James Clement Dunn

James Clement Dunn (December 27, 1890 – April 10, 1979) was an American diplomat and a career employee of the United States Department of State. He served as the Ambassador of the United States to Italy, France, Spain, and Brazil. He had lived in Rome since his retirement in 1956.

James Clement Dunn
James Clement Dunn in 1921
11th United States Ambassador to Brazil
In office March 11, 1955 – July 4, 1956
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	James S. Kemper
Succeeded by	Ellis O. Briggs
12th United States Ambassador to Spain
In office April 9, 1953 – February 9, 1955
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Lincoln MacVeagh
Succeeded by	John Davis Lodge
16th United States Ambassador to France
In office March 27, 1952 – March 2, 1953
President	Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	David K. E. Bruce
Succeeded by	C. Douglas Dillon
16th United States Ambassador to Italy
In office February 6, 1947 – March 17, 1952
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Alexander Comstock Kirk
Succeeded by	Ellsworth Bunker
1st and 4th Chief of Protocol of the United States
In office June 11, 1933 – April 11, 1935
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Warren Delano Robbins
Succeeded by	Richard Southgate
In office February 4, 1928 – November 17, 1930
President	Herbert Hoover
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	F. Lammot Belin
Personal details
Born	(1890-12-27)December 27, 1890 Newark, New Jersey
Died	April 10, 1979(1979-04-10) (aged 88) West Palm Beach, Florida
Cause of death	Myocardial infarction
Spouse(s)	Mary Augusta Armour
Children	2
Profession	Diplomat

Born in Newark, on December 27 of 1890, and privately educated, Dunn at first wanted to become an architect, an interest that remained with him all his life.

In 1917 he became assistant naval attaché to Haiti. In 1920, he was made a third secretary at the embassy in Spain, a post he held for two years. He was chargé d'affaires in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1922-24. After other assignments, he became a first secretary at the American embassy in London. From 1928-1930 he served as the first person to hold the office of Chief of Protocol of the United States. In 1930-35, served as counsel to the Commission for the Study of Haiti. Dunn was chief political adviser to the Berlin Conference in 1945; deputy at the American meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers in London, Paris and New York in 1945-46.

When representatives from 50 nations convened in San Francisco in April to June 1945 to form the United Nations Dunn 'worked hard behind the scenes to create a pro-French consensus' and to protect France's colonial interests in French Indochina. He was once called a 'fascist' by Eleanor Roosevelt for his views on colonial matters.[1]

In 1946 he was a member of the delegation at the Paris Peace Conference.

Dunn was a governor of the Metropolitan Club and a member of the Knickerbocker Club, the River Club, the Regency Club and the Whist Club in New York, and of the Alibi Club in Chevy Chase, Md. Ambassador Dunn retired from the Service in 1956 with the rank of Career Ambassador.[2]

He died in Florida in 1974.[3]

Dunn was survived by his wife, the former Mary Augusta Armour; two daughters Marianna Dunn of Manhattan and Cynthia Esterlechner of West Germany; three grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

James Clement Dunn Award for Excellence

In 1980, the U.S. Department of State established this award to recognize exemplary performance in the Department of State at the mid-career level (Foreign Service FS-1 or Civil Service GS/GM-15). It was made possible by an endowment from the Vincent Astor Foundation and is named, at the request of the donor, in memory of Ambassador Dunn. The recipient receives a certificate signed by the Secretary of State and $10,000.[4]

The James Clement Dunn Award for Excellence recognizes leadership, intellectual skills, managerial ability, and personal qualities that most fully exemplify the standards of excellence desired of officers at the mid-career level.[4] Past recipients include ambassadors William Burns, Nicholas Burns, Jeffrey Feltman, Carey Cavanaugh, and Robert Stephen Ford.

References

1. Logevall, Fredrik (2013). Embers of War. Random House. p. 89. ISBN 9780375504426.
2. "James C. Dunn, 88, U.S. Ambassador To Four Countries After War, Dies". The Washington Post. April 14, 1979. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
3. "James Clement Dunn, U.S. Diplomat in Europe" (fee). The New York Times. 1979-04-11. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
4. "3 FAM 4830 ANNUAL AWARDS". US State Department.

External links

• The Political Graveyard: Brief biography
• United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission by Country, 1778-2005

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Alexander C. Kirk	United States Ambassador to Italy 1946–1952	Succeeded by Ellsworth Bunker
Preceded by David K. E. Bruce	United States Ambassador to France 1952–1953	Succeeded by C. Douglas Dillon
Preceded by Lincoln MacVeagh	United States Ambassador to Spain 1953–1955	Succeeded by John Lodge
Preceded by James S. Kemper	United States Ambassador to Brazil 11 March 1955–4 July 1956	Succeeded by Ellis O. Briggs