15 Facts About Jefferson Caffery

Jefferson Caffery served as US Ambassador to El Salvador, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, France, and Egypt.

Jefferson Caffery was privately educated in primary and secondary school.

Jefferson Caffery was a member of the first class of Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute, which later became the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Jefferson Caffery graduated with a bachelor's degree from Tulane University in 1906.

Jefferson Caffery was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 1909.

Jefferson Caffery launched his career of international diplomacy in 1911 when he entered the Foreign Service as second secretary of the legation in Caracas in 1911 during the William Howard Taft administration.

Jefferson Caffery traveled to Iran in 1916, to Paris after World War I with President Wilson's peacemakers, then to Washington, DC, to arrange details for visits by the King of Belgium and the Prince of Wales.

In 1933, Jefferson Caffery briefly served as assistant secretary of state under Cordell Hull.

Jefferson Caffery retired with his wife in 1955 to reside in Rome, where he was an honorary Papal gentleman to Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, and Paul VI.

Jefferson Caffery returned to Lafayette, Louisiana in 1973, shortly before Mrs Caffery's death on July 13,1973.

Jefferson Caffery was awarded the Foreign Service Cup in 1971 by his fellow Foreign Service officers.

Jefferson Caffery held several honorary degrees and decorations, including the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, in 1954.

Jefferson Caffery received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour from the president of France in 1949 and the Order of the Cordon of the Republic from the president of Egypt in 1955.

Ambassador Jefferson Caffery was bestowed a knighthood in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta by the Grand Master of that Order, for his outstanding service to the Catholic Church.

In 2000, Jefferson Caffery was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.