Patrick J. Hurley
Encyclopedia
Patrick Jay Hurley was an American soldier, statesman, and diplomat.
He has since been known as 赫爾利 hè ěr lì in China
, a phonetic rendering of his last name
into Chinese
.
Hurley started a law practice in Oklahoma
in 1908 and served as a colonel in the American Expeditionary Force
during World War I
. After the war, attended George Washington University
, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi
fraternity. He became active in the Republican Party
and was appointed Assistant Secretary of War
by President Herbert Hoover
in 1929. He was promoted to Secretary of War
after the death of James W. Good
and served in President Hoover's cabinet until 1933.
entered World War II
, and General George C. Marshall dispatched him to the Far East
as a personal representative to examine the feasibility of relieving American troops besieged on the island of Bataan
. He was successful in delivering additional food and ammunition to the soldiers on three separate occasions, but could not evacuate them.
After the conclusion of this mission, he embarked on a series of assignments as a personal representative of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
. He served as minister to New Zealand
in 1942 and then flew to the Soviet Union
, becoming the first foreigner to receive permission to visit the Eastern Front. Over the next two years, he visited the Near East
, Middle East
, China
, Iran
and Afghanistan
on behalf of the president. In the course of his duties, he met with a number of local political leaders, including the nominal head of the Zionist movement in Palestine, David Ben-Gurion
. The report that he sent to the president on Ben-Gurion and Zionism
was quite negative. He was appointed US Ambassador to China in 1944.
. His written directive from the President was as follows:
Military operations in China against the Japanese had been severely hampered by a lack of cooperation, bordering upon personal enmity, between Stilwell
and Chiang. The strongly anti-Communist Hurley eventually came down on the side of the Generalissimo, and he supported the replacement of Stilwell with General Albert C. Wedemeyer.
Throughout his tenure in China, Hurley felt that his efforts were being undermined by State Department officials, principally John Stewart Service
and John Paton Davies
in China, and John Carter Vincent
in Washington, who he felt were unduly sympathetic to the Communist forces led by Mao Zedong
.
In early November 1944, upon the resignation of Ambassador Clarence Gauss
, Hurley was officially offered the ambassadorship to China, but initially declined "with a statement that the duties he had been called upon to perform in China had been the most disagreeable that he had ever performed--and further, he felt that his support of Chiang Kai-shek and the National Government of China had increased the opposition directed toward himself by the un-American elements in the State Department." Upon receiving a telegram from the President on November 17, urging him to take the job because of the critical nature of the situation, he reluctantly accepted.
Hurley's dealings with the State Department did not improve. Moreover, President Roosevelt's February 1945 Yalta Conference
with Winston Churchill
and Joseph Stalin
resulted in a secret agreement in which, among other things, the Soviet Union was granted concessions in China that Czarist Russia had lost in the Russo-Japanese War
early in the century. This, Hurley believed, was the beginning of the end of a non-Communist China.
He held out hope that after President Roosevelt's death, President Harry Truman would recognize what he regarded as the errors of Yalta and would rectify the situation, but his efforts in that direction were in vain. On November 26, 1945, he submitted a scathing letter of resignation.
"I requested the relief of the career men," he wrote, "who were opposing the American policy in the Chinese Theater of war. These professional diplomats were returned to Washington and placed in the Chinese and Far Eastern Divisions of the State Department as my supervisors. Some of these same career men whom I relieved have been assigned as supervisors to the Supreme Commander in Asia. In such positions most of them have continued to side with the Communist armed party and at times with the imperialist bloc against American policy."
Besides Hoover himself, Hurley was the last living member of the Hoover administration.
for the state of New Mexico
in 1946, 1948, and 1952, but he lost all three attempts.
. It was involved in the rush to start uranium mining in the Ambrosia Lake
region of New Mexico in the 1950s. See Uranium mining in New Mexico
.
He has since been known as 赫爾利 hè ěr lì in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, a phonetic rendering of his last name
Last Name
"Last Name" is the title of a song composed by country singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008, by which point the song had already charted...
into Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
.
1908—1941
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
in 1908 and served as a colonel in the American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
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...
. After the war, attended George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
fraternity. He became active in the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and was appointed Assistant Secretary of War
United States Assistant Secretary of War
The United States Assistant Secretary of War was the second-ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940...
by President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
in 1929. He was promoted to Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
after the death of James W. Good
James William Good
James William Good was an American politician from the state of Iowa, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Cabinet. He was a member of the United States Republican Party.-Background:...
and served in President Hoover's cabinet until 1933.
World War II
Hurley received a promotion to brigadier general in 1941 when the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entered World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and General George C. Marshall dispatched him to the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
as a personal representative to examine the feasibility of relieving American troops besieged on the island of Bataan
Bataan
Bataan is a province of the Philippines occupying the whole of the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon. The province is part of the Central Luzon region. The capital of Bataan is Balanga City and it is bordered by the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga to the north...
. He was successful in delivering additional food and ammunition to the soldiers on three separate occasions, but could not evacuate them.
After the conclusion of this mission, he embarked on a series of assignments as a personal representative of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. He served as minister to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1942 and then flew to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, becoming the first foreigner to receive permission to visit the Eastern Front. Over the next two years, he visited the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
on behalf of the president. In the course of his duties, he met with a number of local political leaders, including the nominal head of the Zionist movement in Palestine, David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
. The report that he sent to the president on Ben-Gurion and Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
was quite negative. He was appointed US Ambassador to China in 1944.
China
Hurley arrived in China in August 1944, as a personal envoy from President Roosevelt to Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
. His written directive from the President was as follows:
- You are hereby designated as my personal representative with the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, reporting directly to me. Your principal mission is to promote efficient and harmonious relations between the Generalissimo and General [Joseph] Stilwell to facilitate General Stilwell's exercise of command over the Chinese armies placed under his direction. You will be charged with additional missions.
Military operations in China against the Japanese had been severely hampered by a lack of cooperation, bordering upon personal enmity, between Stilwell
Joseph Stilwell
General Joseph Warren Stilwell was a United States Army four-star General known for service in the China Burma India Theater. His caustic personality was reflected in the nickname "Vinegar Joe"...
and Chiang. The strongly anti-Communist Hurley eventually came down on the side of the Generalissimo, and he supported the replacement of Stilwell with General Albert C. Wedemeyer.
Throughout his tenure in China, Hurley felt that his efforts were being undermined by State Department officials, principally John Stewart Service
John S. Service
John Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
and John Paton Davies
John P. Davies
John Paton Davies, Jr. was an American diplomat and Medal of Freedom recipient. He was one of the China Hands, whose careers in the Foreign Service were destroyed by McCarthyism and the reaction to the fall of China....
in China, and John Carter Vincent
John Carter Vincent
John Carter Vincent was an American diplomat, Foreign Service Officer, and China Hand. Born in Seneca, Kansas,Vincent graduated from Mercer University in 1923 and was appointed Foreign Service Officer in the same year...
in Washington, who he felt were unduly sympathetic to the Communist forces led by Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
.
In early November 1944, upon the resignation of Ambassador Clarence Gauss
Clarence E. Gauss
Clarence Edward Gauss was an American diplomat. Gauss was born in Washington, D.C., as the son of Herman Gauss and Emile J. Gauss. He married Rebecca Louise Barker in 1917. He was a Republican and a Protestant....
, Hurley was officially offered the ambassadorship to China, but initially declined "with a statement that the duties he had been called upon to perform in China had been the most disagreeable that he had ever performed--and further, he felt that his support of Chiang Kai-shek and the National Government of China had increased the opposition directed toward himself by the un-American elements in the State Department." Upon receiving a telegram from the President on November 17, urging him to take the job because of the critical nature of the situation, he reluctantly accepted.
Hurley's dealings with the State Department did not improve. Moreover, President Roosevelt's February 1945 Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
with Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
resulted in a secret agreement in which, among other things, the Soviet Union was granted concessions in China that Czarist Russia had lost in the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
early in the century. This, Hurley believed, was the beginning of the end of a non-Communist China.
He held out hope that after President Roosevelt's death, President Harry Truman would recognize what he regarded as the errors of Yalta and would rectify the situation, but his efforts in that direction were in vain. On November 26, 1945, he submitted a scathing letter of resignation.
"I requested the relief of the career men," he wrote, "who were opposing the American policy in the Chinese Theater of war. These professional diplomats were returned to Washington and placed in the Chinese and Far Eastern Divisions of the State Department as my supervisors. Some of these same career men whom I relieved have been assigned as supervisors to the Supreme Commander in Asia. In such positions most of them have continued to side with the Communist armed party and at times with the imperialist bloc against American policy."
Besides Hoover himself, Hurley was the last living member of the Hoover administration.
Political candidacy
Hurley was the Republican candidate for a seat in the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
for the state of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
in 1946, 1948, and 1952, but he lost all three attempts.
Mining
Hurley started the United Western Minerals Corporation of Santa Fe, New MexicoSanta Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
. It was involved in the rush to start uranium mining in the Ambrosia Lake
Ambrosia Lake
Ambrosia Lake is a sandy area near Grants, New Mexico that was heavily mined for uranium starting in the 1950s. It is in an anticlinal dome.-History:...
region of New Mexico in the 1950s. See Uranium mining in New Mexico
Uranium mining in New Mexico
Uranium mining in New Mexico, a state of the United States, was a significant industry from the early 1950s until the early 1980s. Although New Mexico has the second largest identified uranium ore reserves of any state in the US , no uranium ore has been mined in New Mexico since 1998.-White...
.