Stettinius, Edward Reilly, Jr. (stətin`eəs), 1900–1949, American statesman and industrialist, b. Chicago. He held (1926–34) several executive posts in the General Motors Corp., and in 1938 he became chairman of the board of the U.S. Steel Corp. He resigned (1940) as a business executive to join the National Defense Advisory Commission. After serving as priorities director in the Office of Production Management and as lend-lease administrator (1941–43), he was (1943–44) Undersecretary of State and presided at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference (1944). Succeeding (Nov., 1944) Cordell Hull as Secretary of State, Stettinius attended the Yalta Conference and was chairman of the U.S. delegation to the San Francisco Conference. He resigned (June, 1945) his cabinet post and served (1945–46) as U.S. representative to the United Nations. He wrote Roosevelt and the Russians (1949).

Stettinius, Edward Reilly, Jr.

(born Oct. 22, 1900, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—died Oct. 31, 1949, Greenwich, Conn.) U.S. industrialist and statesman. He worked for General Motors Corp., becoming a vice president in 1931. Joining U.S. Steel Corp. in 1934, he became chairman of the board in 1938. He was appointed chairman of the War Resources Board (1939–40) and administrator of lend-lease (1941–43). As U.S. secretary of state (1944–45), he advised Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference. He led the U.S. delegation to the UN organizing conference in San Francisco and was the first U.S. delegate to the UN (1945–46).