Walter Curley
{{short description|American diplomat}}
{{Infobox Ambassador
| name =Walter Curley
| image =Walter_Joseph_Patrick_Curley_Jr.jpg
| caption =Curley in 1973
| order =57th
| ambassador_from =United States
| country =France
| term_start =July 6, 1989
| term_end =February 11, 1993
| predecessor =Joe M. Rodgers
| successor =Pamela Harriman
| president =George H. W. Bush
| order2 =United States Ambassador to Ireland
| term_start2 =September 18, 1975
| term_end2 =May 2, 1977
| predecessor2 =John D. J. Moore
| successor2 =William V. Shannon
| president2 =Gerald Ford
| birth_date ={{Birth date|1922|9|17}}
| birth_place =Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date ={{death date and age|2016|6|2|1922|9|17}}
| death_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
| restingplace =
| party =
| spouse =Mary Taylor Walton
| relations =
| children = 4
| alma_mater =Yale University
Harvard University
| profession =
| cabinet =
| committees =
| portfolio =
| religion =
|allegiance = {{flagu|United States|1912}}
|branch = {{Nowrap|{{flag|United States Marine Corps}}}}
| rank = {{Dodseal|USMCO3}} Captain
|battles = World War II
}}
Walter Joseph Patrick Curley Jr. (September 17, 1922 – June 2, 2016) was the 57th United States Ambassador to France from 1989 to 1993, and the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1975 to 1977.{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/curley-walter-joseph-patrick-jr |title=Walter Joseph Patrick Curley Jr. (1922–2016) |website=history.state.gov |access-date=April 22, 2017}}{{Cite web |date=30 November 1998 |title=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR WALTER J. P. CURLEY |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Curley,%20Walter%20J.P.toc.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240624111910/https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Curley,%20Walter%20J.P.toc.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2024 |access-date=23 July 2024 |website=Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training}} Curley was New York City's Commissioner of Public Events and Chief of Protocol from 1973 to 1974, during the administrations of John Lindsay and Abraham Beame.{{cite news | title=Walter J. P. Curley | url =http://www.nndb.com/people/123/000128736/ | work =NNDB | access-date = 2009-02-21 }}
Career
He wrote two books on royalty, Vanishing Kingdoms, and Monarchs in Waiting, as well as two memoirs, Letters from the Pacific: 1943–1946, and Almost a Century: An American Life East and West of Suez. Curley was a graduate of Phillips Academy, Yale University and Harvard Business School. Curley was in the Marine Corps during World War II, serving from 1943 to 1946, seeing combat on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He was a captain and was decorated with a Bronze star. Curley died in New York City.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/nyregion/walter-curley-venture-capitalist-and-us-ambassador-dies-at-93.html |title=Walter Curley, Venture Capitalist and U.S. Ambassador, Dies at 93 |first=Sam |last=Roberts |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 8, 2016 |access-date=April 22, 2017}}{{cite news |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=180221918 |title=WALTER CURLEY (1922 – 2016) |website=legacy.com |date=June 5, 2016}}
His nomination as United States Ambassador to France was controversial as he was one of several made by Bush of long-time financial backers and financial supporters including Peter F. Secchia (Ambassador of Italy), Joseph Zappala (Ambassador of Spain), Mel Sembler (Ambassador of Australia), Frederic Bush Morris (Ambassador of Luxembourg), and Joy Silverman (Ambassador of Barbados).{{Cite news|title= True to tradition. President Bush is rewarding his long-time financial backers and political supporters with desirable ambassadorships, mostly in Western Europe. |newspaper=The Financial Times|date= April 2, 1990|url= https://archive.org/stream/FinancialTimes1989UKEnglish/Feb%2016%201989%2C%20Financial%20Times%2C%20%2330771%2C%20UK%20%28en%29_djvu.txt }}
Works
- {{cite book |url=https://www.amazon.com/LETTERS-PACIFIC-1943-1946-W-CURLEY/dp/B00NZK2AXM/ |title=Letters from the Pacific: 1943–1946 |first=Walter J. P. |last=Curley |publisher=privately printed |year=1959 |asin=B00NZK2AXM}}
- {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/monarchsinwaitin00curl |url-access=registration |title=Monarchs-in-waiting |first=Walter J. P. |last=Curley |publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company |year=1973 |isbn=978-0396068402}}
- {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaNCNgAACAAJ |title=Vanishing Kingdoms: The Irish Chiefs and Their Families |first=Walter J. P. |last=Curley |publisher=The Lilliput Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1843510550}}
- {{cite book |title=Almost a Century: An American Life East and West of Suez |first=Walter J. P. |last=Curley |publisher=Small Batch Books |year=2017 |isbn=978-1937650674}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|4420}}
- [http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.2009 Walter J. P. Curley Papers (MS 2009).] Manuscripts and Archives. Yale University Library.
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{{succession box|title=U.S. Ambassador to France|before=Joe M. Rodgers|after=Pamela Harriman|years=1989–1993}}
{{succession box|title=U.S. Ambassador to Ireland|before=John D. J. Moore|after=William V. Shannon|years=1975–1977}}
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{{US Ambassadors to France}}
{{US Ambassadors to Ireland}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Curley, Walter}}
Category:Writers from Pittsburgh
Category:Writers from New York City
Category:Yale University alumni
Category:Ambassadors of the United States to France
Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Ireland
Category:American male writers
Category:Harvard Business School alumni
Category:Phillips Academy alumni
Category:United States Marine Corps officers
Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
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