Patrick J. Hurley

Patrick Hurley
United States Ambassador to China
In office
November 17, 1944 – November 27, 1945
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Preceded byClarence E. Gauss
Succeeded byLeighton Stuart
United States Minister to New Zealand
In office
April 24, 1942 – August 12, 1942
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byWilliam C. Burdett
51st United States Secretary of War
In office
December 9, 1929 – March 4, 1933
PresidentHerbert Hoover
Preceded byJames Good
Succeeded byGeorge Dern
Personal details
Born
Patrick Jay Hurley

(1883-01-08)January 8, 1883
Lehigh, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, U.S.
DiedJuly 30, 1963(1963-07-30) (aged 82)
Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Ruth Wilson
(m. 1919)
Children4
EducationBacone College (BA)
National University (LLB)
George Washington University (LL.D)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1914–1919
1941–1945
Rank Major General
Battles/warsPancho Villa Expedition
World War I
World War II
AwardsArmy Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Silver Star
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross
Purple Heart
Hurley (second from right) being sworn in as Assistant War Secretary by John B. Randolph. Outgoing Assistant Secretary Charles B. Robbins and Secretary of War James W. Good look on.

Patrick Jay Hurley (January 8, 1881 – July 30, 1963) was an American politician and diplomat. He was the United States Secretary of War from 1929 to 1933, but is best remembered for being Ambassador to China in 1945, during which he was instrumental in getting Joseph Stilwell recalled from China and replaced with the more diplomatic General Albert Coady Wedemeyer. A man of humble origins, Hurley's lack of what was considered to be a proper ambassadorial demeanor and mode of social interaction made professional diplomats scornful of him. He came to share pre-eminent army strategist Wedemeyer's view that the Chinese Communists could be defeated and America ought to commit to doing so even if it meant backing the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek to the hilt. Frustrated, Hurley resigned as Ambassador to China in 1945, publicised his concerns about high-ranking members of the State Department, and alleged they believed that the Chinese Communists were not totalitarians and that America's priority was to avoid allying with a losing side in the civil war.


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