Grew, Joseph Clark

Grew, Joseph Clark, 1880–1965, American diplomat, b. Boston. Entering diplomatic service in 1904, he held posts of increasing importance in different capitals until 1924, when he became Under Secretary of State. In this position he supervised the establishment of the new Foreign Service. After serving (1927–32) as ambassador to Turkey, Grew was appointed (1932) ambassador to Japan and remained there until after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Afterward he was special assistant (1942–44) to Secretary of State Cordell Hull and again was Under Secretary of State (1944–45).

Bibliography

See his autobiographical Turbulent Era (1952); biography by W. H. Heinrichs (1967).

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Grew, Joseph Clark (1880–1965) diplomat; born in Boston, Mass. His career with the foreign service began in 1905 (Theodore Roosevelt sponsored him because he had shot a Chinese tiger). After World War I, he was secretary to the U.S. Commission to the Versailles Peace Conference and helped to negotiate a treaty with Turkey (1922–23). He was ambassador to Denmark (1920), Turkey (1927–32), and Japan (1931–41). While in Japan, he worked artfully to maintain good relations between the two countries; his work was frustrated and he was isolated by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Repatriated in 1942, he was director of the Far Eastern Affairs division of the State Department. He wrote Sport and Travel in the Far East (1910) and Ten Years in Japan (1944).