442 |access-date=2009-08-04 }}

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20080509104336/http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/Local_History/fletcher.htm Bio from Allison-Antrim Museum]
[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/fletcher.html The Political Graveyard]

{{s-ttl|title=United States Ambassador to Chile|years=1910–1916}}

{{s-ttl|title=United States Ambassador to Mexico|years=1917–1919}}

{{s-ttl|title=United States Under Secretary of State|years=1921–1922}}

{{s-ttl|title=United States Ambassador to Belgium|years=1922–1924}}

{{s-ttl|title=United States Ambassador to Luxembourg|years=1923–1924}}

{{s-ttl|title=United States Ambassador to Italy|years=1924–1929}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the Republican National Committee|years=1934–1936}}