Edward Stettinius, Jr.

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Image:Edward Stettinius, as lend-lease administrator, September 2, 1941.jpg

Edward Reilly Stettinius, Jr. (October 22, 1900 – October 31, 1949) was United States Secretary of State under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, serving from 1944 to 1945.

Stettinius was born in Chicago and went to the Pomfret School until 1920, after which he attended the University of Virginia until 1924. In 1926 he became assistant to John Lee Pratt, the vice-president of General Motors, and in 1931 he succeeded Pratt in that position. At General Motors he worked to develop unemployment relief programs and through this he came into contact with Franklin D. Roosevelt, for whom he worked briefly in the National Recovery Administration. In 1934 Stettinius went to US Steel to become a senior administrator, but after Roosevelt was elected President of the United States Stettinius was asked to join the administration as director in the Office of Production Management. Two years later he became head of the Lend-lease aid to the allies, a position he held until he became undersecretary of state in 1943. In November of 1944 Stettinius succeeded Secretary of State Cordell Hull due to Hull's poor health.

Stettinius was instrumental in the formation of the United Nations and was present at its official founding on June 26, 1945. As Secretary, Stettinius made the decision to return a Russian code book, found in Finland, to the Soviet Union. This hampered US efforts to decode Russian cables, many of which, when later released, provided information about the widespread penetration of Soviet agents into senior US Government positions. The reasons for this act are not clear. Soon afterward, Stettinius resigned as Secretary of State to become the first United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Stettinius resigned from this position in June of 1946, after he became critical of what he saw as Truman's refusal to use the UN as a tool to resolve tensions with the Soviet Union.

Preceded by: Cordell Hull	United States Secretary of State 1944–1945	Succeeded by: James F. Byrnes

United States Secretaries of State

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