- William Castle, Jr.
William Richard Castle, Jr. (June 19, 1879 - October 14, 1963) was an Undersecretary of State in the Hoover administration and the
United States Ambassador to Japan in 1930.Castle was born in
Honolulu under the old Hawaiian monarchy. His father had been the kingdom's Attorney General [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40D12F73C5B177A93C5A9178DD85F418385F9&scp=71&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "M. R. Castle, 86, Dies in Honolulu; Father of Ex-Under-Secretary of State -- Attorney General in Hawaiian Kingdom,"] "New York Times." June 7, 1935.] and King Kalakala's Minister in Washington. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0813FF3F5D117A93C3A81789D95F4D8285F9&scp=12&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "Castle is named for Tokio Mission; Picked as Ambassador for Special Duty There During London Naval Parley; Will see Japanese Here; Hoover Plans for Expert to Sit In at Washington, Then Act at Far Eastern Post."] "New York Times." December 11, 1929.] He graduated from Harvard in 1900; and he became an instructor and was Assistant Dean from 1904 through 1913. From 1915 through 1917, he was editor of the "Harvard Graduates Magazine." In later years, he would return to Cambridge as an Overseer of Harvard College from 1935 through 1941. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E1FF83D5C177A93C6A8178BD95F478685F9&scp=1&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "William R. Castle Dies at 85; Ex-Under Secretary of State; Hoover Aide Negotiated War Debt Moratorium in 1931--Critic of Roosevelt World Cooperation Proponent Acting Secretary in 1932,"] "New York Times." October 14, 1963.]When the U.S. entered World War I, he became Communications Director for the
American Red Cross . [see above] ]US Department of State
At the conclusion of World War I, he entered the State Department as a special assistant. From 1921 through 1927, he was Chief of the Division of Western European Affairs. In 1931, he was promoted to Assistant Secretary of State and then Undersecretary of State to fill the void when
Joseph P. Cotton died unexpectedly. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00C17F7355C157A93C3A9178FD85F458385F9&scp=2&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "Castle to Succeed Cotton,"] "New York Times." April 1, 1931.] His skills and self-confidence were honed representing the United States in war debt and reparations negotiations payments resulting from the Great War. In 1932, when Secretary of State Hugh Stimson went to Europe for talks with foreign leaders and his diplomatic counterparts, Castle was elevated to serve as Acting Secretary of State. [see above] ]Ambassador to Japan
He presented credentials to the Japanese Foreign Ministry on January 24, 1930; and he left Japan on May 27, 1930. Ambassador Castle was sent to Japan as a special envoy during the
London Naval Conference of 1930. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50615FD3E5C157A93C5AB178ED85F448385F9&scp=6&sq=1923+earthquake+tokyo&st=p "Cornerstone is Laid for Tokyo Embassy; Castle Officiates at Ceremony for Our $1,000,000 Building -- Leaves for America Today,] "New York Times." May 27, 1930.]Ambassador Castle's last public act before leaving Japan was perhaps the only thing which might have been likely to develop consequence. He presided at the laying of the cornerstone for the American Embassy in Tokyo, which was to replace the structure destroyed in the
Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 . Japanese notables attending the ceremonies were Prince Tokugawa, President of the America-Japan Society; Baron Shidehara, Foreign Minister; and Viscount Shibusawa. Construction was not anticipated to be completed until 1931. [see above] ]Regardless of support for the results of the London Naval Conference from Prime Minister Yuko Hamaguchi, Castle's sojourn in Tokyo was plainly a failure in that he did not succeed in his attempt to convince the Japanese military that the imposed imbalance resulting from the London Naval Conference had any advantageous benefits for Japan. As an illustration of the depth of opposition, Naval Chief of Staff Admiral Kanji Kato refused to attend a farewell dinner for the American ambassador. When Naval Minister Takeshi Takarabe repeated the invitation, the Admiral reigned rather than attend. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,739401,00.html "Kato, Blood &,"] "Time."June 2, 1930.]
Post-government private life
He left government when the Roosevelt administration took office. He became an outspoken critic of the
New Deal ; and he devoted a considerable amount of time to writing about foreign policy and expressing serial critical analyses of Roosevelt administration programs and policies. [see above] ]As a close personal friend of President Hoover and members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he had proved useful and effective in behind-the-scenes negotiating during the years of the Hoover administration; but his ability to influence events was sharply modified when the Republicans were no longer in government. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00C17F7355C157A93C3A9178FD85F458385F9&scp=2&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "Castle to Succeed Cotton,"] "New York Times." April 1, 1931.]
Honors
*
American Academy of Arts and Sciences , Fellow. [see above] ]Notes
References
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0813FF3F5D117A93C3A81789D95F4D8285F9&scp=12&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "Castle is named for Tokio Mission; Picked as Ambassador for Special Duty There During London Naval Parley; Will see Japanese Here; Hoover Plans for Expert to Sit In at Washington, Then Act at Far Eastern Post."] "New York Times." December 11, 1929.
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50615FD3E5C157A93C5AB178ED85F448385F9&scp=6&sq=1923+earthquake+tokyo&st=p "Cornerstone is Laid for Tokyo Embassy; Castle Officiates at Ceremony for Our $1,000,000 Building -- Leaves for America Today,"] "New York Times." May 27, 1930.
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40D12F73C5B177A93C5A9178DD85F418385F9&scp=71&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "M. R. Castle, 86, Dies in Honolulu; Father of Ex-Under-Secretary of State -- Attorney General in Hawaiian Kingdom,"] "New York Times." June 7, 1935.
* Stark, Louis. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70C13FC3C54157A93C6A81783D85F448385F9&scp=5&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "Japan's Navy Ratio Arouses Conflict; W.R. Castle Jr., in Williamstown Address, Says She Blames Us for Cut in Her Cruisers.,"] "New York Times." August 14, 1930.
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E1FF83D5C177A93C6A8178BD95F478685F9&scp=1&sq=William+R.+Castle&st=p "William R. Castle Dies at 85; Ex-Under Secretary of State; Hoover Aide Negotiated War Debt Moratorium in 1931 -- Critic of Roosevelt World Cooperation Proponent Acting Secretary in 1932,"] "New York Times." October 14, 1963.
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