Stettinius, Edward Reilly, Jr.

(1900-1949)

   Born in Chicago, Edward Stettinius Jr. attended school in Connecticut and then enrolled in the University of Virginia. He left the university in 1924 without graduating and took a job in the Hyatt Roller Bearing company of General Motors (GM). In 1931, he became vice president of GM. Because of his long-time involvement in social work, Stettinius also worked as a liaison officer between the National Industrial Recovery Administration and the Industrial Advisory Board. In 1934, he became vice chairman in the Finance Department of U.S. Steel and implemented a new welfare program for employees. In 1938, he took over as chair of U.S. Steel, a position he held until 1940 when he was appointed chair of the War Resources Board, a short-lived body created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 to plan industrial mobilization. In 1941, he became a director in the Office of Production Management and in 1942 was put in charge of the Lend-Lease administration. In 1943, he succeeded Sumner Welles as undersecretary of state, and he was involved in the reorganization of the department. In 1944, Stettinius visited Great Britain to discuss postwar economic issues, and in 1944 he headed the U.S. Delegation at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, where he helped draft the plans for the United Nations (UN).

   In 1944, President Roosevelt appointed Stettinius to succeed Cordell Hull as secretary of state. He accompanied the president to the Yalta Conference, where he played a leading role in policymaking. He also went to the conference in Mexico City, Mexico, that produced the Chapultepec Agreement. Afterward, Stettinius led the U.S. Delegation to the San Francisco Conference, which established the UN and worked to overcome conflict with the delegates from the Soviet Union to secure the final agreement in June 1945. Stettinius became the first U.S. representative to the UN General Assembly after Harry S. Truman replaced him as secretary of state with James F. Byrnes. Frustrated at his lack of involvement in shaping postwar foreign policy, Stettinius resigned his position in 1946 and became rector of the University of Virginia. He also became involved in promoting U.S. investment in Liberia. In 1949, Roosevelt and the Russians, his account of the Yalta Conference justifying Roosevelt’s decisions was published.