Clarence Lorenzo Simpson

Clarence Lorenzo Simpson (* 1896 ; † 1969 ) was Vice President of Liberia from 1944 to 1952 . In 1952 Simpson became Liberia's first ambassador to the United States .

Life

The for wealthy upper class of Americo-Liberians counting Clarence Lorenzo Simpson was born in 1896, after school education he studied until 1921 in Monrovia Law at the College of West Africa and at Liberia College .

In the government of the Liberian President Edwin Barclay , Simpson was State Secretary from 1934 to 1943. His companions included the politician and lawyer William S. Tubman , from 1937 to 1943 deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of Liberia . Tubman competed with Simpson in the 1944 presidential campaign and nominated him for vice president. In this capacity Simpson took part in 1945 as a representative of Liberia at the founding assembly of the United Nations in New York . Simpson moved to the diplomatic service after the end of his vice presidency and was Liberia's ambassador to the United States from April 21, 1952 until his retirement .

Simpson was one of the most important confidants of the US governments in Liberia.

• In the 1930s, during his time as Secretary of State, the smooth construction of the Firestone plantation was one of his main activities. Simpson also acquired a good relationship with the American administration of the plantation through frequent contacts with the US embassy and often served as an intermediary.
• During the Second World War Simpson was entrusted with the projects to build American military bases in Liberia and had a meeting with US Admiral David M. LeBreton on board the cruiser USS Omaha off the coast of Monrovia in 1940 .

family

• It is known from his autobiography that the parents of Clarence Lorenzo Simpson , who came from the American southern states, arrived in the main state of Monrovia in 1878 with the support of the American Colonization Society .
• His son Clarence Lorenzo Simpson Jun., Born in Monrovia in 1933, also made a career as a Liberian politician and was again Minister of Justice under President Tubman.

literature

• Clarence Lorenzo Simpson: The Symbol of Liberia: The memoirs of CL Simpson, former Liberian Ambassador to Washington and to the Court of St. James's . Diplomatic Press & Publishing Co, London 1961, p. 293 . (Autobiography)

Web links

• The Crisis, July 1946 Report from Liberia with a photo of a bridge inauguration in Monrovia (p. 206).

Individual evidence

1. ^ A little Liberian Embassy History. (No longer available online.) In: Online portal of the Liberian Consulate in the US state of Georgia. Archived from the original on July 6, 2010 ; Retrieved January 8, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ Susan Curtis: Colored memories: a biographer's quest for the elusive Lester A. Walton . University of Missouri Press, Columbia (MS) 2008, ISBN 978-0-8262-1786-8 , pp. 188-230 .