Henry cabot lodge jr biography

Lodge began his political career in when he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He served in the House for two years before being elected to the U. House of Representatives in He served in the House until , when he was elected to the U. In , Lodge was appointed U. He served in this role until , when he resigned to run for the U.

Senate again. He was elected to the Senate in and served until his death in During his time in the Senate, Lodge was a staunch anti-communist and a strong supporter of the Vietnam War. He was also a vocal critic of the United Nations and its policies. He was a key figure in the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized U. Lodge was a prominent figure in American politics for nearly six decades.

He was a staunch conservative and a vocal critic of the United Nations. Page Talk. Read Change Change source View history. Tools Tools. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Lodge, Jr. References [ change change source ]. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Blacklisted by History. USA: Crown Forum. Boston, Mass.

Archived from the original on February 8, International History Review. The Fish that Ate the Whale. American Sugar Kingdom. A History of Latin America 9th ed. Boston: Wadsworth. LXXV, no. February 22, JFK Vs. Sterling Publishing Company. Retrieved October 6, Interview with Henry Cabot Lodge Video interview part 1 of 5. Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, — New York: Cambridge University Press.

The Boston Globe. January 1, Archived from the original on May 14, — via Newspapers. The Tampa Tribune. January 13, The North Adams Transcript. June 22, Archived from the original on May 17, Archived from the original on August 2, Legacy Americana. Archived from the original on September 26, Retrieved October 1, Retrieved October 24, Photographs II, ca.

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Henry cabot lodge jr biography

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Republican Party. Bush primaries New Orleans : G. Bush — G. Bush — Trump — ; —present. Henderson — Reed — D. Morton Miller Burch Bliss R. During his first stay in Saigon, Lodge helped convince the U. After resuming his ambassadorial duties in , Lodge's low opinion of the South Vietnamese government remained unchanged. But his strong anti-Communist beliefs made him a firm supporter of continued U.

He was raised in one of New England 's most distinguished and powerful Republican families. In addition, his grandfather—and namesake—Henry Cabot Lodge — had been a U. After earning a degree from Harvard University , Lodge worked in the newspaper business for several years, dividing his time between the Boston Evening Transcript and the New York Herald Tribune.

In the young Republican won election into the Massachusetts legislature. He served two terms from to before moving on to the U. Upon joining the Senate, Lodge became known as one of the Republican Party's steadiest conservatives. In he won reelection to the Senate, but two years later he resigned in order to serve in the U. Army in World War II. He was stationed in Europe until the war ended in When Lodge returned to America, he quickly regained his seat in the U.

But in he lost his first election, falling to future president John F. Kennedy see entry , a Democrat. Appointed U. At that time, Republican presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon see entry chose him as his vice-presidential running mate. Nixon's decision to select Lodge was widely praised. The Massachusetts Republican was known as a well-spoken and knowledgeable politician whose firm anti-Communist beliefs would appeal to voters.

But once again, John F. Kennedy foiled Lodge's political ambitions. Kennedy and vice-presidential running mate Lyndon B. Johnson see entry narrowly defeated Nixon and Lodge to win the White House. The November election defeat disappointed Lodge, but it did not hurt his career. In fact, his reputation remained so strong that in President Kennedy asked him to take over as America's ambassador to South Vietnam.

Lodge accepted the position, which gave him considerable power over the flow of American aid to President Ngo Dinh Diem 's see entry regime. When Lodge arrived in South Vietnam in August , its government was engaged in a struggle for political survival. The nation had been created nine years earlier, after Vietnam defeated its old French colonial rulers to gain independence.

But the Geneva peace agreement that ended the French-Vietnamese conflict created two countries within Vietnam. South Vietnam, meanwhile, was led by a U. The Geneva agreement provided for nationwide free elections to be held in so that the two sections of Vietnam could be united under one government. But U. When the South refused to hold elections, North Vietnam and its allies in the South—known as the Viet Cong —launched a guerrilla war against Diem's government.

The United States responded by sending money, weapons, and advisors to aid in South Vietnam's defense. Despite this assistance, however, some American analysts expressed concern that Communist guerrilla activities and Diem's unpopularity among his own people might soon push the South to the point of collapse. Lodge conducted an intensive study of the situation in South Vietnam when he took over as ambassador.

He quickly decided that President Diem's corrupt and repressive government would never be able to gain widespread support from the South Vietnamese people. In fact, Lodge adopted such a negative view of the Diem government that he joined some other U. In the fall of Lodge was secretly contacted by several South Vietnamese military officers.

Aware of America's unhappiness with Diem's administration, they asked Lodge if the United States would support a coup pronounced koo; a military overthrow of the government. Lodge urged President Kennedy to support the coup, and after several weeks of uncertainty, the Kennedy administration extended a promise not to interfere with the generals' scheme.

On November 1, the military plotters successfully seized power from Diem. They executed Diem—an action that reportedly upset the Kennedy administration—and installed a new government. Lodge expressed regret about Diem's death. But he also maintained that the coup was the only practical alternative available to the United States and the South Vietnamese generals.

In the months following Diem's removal, Lodge repeatedly expressed support for decisive military action against North Vietnam. He encouraged President Lyndon Johnson who succeeded Kennedy after his assassination in November to authorize air strikes against North Vietnam. The ambassador argued that an effective bombing campaign would raise spirits in the South and hurt morale in the North.

Lodge also favored "covert operations"—secret spying and sabotage missions—into North Vietnam. Still, Lodge urged the Johnson administration to limit its involvement in the war. He thought that America should help the South develop military strategy and create programs to increase popular support among the peasants. He also approved of U.

But he believed that the United States should not take on the primary responsibility for actually fighting the war. He warned against sending American ground troops into Vietnam. The ambassador worried that such a step might drag U. He was replaced by General Maxwell Taylor see entry. But Scranton failed to get the Republican nomination, and Lodge resumed his duties as ambassador in June When Lodge returned to Saigon as U.

In addition, he lobbied the Johnson administration to increase the level of bombing against North Vietnam. But Lodge privately expressed little confidence in the nation's future. He continued to hold a very low opinion of South Vietnam's political and military leadership. Moreover, he argued that U. Lodge stepped down as ambassador to South Vietnam in , but he remained active in international politics.

He served briefly as ambassador to West Germany now part of the united Federal Republic of Germany and also represented the United States as "ambassador-at-large. Moreover, they urged Johnson to find a way to gracefully withdraw from the war, which had become a source of tremendous pain and anger in communities all across the United States. Johnson reluctantly followed their advice and called a halt to the three-year-long Rolling Thunder bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

But the talks failed to produce an agreement, and the United States remained in Vietnam for another four years before a treaty was finally reached. In Lodge was named special U. He served his country in that capacity until , when he retired to his home in Massachusetts. Lodge died on February 27, Blair, Anne E. Lodge in Vietnam: A Patriot Abroad.

Hammer, Ellen J. A Death in November: America in Vietnam, New York : Dutton, Lodge, Henry Cabot. New York: Norton, Prochnau, William. New York: Times Books, When Lodge became U. For this reason, Lodge urged the Kennedy administration not to oppose a proposed military coup that would remove Diem from power. On October 25, , Lodge sent a message to U.

Following is an excerpt from that message:. We should not thwart [stop] a coup for two reasons. First, it seems at least an even bet that the next government would not bungle and stumble as much as the present one has. Secondly, it is extremely unwise in the long range for us to pour cold water on attempts at a coup, particularly when they are just in their beginning stages.

We should remember that this is the only way in which the people in Vietnam can possibly get a change of government. Whenever we thwart attempts at a coup, as we have done in the past, we are incurring very long lasting resentments, we are assuming an undue responsibility for keeping the incumbents in office, and in general are setting ourselves in judgment over the affairs of Vietnam.

Merely to keep in touch with this situation and a policy merely limited to 'not thwarting' are courses both of which entail some risks but these are lesser risks than either thwarting all coups while they are stillborn [still being considered] or our not being informed of what is happening. In judging proposed coups, we must consider the effect on the war effort.

Certainly a succession of fights for control of the Government of Vietnam would interfere with the war effort. It must also be said that the war effort has been interfered with already by the incompetence of the present government and the uproar which this has caused. One week later, a group of South Vietnamese military generals executed Diem and seized power over the country.

But the generals proved unable to maintain their hold over the country. Instead, the coup ushered in a period of even greater political instability in Saigon, as nine different governments took power over the following two years. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia.