J. Reuben Clark

J. Reuben Clark (1928)

Joshua Reuben Clark, Jr. (born September 1, 1871 in Grantsville , Tooele County , Utah , † October 6, 1961 in Salt Lake City , Salt Lake County , Utah) was an American attorney and diplomat who, among other things, 1928 to 1929 United States Under Secretary of State deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs , and from 1930 to 1933 Ambassador to Mexico was. He also served as an official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for many decades as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as first and second counselors to the First Presidency .

Life

Attorney, Under Secretary of State and Ambassador to Mexico

Clark completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Utah and was intermittent secretary to James E. Talmage , who was president of the university between 1894 and 1897. He later began studying law at Columbia University , which he completed in 1906 with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). He was also on the editorial board of the Columbia Law Review and entered 1906 as assistant to the legal adviser (Assistant Solicitor ) into the State Department one. He has also served as an assistant professor of law at George Washington University and as an attorney at law firms in New York City , Washington, DC, and Salt Lake City , specializing in international and local law.

After the US entered the First World War , Clark served as a major in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the US Army and after the war was an employee in the Department of Justice and there in the office of the US Attorney General .

On August 31, 1928 Clark sparked Robert E. Olds as Under Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( United States Under Secretary of State ) and was as such until his replacement by Joseph P. Cotton on 19 June 1929 Deputy of Frank B. Kellogg , who between 1925 and in 1929 was Foreign Minister . He later became ambassador to Mexico on November 28, 1930, succeeding Dwight Morrow . He remained in this diplomatic post until February 14, 1933, whereupon Josephus Daniels succeeded him there on April 24, 1933.

Official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

J. Reuben Clark family tombstone in Salt Lake City Cemetery

After retiring from government service, Clark served for many decades as an official of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . First, he was appointed Second Counselor to the First Presidency on April 6, 1933, by President of Latter-day Saints Heber J. Grant , and became First Counselor to the First Presidency on October 6, 1934. At the same time he became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on October 11, 1934 , of which he belonged until his death on October 6, 1961.

After the death of President Heber J. Grant, Clark was sustained as First Counselor to the First Presidency by his successor, George Albert Smith, on May 21, 1945, and served until the death of George Albert Smith on April 4, 1951. His successor David O. McKay appointed Clark on April 9, 1951, first to the second counselor and finally on June 12, 1959 again to the first counselor of the First Presidency. He also held this position until his death on October 6, 1961.

His marriage to Luacine Annette Savage Clark produced three daughters and one son. After his death he was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery . The J. Reuben Clark Law School and the J. Reuben Clark Law Society of Brigham Young University (BYU) were named in his honor.

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Office of the Historian of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• J. Reuben Clark in the database of Find a Grave (English)