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Patrick J. Hurley
Photo: Frank Townsend Hutchens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons12

Patrick J. Hurley

American diplomat and politician

Patrick Jay Hurley (January 8, 1883 – July 30, 1963) was an American attorney, Republican Party politician, military officer, and diplomat. He was the 51st United States Secretary of War from 1929 to 1933 in the cabinet of Herbert Hoover and a key American diplomat during World War II. As ambassador to China in 1944 and 1945, Hurley is remembered for his instrumental role in the recall of General Joseph Stilwell in favor of Albert Coady Wedemeyer, his advocacy for a rollback strategy in China, and his public criticism of State Department policy at the onset of the Second Red Scare.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Patrick J. Hurley (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jan 8, 1883, died Jul 30, 1963.1

About

He was the first Oklahoman to serve in a presidential cabinet.

Hurley came from humble origins, born to Irish immigrant parents in Indian Territory (today Oklahoma). He worked as a mule driver and with Will Rogers as a cowboy. He attended Indian College in Muskogee and the National University School of Law in Washington, DC before opening a legal practice in Tulsa in 1908. Specializing in oil and gas law and investing heavily in real estate, Hurley achieved rapid success. He was elected president of the Tulsa Bar Association in 1911. He was also helped by his connections in the Republican Party. After Hurley unsuccessfully ran for the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1910, President William Howard Taft appointed him as the national attorney for the Choctaw Nation.

Hurley was wounded in World War I and received the Silver Star. After the war, he returned to Tulsa, where he continued to enhance his political and business profile. After Hurley chaired Herbert Hoover's presidential campaign in Oklahoma, Hoover appointed him Assistant Secretary of War in 1929. He was shortly promoted to Secretary of War following the death of James W. Good in November and served until Hoover left office in 1933. He was recalled from private life in 1941 following American entry in to World War II and promoted to brigadier general. He served as a personal diplomatic representative for President Franklin D. Roosevelt in China, Iran, Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union, becoming the first foreigner granted Soviet permission to visit the Eastern Front, and was briefly United States Minister to New Zealand in 1942.

In 1944, Roosevelt appointed Hurley as United States Ambassador to China. He was tasked with mediating the factions of the Chinese Civil War in order to unify the country against the Empire of Japan. Hurley came to strongly favor the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek in the conflict, believing that they could win both the civil war and war with Japan with sufficient American support. He was also critical of British and European imperialism in the region. Frustrated by concessions to the Soviet Union at the Yalta Conference and believing that Communist victory in China was inevitable, Hurley resigned in 1945 and publicized his concerns that high-ranking members of the State Department were too sympathetic to the Chinese communist cause.

From Wikipedia’s article on Patrick J. Hurley, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedGeorge Washington University3
  • Date not recordedBacone College3

Patrick was born near Lehigh in the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory on January 8, 1883, to Pierce O'Neil and Mary Kelly Hurley. His parents immigrated to the United States from Ireland and settled in Indian Territory. He started working as a mule driver for coal mines at age 11 alongside his father and at age 15 attempted to enlisted in the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, but was turned away for being too young. After failing to enlist, he worked as a cowboy and met his lifelong friend Will Rogers. He worked while attending Indian College (now Bacone College) where he graduated in 1905. He received his law degree from the National University School of Law, Washington, in 1908.

Law practice

He started a law practice in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1908 specializing in oil and gas law and heavily invested in local real estate. He was an active member of the Republican Party and campaigned for Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1910, but lost the election. In 1911 he was elected as the president of the Tulsa Bar Association and he was appointed national attorney for the Choctaw Nation by President William Howard Taft. In 1916, he won a lawsuit to keep the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians from enrolling as members of the Choctaw Nation.

He received a second law degree, from George Washington University, in 1913. While attending George Washington University he was initiated into Epsilon chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. An active alumni, Hurley served as the 34th Grand Consul of Sigma Chi from 1946 to 1948.

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Pancho Villa Expedition and World War I

Hurley enlisted in the Indian Territorial Volunteer Militia in 1903 and he later served in the Oklahoma National Guard. In 1916, he was called to active duty and participated in the Pancho Villa Expedition. After the expedition, he was assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Corps and assigned to Washington D.C. During World War I, Hurley served with the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the 6th Army Corps, American Expeditionary Force, in France and helped negotiate with Luxembourg for the passage of allied troops through the neutral country. He was also awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal.

In November 1918, Hurley was detached to the 76th Field Artillery Regiment and participated it in the battles near Louppy-le-Château, France. Hurley was wounded and awarded with Silver Star.

From Wikipedia’s article on Patrick J. Hurley (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: politician, diplomat.6

  • 1929 to 1933United States Secretary of War5
  • Date not recordedFounded United Western Minerals Company4
  • Date not recordedUnited States Ambassador to the Republic of China (1912-1949)5
  • Date not recordedAmbassador5

Personal life

  • BornJan 8, 1883, Lehigh7
  • DiedJul 30, 1963, Santa Fe8
  • CitizenshipUnited States9

Awards

  • Date not recordedDistinguished Flying Cross10
  • Date not recordedLegionnaire of Legion of Merit10
  • Date not recordedPurple Heart10
  • Date not recordedSilver Star10

Sources

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