Francis Hallett Johnson was an American career diplomat and ambassador to Costa Rica.
37 Facts About Hallett Johnson
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Hallett Johnson served in the United States Foreign Service for 36 years.
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Hallett Johnson was the son of Jeremiah Augustus Johnson, a diplomat and lawyer, and his second wife, Frances "Fannie" Valeda Matthews, who were married in 1886.
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Hallett Johnson was a student at Cutler's School where he joined the Knickerbocker Greys youth cadet corps which became Company K of the 7th Regiment.
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Hallett Johnson went to the Hotchkiss School, graduating in 1904.
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Hallett Johnson was a member of the debating team and played on the tennis team.
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Hallett Johnson was a member of the Williams College Good Government Club which visited President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House.
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Hallett Johnson attended the Columbia University School of Law, focusing on international law and graduating in 1912.
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On May 27,1912, Hallett Johnson took the diplomatic service entrance exam in Washington, DC On June 18,1912, the US Department of State announce that Hallett Johnson was one of the successful candidates.
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In February 1913, newspapers in the United States, Canada, and England reported that 24-year-old Hallett Johnson was left in charge of the London embassy with just six months experience due to the death of first secretary Reid and the resignation of second secretary Cressen.
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However, before America entered the war, Hallett Johnson was ordered to return to Washington, DC, in 1915.
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Hallett Johnson benefited from the ambassador's frequent trips to Paris or the United States as he received invitations to entertainments and dinners at the Royal Palace.
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Hallett Johnson was the bride's witness for the marriage of movie star Gloria Swanson and the Marquis De La Falaise De La Coudray on January 28,1925.
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Hallett Johnson was impregnated with such a strong bias in favor of the Republicans that there is an inevitable distortion in some of his writings covering the period.
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When he could get the word out, Hallett Johnson reported that "conditions were horrible" and that the city had no government.
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Hallett Johnson noted the vast difference between the poor and the rich.
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In December 1937, Hallett Johnson was recalled from a leave of absence at his home on Bar Harbor, Maine, and was sent to Stockholm, Sweden.
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Hallett Johnson was assigned as the consul general, counselor of legation, and charge d'affaires.
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Hallett Johnson cautioned that the embassy had limited funds to assist people and that transportation would be at a premium for those who waited until the last minute to leave.
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On December 10,1940, Hallett Johnson left Stockholm to return to the United States.
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Later, Hallett Johnson wrote the following which was published in The Saturday Evening Post on June 19,1943:.
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Hallett Johnson assisted with negotiations with the Swedish who were selling ball-bearing to the Germans after their factories had been destroyed.
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When he realized that most Costa Ricans knew little about the United States and therefore, did not always trust his motives, Hallett Johnson met with DeWitt Wallace, the publisher of Reader's Digest.
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Hallett Johnson got Wallace to donate 3,000 free subscriptions to the Spanish version of the magazine for Costa Ricans.
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Hallett Johnson studied Spanish so that he could give a speech to the Costa Rican Congress in their language.
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Hallett Johnson met monthly with an advisory committee of American businessmen, as well as with heads of United States government agencies, to improve communication and cooperation.
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Hallett Johnson stayed in this position through May 16,1947, submitting his resignation for personal reasons on March 25,1947.
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Hallett Johnson continued with the Foreign Service until he retired in 1948.
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Hallett Johnson undertook a project that involved finding and reporting on confidential agents in Europe.
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Hallett Johnson joined the Citizens Committee for Reciprocal World Trade.
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Hallett Johnson married Katherine Elizabeth Steward on May 20,1920, at Grasslands, her family's home in Goshen, New York.
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Hallett Johnson was the youngest daughter of Margaret Beckman and Campbell Steward of New York City and Goshen.
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Hallett Johnson's uncle was Governor of Rhode Island Robert Livingston Beeckman.
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Hallett Johnson was an Episcopalian and member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars.
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Hallett Johnson was a member of the Union Club of the City of New York, the American Luncheon Club in London, the Chevy Chase Club, and the Metropolitan Club in Washington, DC Hallett Johnson was a governor of the Pot and Kettle Club and the Bar Harbor Club.
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In 1968, Hallett Johnson died at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston at the ages of 79.
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Hallett Johnson was buried at Rosedale Cemetery in Orange, New Jersey.