David KE Bruce

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David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce (born February 12, 1898 in Baltimore , Maryland , †  December 5, 1977 in Washington, DC ) was a lawyer and one of the most important diplomats in the USA in the 20th century.

Career

In 1920 he graduated from the University of Virginia and later attended law school at the University of Maryland . From 1924 to 1926 he was a Democrat in the Maryland House of Representatives , and from 1939 to 1942 in the Virginia House of Representatives . In 1926 he entered the diplomatic service. During the Second World War he worked for the OSS from 1941 to 1945 . In 1949 he became the United States Ambassador in Paris , then (1952–1953) United States Under Secretary of State in the State Department . Between 1957 and 1959 he served as ambassador to Bonn , from 1961 to 1969 in London , from 1973 to 1974 in Beijing and most recently, from 1974 to 1976, at the age of 76, as ambassador to NATO .

Private life

Bruce was the son of US Senator William Cabell Bruce . In 1926 he married Ailsa Mellon , daughter of Andrew W. Mellon , one of America's richest citizens. The two had a daughter, Audrey. In his second marriage in 1945 he married Evangeline Bell and had two sons and a daughter with her. Bruce's grave is in Oak Hill Cemetery , Washington.

Awards

In 1976 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom .

literature

  • Nelson D. Lankford, The Last American Aristocrat: The Biography of David KE Bruce, 1898–1977, Boston; London: Little, Brown 1996, ISBN 0316515019

Web links

predecessor Office successor
James Bryant Conant U.S. Ambassador to Germany
April 17, 1957 to October 29, 1959 		Walter C. Dowling
personal data
SURNAME Bruce, David KE
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bruce, David Kirkpatrick Este (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American diplomat and politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Baltimore , Maryland
DATE OF DEATH 5th December 1977
Place of death Washington, DC