James Jeremiah Wadsworth

James Jeremiah Wadsworth (June 12, 1905 – March 13, 1984)^[1] was an American politician and diplomat from New York.

James Jeremiah Wadsworth
Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission
In office May 5, 1965 - October 31, 1969
President	Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon
4th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
In office September 8, 1960 – January 21, 1961
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy
Preceded by	Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Succeeded by	Adlai Stevenson II
Administrator of the Federal Civil Defense Administration Acting
In office November 15, 1952 – February 20, 1953
President	Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Millard Caldwell
Succeeded by	Val Peterson
Personal details
Born	(1905-06-12)June 12, 1905 Groveland, New York, U.S.
Died	March 13, 1984(1984-03-13) (aged 78) Rochester, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Harty Griggs Tilton
Education	Yale University (BA)

Early life

A member of the prominent Genesee Valley Wadsworths, James J. Wadsworth was born in Groveland, New York on June 12, 1905. He was a direct descendant of pioneer William Wadsworth, a founder of Hartford, Connecticut.

His great-grandfather, James S. Wadsworth, was a Union general in the American Civil War, killed in the Battle of the Wilderness of 1864. Both his grandfather, James Wolcott Wadsworth, and his father, James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr., represented New York in Congress. His other grandfather was United States Secretary of State John Hay. His sister Evelyn was married to William Stuart Symington; they were the parents of James Wadsworth Symington, his nephew.

Wadsworth graduated from Fay School in 1918,^[2] from St. Mark's School, and from Yale University in 1927,^[1] where he was a member of Skull and Bones.^[3]

Career

Wadsworth was a member of the New York State Assembly (Livingston Co.) in 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939–40 and 1941. He resigned his seat in 1941.

Wadsworth was medically unfit for World War II because of an injured leg, but aided the war effort as an assistant manager at the Curtiss-Wright Corporation plant in Buffalo, New York. In 1950, he became deputy administrator of the civil defense office for the National Security Resources Board, which drafted many of the civil defense plans that were prepared at the height of the Cold War.

From 1953 to 1960, Wadsworth was Deputy Chief of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. He was appointed United States Ambassador to the United Nations by President Eisenhower, and he served from 1960 to 1961.

In 1965, President Johnson appointed Wadsworth to the Federal Communications Commission, and he served until 1970. Wadsworth left the FCC to join the American team negotiating a charter for the International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium (Intelsat).

Personal life

In 1927, Wadsworth was married to Harty Griggs Tilton (1906–1965), a daughter of Benjamin Trowbridge Tilton and Anna Billings (née Griggs) Tilton. Together, they were the parents of:^[4]

• Alice Wadsworth (1928–1998), who married Trowbridge Strong (1925–2001) in 1948.^[5]

He died in Rochester, New York on March 13, 1984. He was buried at Temple Hill Cemetery in Geneseo.^[6]

Bibliography

• The Price of Peace, Praeger, 1961.
• The Glass House, Praeger, 1966.
• The Silver Spoon: An Autobiography, W. F. Humphrey Press (Geneva, NY), 1980.