David Gray (ambassador)
David Gray (1870–1968)[1] was best known as the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 15 April 1940 until 28 June 1947.[2] His official title was 'Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary' and his official residence was Florida.[3] In his own words, his appointment to the Ambassadorship was nepotic, as he was First Lady's Eleanor Roosevelt's uncle through marriage.[4] Gray was the Ambassador through most of the Second World War and the start of the Cold War. He led American efforts to convince Ireland to enter the war on the side of the Allies. His performance was such that Éamon de Valera sought repeatedly to have Gray replaced by another ambassador, especially after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.[4]:543
David Gray believed Irelandw was only staying neutral because Eamon Da Valera actually believed the Nazis would eventually defeat the Allies. He also believed that top Irish officials were in fact colluding with Nazi Germany secretly.[5]
The character of David Gray was played in the RTÉ television series Caught in a Free State by the actor O. Z. Whitehead.
Relationship with president
As a Roosevelt family member, Gray wrote to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt a number of dry verses and remarks to him, sometimes humorous and sometimes scathing, on his opinions of De Valera and Irish policy towards the War.
| “ | Since that time there is no record of his having done what was generous or noble or wise, only what he believed served 'the 'Cause'... he regarded himself as 'The Cause'... What was good for de Valera became good for Ireland. There was no honest view other than his... he dedicated himself to justifying his mistakes and making them stand in history as not being mistakes....[4]:544 | ” |
Senior lecturer in U.S. Foreign Policy, Timothy J. Lynch, has observed that 'his animus towards his host nation made Gray atypical of American ambassadors in Dublin'.[6]
Gray, among other things, relied for guidance on seances conducted at the embassy residence, according to T. Ryle Dwyer, author of a number of publications on Irish neutrality.[7] During World War II Gray was completely at odds with the OSS in Ireland. The OSS and MI5 received good cooperation from the Irish G2 intelligence service but Gray insisted otherwise.[7]:58
Gray donated many of his personal papers to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library before his death, including an extensive correspondence.
References
- ↑ Lawrence Kestenbaum. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Gravina to Gray".
- ↑ "[List of] US Ambassador[s] to Ireland". nndb.com.
- ↑ "Former Ambassadors - Embassy of the United States Dublin, Ireland".
- 1 2 3 Coogan, Tim Pat (1999) [1995]. Eamon De Valera: The Man Who Was Ireland. Barnes & Noble. p. 542. ISBN 0-7607-1251-4.
- ↑ http://www.ibtimes.com/irish-nationalist-nazi-when-eamon-de-valera-paid-his-respects-adolf-hitler-1403768
- ↑ Lynch, Timothy J. (2004). Turf war: the Clinton administration and Northern Ireland. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-7546-4294-7. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
- 1 2 Dwyer, T. Ryle (September 3, 2010). Behind the Green Curtain: Ireland's Phoney Neutrality During World War II. Gill & MacMillan. pp. 176–179. ISBN 978-0717146505. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
External links
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Irish Free State (1927–50) |
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| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (1950–present) |
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