John Cudahy

John Cudahy
7th United States Ambassador to Poland
In office June 13, 1933 – April 23, 1937
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Ferdinand Lammot Belin
Succeeded by	Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr.
4th United States Ambassador to Ireland
In office May 28, 1937 – January 15, 1940
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Alvin Mansfield Owsley
Succeeded by	David Gray
8th United States Ambassador to Belgium
In office January 17, 1940 – July 18, 1940
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Joseph E. Davis
Succeeded by	Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.
14th United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
In office January 17, 1940 – July 18, 1940
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Joseph E. Davis
Succeeded by	Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.
Personal details
Born	John Clarence Cudahy December 10, 1887 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	September 6, 1943 (aged 55) Brown Deer, Wisconsin
Political party	Democratic
Relations	Edward Cudahy, Jr. (cousin) Edward Cudahy, Sr. (uncle)
Children	Patrick Cudahy, Michael Cudahy, Mary Keogh Stringer
Parents	Patrick Cudahy Anna Cudahy

John Clarence Cudahy (December 10, 1887 – September 6, 1943) was a real estate developer and American ambassador to Poland, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg. He was a Democrat.^[1]

Early life

Cudahy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Patrick Cudahy the meat packing industrialist and Anna Cudahy. He graduated from Harvard University and then attended the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Cudahy served during World War I as a lieutenant in Company B of the U.S. Army's 339th Infantry Regiment. This regiment was part of the Polar Bear Expedition, which was sent to north Russia to intervene on behalf of the anti-communist forces in the Russian Civil War. On November 14, 1918, Cudahy led a counter-attack that succeeded in breaking through and routing the 1,000 Bolshevik troops that on November 11 (Armistice Day) had encircled and attacked the 600 American, Canadian, and Royal Scots soldiers who were holding the village of Tulgas on the Northern Dvina River.^[2] However, his eventual disillusionment with the campaign in north Russia led him to write (under a pseudonym) the book Archangel: The American War with Russia.^[3]

Back in the United States, Cudahy headed his family's real estate company, building the Cudahy Tower Apartments on the shore of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee.

Diplomatic service

In the times leading up to World War II, Cudahy served the United States as ambassador to a handful of European nations.

From September 6, 1933 until April 23, 1937, Cudahy served as the American ambassador to Poland. His time in Poland was marked by a militarily backed government under Józef Piłsudski and continued tensions between Poland and Germany under Adolf Hitler.

From August 23, 1937 to January 15, 1940 Cudahy served as ambassador to Ireland.

From January 17 to July 18, 1940, Cudahy served as ambassador to both Belgium (1939–1940) and Luxembourg. He was forced to leave his post after Germany occupied Belgium and Luxembourg on May 10, 1940, and the nations set up governments-in-exile. Before he left, Cudahy personally interviewed Hitler and wrote the book The Armies March.^[4]

Death and descendants

Cudahy died in 1943 when he was thrown from a horse he was riding on his Brown Deer estate north of Milwaukee.

Cudahy's son, Michael Cudahy, is the founder of Marquette Electronics and a major philanthropist in the city of Milwaukee.^[5]

Works

• Archangel; The American War with Russia. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1924.
• Man︢analand; Advertising with Camera and Rifle through California in Mexico. New York: Duffield and Co., 1928.
• African horizons. New York: Duffield & Co., 1930.
• Belgium's Léopold: U.S. Ambassador Clears the King of "Treason" Charge. Chicago: Life, 1940.
• The Case for the King of the Belgians. New York City: Privately published, 1940.
• The Armies March: A Personal Report. New York: Scribner's, 1941.

References

1. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=1212&search_term=cudahy
2. E. M. Halliday. When Hell Froze Over. New York: ibooks, 2000, pp. 13–14.
3. John Cudahy. Archangel; The American War with Russia. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1924.
4. John Cudahy. The Armies March: A Personal Report. New York: Scribner's, 1941.
5. http://biztimes.com/article/20130513/MAGAZINE03/130519971/ BizTimes. Cudahy's daughter, Mary Toulgas Cudahy Keogh Stringer was a successful artist.