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{{short description|American politician and diplomat}}
'''George Howard Earle III''' ([[1890]]–[[1974]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[politician]]. He served as the [[List of Governors of Pennsylvania|governor]] of [[Pennsylvania]] from [[15 January]] [[1935]] to [[17 January]] [[1939]].
{{Redirect|George Howard Earle||George Howard Earle Jr.}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = George Earle
|image = GeorgeHEarle.jpg
|office = [[United States Ambassador to Bulgaria|United States Minister to Bulgaria]]
|president = [[Franklin Roosevelt]]
|term_start = February 14, 1940
|term_end = December 13, 1941
|preceded = [[Ray Atherton]]
|succeeded = [[Donald R. Heath|Donald Heath]]
|office2 = Member of the<br />[[Democratic National Committee]]<br />from Pennsylvania
|term_start2 = May 22, 1936<ref name=DNCin>{{cite news|title=Earle Victory in Committee Election Seen|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D-UxAAAAIBAJ&pg=2647,4636554&dq=sedgwick+kistler+earle&hl=en|access-date=January 12, 2012|newspaper=The Reading Eagle|date=May 22, 1936}}</ref>
|term_end2 = February 21, 1940<ref name=DNCmemberOut>{{cite news|title=Earle Resigns Committee Post|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/289870532.html?dids=289870532:289870532&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Feb+21%2C+1940&author=By+a+Staff+Correspondent+of+The+Christian+Science+Monitor&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Earle+Resigns+Committee+Post&pqatl=google|access-date=January 13, 2012|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=February 21, 1940|archive-date=March 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306222206/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/doc/515490257.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Feb%2021,%201940&author=By%20a%20Staff%20Correspondent%20of%20The%20Christian%20Science%20Monitor&pub=Christian%20Science%20Monitor&edition=&startpage=&desc=Earle%20Resigns%20Committee%20Post|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|preceded2 = [[Sedgwick Kistler]]
|succeeded2 = [[David L. Lawrence|David Lawrence]]
|order3 = 30th [[Governor of Pennsylvania]]
|term_start3 = January 15, 1935
|term_end3 = January 17, 1939
|lieutenant3 = [[Thomas Kennedy (unionist)|Thomas Kennedy]]
|predecessor3= [[Gifford Pinchot]]
|successor3 = [[Arthur James (politician)|Arthur James]]
|office4 = [[United States Ambassador to Austria|United States Minister to Austria]]
|president4 = [[Franklin Roosevelt]]
|term_start4 = July 24, 1933
|term_end4 = March 25, 1934
|preceded4 = [[Gilchrist Baker Stockton]]
|succeeded4 = [[George S. Messersmith|George Messersmith]]
|birth_name = George Hussey Earle III
|birth_date = {{birth date|1890|12|5}}
|birth_place = [[Devon, Pennsylvania|Devon]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1974|12|30|1890|12|5}}
|death_place = [[Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania|Bryn Mawr]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|education = [[Harvard University]]
|party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
}}
'''George Howard Earle III''' (December 5, 1890{{spaced ndash}}December 30, 1974) was an American [[politician]] and diplomat from Pennsylvania. He was a member of the prominent Earle and [[Van Leer Family|Van Leer]] families and the 30th [[governor of Pennsylvania]] from 1935 to 1939. Earle was one of just two Democrats who served as governor of Pennsylvania between the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and [[World War II]].


The son of prominent attorney [[George Howard Earle Jr.]], Earle worked in his family's sugar business after graduating from [[Harvard University]]. During [[World War I]], he commanded {{USS|Victor|SP-1995|6}}, a submarine chaser which was also his private yacht. Though raised a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], Earle joined the Democrats out of dissatisfaction with the Republican Party's handling of the [[Great Depression]]. He campaigned for [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in the [[1932 United States presidential election|1932 presidential election]] and served as the [[United States Ambassador to Austria|U.S. Minister]] to [[Austria]] from 1933 to 1934. In this role, he warned the Roosevelt administration of the rising danger presented by [[Nazi Germany]].
In 1944 Roosevelt assigned Army Captain George Earle, his special emissary to the [[Balkans]], to compile information on Katyn. Earle did so, using contacts in just [[Bulgaria]] and [[Romania]]. Earle, too, concluded that the Soviet Union was guilty. After consulting with [[Elmer Davis]], the director of the [[Office of War Information]], Roosevelt rejected that conclusion, saying that he was convinced of Nazi Germany's responsibility, and ordered Earle's report suppressed. When Earle formally requested permission to publish his findings, the President gave him a written order to desist. Earle was reassigned and spent the rest of the war in [[American Samoa]].{{ref|Fischer}}


Earle defeated Republican [[William A. Schnader]] in the [[1934 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election]]. As governor, he introduced an ambitious "Little New Deal" that sought to combat the effects of the Great Depression. Among other policies, his administration created a centralized Department of Public Assistance, eliminated the private police forces operated by several coal and steel companies, began construction of the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]], instituted Pennsylvania's first gasoline and cigarette tax, and established a [[Eight-hour day|forty-hour work week]]. The Little New Deal made Earle one of the most popular politicians in the country.
{{US-mil-stub}}
{{US-politician-stub}}


Earle sought election to the [[United States Senate]] in 1938, but he was defeated by incumbent Republican Senator [[James J. Davis]]. Earle was appointed as the [[United States Ambassador to Bulgaria|Minister to Bulgaria]] in 1940 and served as a special emissary to the [[Balkans]] during [[World War II]]. He compiled a report blaming the [[Katyn massacre]] of [[Poland|Polish]] [[intelligentsia]] on the [[Soviet Union]], but this report was suppressed. After the war, he served as assistant governor of [[American Samoa]]. He retired from public office and died in 1974.
== References ==
* {{note|Fischer}} [[Benjamin B. Fischer|Fischer, Benjamin B.]], "[http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/winter99-00/art6.html The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field]", ''[[Studies in Intelligence]]'', Winter 1999-2000, last accessed on 10 December, 2005


==Early life==
{{start box}}
Earle was born in [[Devon, Pennsylvania]]<ref name=PHMC/> to [[George Howard Earle Jr.]] and Catharine Hansell French,<ref>{{cite book |last1=French |first1=Howard Barclay |title=Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French: Who Came to America from Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire, England and Settled in Berlinton (Burlington), in the Province and Country of West New Jersey, of which He was One of the Original Proprietors, Together with William Penn, Edward Byllynge, Thomas Olive, Gauen Laurie and Others |date=1913 |publisher=Higginson Book Company |location=Philadelphia |pages=496–497 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5UZAQAAMAAJ |access-date=17 August 2022}}</ref> a wealthy family that traced its lineage in America to the arrival of the ''[[Mayflower]]''. His grandmother Mrs. Frances ("Fanny") Van Leer was a member of one of the first Pennsylvania families, the [[Van Leer Family|Van Leer family]] and his great-grandfather [[Samuel Van Leer]] played an important role in the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Generation 8.6 - Sixth child of Bernardhus Van Leer |url=https://vanleerarchives.org/samuel-van-leer/ |website=www.vanleerarchives.org |publisher=Van Leer Archives |access-date=15 August 2022}}</ref> He received a degree from [[Harvard University]] and subsequently worked abroad in a family-owned sugar business. He enlisted in the military in 1916 and was assigned to the Mexican border during the [[Pancho Villa Expedition]]. After the United States entered [[World War I]], Earle commanded {{USS|Victor|SP-1995|6}}, a submarine chaser which was also his private yacht. He earned the [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]] in 1918 after averting a fatal explosion. After the war, Earle returned to private business, particularly in the sugar industry. Though raised as a Republican, Earle joined the Democratic Party over disillusionment with the Republican Party's handling of the [[Great Depression]]. After campaigning for [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin Roosevelt]] in the [[1932 United States presidential election|1932 election]], Earle served as [[United States Ambassador to Austria|Ambassador to Austria]] from July 24, 1933 until March 25, 1934.<ref>{{cite web |title=George Howard Earle III (1890-1974) |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/earle-george-howard |website=www.history.state.gov |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=18 August 2022}}</ref> Earle looked warily upon the [[Nazi Party]], and warned the FDR Administration of the potential danger of [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name=PHMC>{{cite web |title=Governor George Howard Earle III |url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/governors/1876-1951/george-earle.html |website=www.phmc.state.pa.us |publisher=Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission |access-date=18 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=Explore>{{cite web|title=George H. Earle III Historical Marker|url=http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-331|website=Explore PA History.com|publisher=WITF|access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>
{{succession box | before=[[Gifford Pinchot]] | title=[[Governor of Pennsylvania]] | years=1935&ndash;1939 | after=[[Arthur Horace James]]}}

{{end box}}
==Governorship==
[[Category:1890 births|Earle, George H.]]
Although Pennsylvania had not elected a [[List of Governors of Pennsylvania|Democratic governor]] in over forty years, Earle defeated Republican [[Attorney General of Pennsylvania|Attorney General]] [[William A. Schnader]] in the [[1934 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election]]. Though Earle faced a split legislature in the first half of his term, his party gained control of both chambers of the Pennsylvania legislature in the 1936 election.<ref name=Explore/> An ardent Roosevelt admirer, Earle rolled out an ambitious "Little New Deal", which resulted in the introduction of a record 3514 bills during the 1935-36 session of the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]]. His administration created a centralized Department of Public Assistance that was designed to ensure uniform allocation of relief payments. Earle's government also sought to ameliorate ongoing labor strife by increasing union bargaining rights and eliminating the private police forces operated by many of the influential coal and steel companies. [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]] construction also began during his tenure. Other bills passed include Pennsylvania's first gasoline and cigarette tax, teacher tenure, and a maximum forty-hour work week. Earle's administration relaxed Pennsylvania's [[Blue laws]], passed the nation's first milk control law, and outlawed company police forces hired by mining companies.<ref name=PHMC/>
[[Category:1974 deaths|Earle, George H.]]

[[Category:Governors of Pennsylvania|Earle, George H.]]
Earle's "Little New Deal" earned him a place on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine in 1937, and a [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] poll that same year saw him named the nation's third most popular Democrat (after the president and vice president).<ref name=Explore/> However, Earle also became known for his mercurial temperament and his administration was plagued by high-profile corruption charges involving his top officials. Earle's poor relationship with the state's judicial hierarchy resulted in one of his central policy goals, the imposition of a graduated income tax, being declared unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6SpJJmkNDFEC&q=governor+george+earle&pg=PA119|title=Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation|first=Paul B.|last=Beers|date=November 1, 2010|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0271044989|access-date=August 30, 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref> Earle, who was constitutionally ineligible to run for a second consecutive term as governor, ran for the Senate in [[United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1938|1938]], but lost to incumbent Republican [[James J. Davis]].<ref name=PHMC/> Earle's loss to Davis coincided with a Republican landslide that saw Republicans re-gain control of the legislature and governorship.<ref name=Explore/> Pennsylvania would not elect another Democratic governor until [[Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1954|1954]].

==Post-governorship==
Earle was appointed [[United States Ambassador to Bulgaria|Minister to Bulgaria]] on February 14, 1940, and served until December 13, 1941.<ref>{{cite web |title=George Howard Earle III (1890-1974) |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/earle-george-howard |website=www.history.state.gov |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=18 August 2022}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], he served again in the [[United States Navy]], this time as a [[lieutenant commander]] and as a special emissary to the [[Balkans]]. In 1943 Earl was the special envoy of the President as naval attaché in neutral [[Istanbul]]. He proposed a plan that he believed might bring the war in Europe to an early end. The German ambassador in Istanbul [[Franz von Papen]] and the head of [[Abwehr]] [[Wilhelm Canaris]] had secretly proposed a coup against [[Adolf Hitler]] that would end with Hitler turned over to the US as a [[war criminal]], but the plot was not approved by the US government.<ref name=PHMC/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dcdave.com/article5/121031.htm|title=David Martin, "How FDR Dragged out WW II for Stalin|access-date=August 30, 2017}}</ref>

In 1944, President Roosevelt assigned Earle to compile information on the [[Katyń massacre]], the [[massacre]] of the [[Poland|Polish]] [[intelligentsia]] by the Soviet government. Earle did so, using contacts in [[Bulgaria]] and [[Romania]], and concluded that the [[Soviet Union]] was guilty. After consulting with [[Elmer Davis]], the director of the [[Office of War Information]], Roosevelt rejected Earle's conclusion, saying that he was convinced of the responsibility of [[Nazi Germany]], and ordered Earle's report suppressed. At this time, the United States and Soviet Union were still fighting Nazi Germany and Japan.
When Earle formally requested permission to publish his findings, the President gave him a written order to desist.
Earle was reassigned and spent the rest of [[World War II]] in [[American Samoa]].<ref name="fischer">[[Benjamin Fischer (historian)|Fischer, Benjamin B.]], "[https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter99-00/art6.html The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324185250/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter99-00/art6.html |date=2010-03-24 }}", ''[[Studies in Intelligence]]'', Winter 1999-2000</ref>

After the war, Earle served as assistant governor of [[American Samoa]], and then returned to the private sector. Ambassador [[Ralph Earle (ambassador)|Ralph Earle II]] is his son.<ref name=PHMC/>

He died on December 30, 1974, and was interred at the Church of the Redeemer cemetery in [[Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Church of the Redeemer Cemetery Burial Records |url=http://www.lowermerionhistory.org/burial/redeemer/ef.html |website=www.lowermerionhistory.org |publisher=The Lower Merion Historical Society |access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Find a Grave|11406}}
*[http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/mg/mg342.htm George Howard Earle Papers]

{{S-start}}
{{S-dip}}
{{Succession box
| title= [[United States Ambassador to Bulgaria|United States Minister to Bulgaria]]
| before= [[Ray Atherton]]
| after= [[Donald R. Heath|Donald Heath]]
| years= 1940
}}
{{Succession box
| title= [[United States Ambassador to Austria|United States Minister to Austria]]
| before= [[Gilchrist Baker Stockton]]
| after= [[George S. Messersmith|George Messersmith]]
| years= 1933–1934
}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box | before=[[Gifford Pinchot]] |title=[[List of governors of Pennsylvania|Governor of Pennsylvania]] | years=1935–1939 | after=[[Arthur James (politician)|Arthur James]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box | title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of governors of Pennsylvania|Governor of Pennsylvania]] | before=[[John M. Hemphill|John Hemphill]] | after=[[Charles Alvin Jones]] | years=[[1934 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election|1934]]}}
{{succession box |before=[[Lawrence H. Rupp|Lawrence Rupp]] |title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of United States Senators from Pennsylvania|U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania]]<br />([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 3]])|years=[[1938 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania|1938]]|after=[[Francis J. Myers|Francis Myers]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Governors and Presidents of Pennsylvania}}
{{US Ambassadors to Austria}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, George Howard, III}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Austria]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Earle family]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Politicians from Chester County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)]]
[[Category:United States naval attachés]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:Van Leer family]]

Latest revision as of 23:52, 9 November 2024

George Earle
United States Minister to Bulgaria
In office
February 14, 1940 – December 13, 1941
PresidentFranklin Roosevelt
Preceded byRay Atherton
Succeeded byDonald Heath
Member of the
Democratic National Committee
from Pennsylvania
In office
May 22, 1936[1] – February 21, 1940[2]
Preceded bySedgwick Kistler
Succeeded byDavid Lawrence
30th Governor of Pennsylvania
In office
January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939
LieutenantThomas Kennedy
Preceded byGifford Pinchot
Succeeded byArthur James
United States Minister to Austria
In office
July 24, 1933 – March 25, 1934
PresidentFranklin Roosevelt
Preceded byGilchrist Baker Stockton
Succeeded byGeorge Messersmith
Personal details
Born
George Hussey Earle III

(1890-12-05)December 5, 1890
Devon, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedDecember 30, 1974(1974-12-30) (aged 84)
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationHarvard University

George Howard Earle III (December 5, 1890 – December 30, 1974) was an American politician and diplomat from Pennsylvania. He was a member of the prominent Earle and Van Leer families and the 30th governor of Pennsylvania from 1935 to 1939. Earle was one of just two Democrats who served as governor of Pennsylvania between the Civil War and World War II.

The son of prominent attorney George Howard Earle Jr., Earle worked in his family's sugar business after graduating from Harvard University. During World War I, he commanded USS Victor, a submarine chaser which was also his private yacht. Though raised a Republican, Earle joined the Democrats out of dissatisfaction with the Republican Party's handling of the Great Depression. He campaigned for Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election and served as the U.S. Minister to Austria from 1933 to 1934. In this role, he warned the Roosevelt administration of the rising danger presented by Nazi Germany.

Earle defeated Republican William A. Schnader in the 1934 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. As governor, he introduced an ambitious "Little New Deal" that sought to combat the effects of the Great Depression. Among other policies, his administration created a centralized Department of Public Assistance, eliminated the private police forces operated by several coal and steel companies, began construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, instituted Pennsylvania's first gasoline and cigarette tax, and established a forty-hour work week. The Little New Deal made Earle one of the most popular politicians in the country.

Earle sought election to the United States Senate in 1938, but he was defeated by incumbent Republican Senator James J. Davis. Earle was appointed as the Minister to Bulgaria in 1940 and served as a special emissary to the Balkans during World War II. He compiled a report blaming the Katyn massacre of Polish intelligentsia on the Soviet Union, but this report was suppressed. After the war, he served as assistant governor of American Samoa. He retired from public office and died in 1974.

Early life

[edit]

Earle was born in Devon, Pennsylvania[3] to George Howard Earle Jr. and Catharine Hansell French,[4] a wealthy family that traced its lineage in America to the arrival of the Mayflower. His grandmother Mrs. Frances ("Fanny") Van Leer was a member of one of the first Pennsylvania families, the Van Leer family and his great-grandfather Samuel Van Leer played an important role in the American Revolutionary War.[5] He received a degree from Harvard University and subsequently worked abroad in a family-owned sugar business. He enlisted in the military in 1916 and was assigned to the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa Expedition. After the United States entered World War I, Earle commanded USS Victor, a submarine chaser which was also his private yacht. He earned the Navy Cross in 1918 after averting a fatal explosion. After the war, Earle returned to private business, particularly in the sugar industry. Though raised as a Republican, Earle joined the Democratic Party over disillusionment with the Republican Party's handling of the Great Depression. After campaigning for Franklin Roosevelt in the 1932 election, Earle served as Ambassador to Austria from July 24, 1933 until March 25, 1934.[6] Earle looked warily upon the Nazi Party, and warned the FDR Administration of the potential danger of Nazi Germany.[3][7]

Governorship

[edit]

Although Pennsylvania had not elected a Democratic governor in over forty years, Earle defeated Republican Attorney General William A. Schnader in the 1934 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. Though Earle faced a split legislature in the first half of his term, his party gained control of both chambers of the Pennsylvania legislature in the 1936 election.[7] An ardent Roosevelt admirer, Earle rolled out an ambitious "Little New Deal", which resulted in the introduction of a record 3514 bills during the 1935-36 session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. His administration created a centralized Department of Public Assistance that was designed to ensure uniform allocation of relief payments. Earle's government also sought to ameliorate ongoing labor strife by increasing union bargaining rights and eliminating the private police forces operated by many of the influential coal and steel companies. Pennsylvania Turnpike construction also began during his tenure. Other bills passed include Pennsylvania's first gasoline and cigarette tax, teacher tenure, and a maximum forty-hour work week. Earle's administration relaxed Pennsylvania's Blue laws, passed the nation's first milk control law, and outlawed company police forces hired by mining companies.[3]

Earle's "Little New Deal" earned him a place on the cover of Time magazine in 1937, and a Gallup poll that same year saw him named the nation's third most popular Democrat (after the president and vice president).[7] However, Earle also became known for his mercurial temperament and his administration was plagued by high-profile corruption charges involving his top officials. Earle's poor relationship with the state's judicial hierarchy resulted in one of his central policy goals, the imposition of a graduated income tax, being declared unconstitutional.[8] Earle, who was constitutionally ineligible to run for a second consecutive term as governor, ran for the Senate in 1938, but lost to incumbent Republican James J. Davis.[3] Earle's loss to Davis coincided with a Republican landslide that saw Republicans re-gain control of the legislature and governorship.[7] Pennsylvania would not elect another Democratic governor until 1954.

Post-governorship

[edit]

Earle was appointed Minister to Bulgaria on February 14, 1940, and served until December 13, 1941.[9]

During World War II, he served again in the United States Navy, this time as a lieutenant commander and as a special emissary to the Balkans. In 1943 Earl was the special envoy of the President as naval attaché in neutral Istanbul. He proposed a plan that he believed might bring the war in Europe to an early end. The German ambassador in Istanbul Franz von Papen and the head of Abwehr Wilhelm Canaris had secretly proposed a coup against Adolf Hitler that would end with Hitler turned over to the US as a war criminal, but the plot was not approved by the US government.[3][10]

In 1944, President Roosevelt assigned Earle to compile information on the Katyń massacre, the massacre of the Polish intelligentsia by the Soviet government. Earle did so, using contacts in Bulgaria and Romania, and concluded that the Soviet Union was guilty. After consulting with Elmer Davis, the director of the Office of War Information, Roosevelt rejected Earle's conclusion, saying that he was convinced of the responsibility of Nazi Germany, and ordered Earle's report suppressed. At this time, the United States and Soviet Union were still fighting Nazi Germany and Japan. When Earle formally requested permission to publish his findings, the President gave him a written order to desist. Earle was reassigned and spent the rest of World War II in American Samoa.[11]

After the war, Earle served as assistant governor of American Samoa, and then returned to the private sector. Ambassador Ralph Earle II is his son.[3]

He died on December 30, 1974, and was interred at the Church of the Redeemer cemetery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.[12]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Earle Victory in Committee Election Seen". The Reading Eagle. May 22, 1936. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  2. ^ "Earle Resigns Committee Post". The Christian Science Monitor. February 21, 1940. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Governor George Howard Earle III". www.phmc.state.pa.us. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  4. ^ French, Howard Barclay (1913). Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas French: Who Came to America from Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire, England and Settled in Berlinton (Burlington), in the Province and Country of West New Jersey, of which He was One of the Original Proprietors, Together with William Penn, Edward Byllynge, Thomas Olive, Gauen Laurie and Others. Philadelphia: Higginson Book Company. pp. 496–497. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "Generation 8.6 - Sixth child of Bernardhus Van Leer". www.vanleerarchives.org. Van Leer Archives. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "George Howard Earle III (1890-1974)". www.history.state.gov. United States Department of State. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d "George H. Earle III Historical Marker". Explore PA History.com. WITF. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  8. ^ Beers, Paul B. (November 1, 2010). Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation. Penn State Press. ISBN 978-0271044989. Retrieved August 30, 2017 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "George Howard Earle III (1890-1974)". www.history.state.gov. United States Department of State. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  10. ^ "David Martin, "How FDR Dragged out WW II for Stalin". Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  11. ^ Fischer, Benjamin B., "The Katyn Controversy: Stalin's Killing Field Archived 2010-03-24 at the Wayback Machine", Studies in Intelligence, Winter 1999-2000
  12. ^ "Church of the Redeemer Cemetery Burial Records". www.lowermerionhistory.org. The Lower Merion Historical Society. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
[edit]
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Minister to Bulgaria
1940
Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Minister to Austria
1933–1934
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Pennsylvania
1935–1939
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania
1934
Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
(Class 3)

1938
Succeeded by