Karl L. Rankin
Encyclopedia
Background
Rankin was born September 4, 1898 to Emmet and Alberta Rankin in Manitowoc, WisconsinManitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2000 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,053, with over 50,000 residents in the surrounding communities...
. He would serve in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and attended college at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland; and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Diplomatic career
As an official for the United States Department of StateUnited States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, Rankin began his career as Assistant Trade Commissioner in Prague, Czechoslovakia
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
from 1927 to 1929. Later, he would serve as Commercial Attache in Prague from 1929 to 1932, in Athens, Greece and Tirana, Albania from 1932 to 1939, in Brussels, Belgium and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
from 1939 to 1940, in Belgrade, Serbia and Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
from 1940 to 1941, and in Cairo, Egypt in 1944. While working as Commercial Attache in Belgrade in 1940, Rankin also served a U.S. Consul. From 1941 to 1942, Rankin was detailed to Manila, Philippines. Rankin returned to Athens in 1944, this time as Economic Officer, serving until 1946. He would hold the same position in Vienna, Austria from to 1946 to 1947, when he again returned to Athens as Counselor until 1949. That year Rankin was promoted to U.S. Consul General in Canton, China
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
; and also became Consul General in Hong Kong, China from 1949 to 1950. Rankin was appointed U.S. Chargé d'Affaires to the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
from 1950 to 1953, before being named Ambassador
United States Ambassador to China
The United States Ambassador to China is the chief American diplomat to People's Republic of China . The United States has sent diplomatic representatives to China since 1844, when Caleb Cushing, as Commissioner, negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia. Commissioners represented the United States in...
from 1953 to 1957. Finally, Rankin returned to Yugoslavia, serving as U.S. Ambassador
United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia
The nation of Yugoslavia was formed on December 1, 1918 as a result of the realignment of nations and national boundaries in Europe in the aftermath of The Great War. The nation was first named the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929...
from 1957 to 1961.
Personal life
Rankin was first married to Pauline Jordan on October 3, 1925. After his retirement from the diplomatic corps, they made his home in South Bridgton, Maine. In 1964, he published a memoirMemoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
, China Assignment. Pauline Rankin died in 1976 and he married Ruth Thompson Garcelon in 1978. Rankin died of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
on January 15, 1991 in Kennebunkport, Maine
Kennebunkport, Maine
Kennebunkport is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,720 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford metropolitan statistical area....
. He was a Congregationalist.