Alvey A. Adee
Alvey Augustus Adee | |
---|---|
United States Second Assistant Secretary of State | |
In office August 3, 1886 – June 30, 1924 | |
President | |
Preceded by | William Hunter |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
United States Secretary of State | |
Ad interim | |
In office September 17, 1898 – September 29, 1898 | |
President | William McKinley |
Preceded by | William R. Day |
Succeeded by | John Hay |
Personal details | |
Born | Washington D.C., U.S. | November 27, 1842
Resting place | Oak Hill Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Profession | Diplomat |
Alvey Augustus Adee (November 27, 1842 – July 4, 1924) was a long-time official with the United States Department of State who served as the acting Secretary of State in 1898 during the Spanish–American War. He was the second of three senior State Department officials—the first being William Hunter and the third Wilbur J. Carr—whose overlapping careers provided continuity and good management in American foreign policy for over a century, from the administration of President Andrew Jackson until that of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Early years
Adee was born at
Adee was educated under private tutors.[1] A native of Queens, New York City, he got his start in diplomacy by becoming the private secretary of Daniel Sickles, whom Adee accompanied to Madrid when Sickles was named the U.S. Minister to Spain in 1869. While in Madrid, Adee met and was befriended by John Hay, who was then the Secretary of the U.S. Legation there. Adee was appointed the position at Madrid, on September 9, 1870, where he served as chargé d'affaires several times.[1]
Career
Adee stayed at the Legation in Madrid for eight years, then returned to the United States to take a temporary secretary position in
He received the degree of
Adee was again in effective charge of the State Department during the Boxer Rebellion in August and September, 1900,[1] because Hay was ill and the Assistant Secretary David Jayne Hill was away from Washington.
Last years
After 1909, Adee's influence (and health) steadily waned, though he was allowed to remain as Second Assistant Secretary. He continued to work until his death on July 4, 1924, at his residence, 1019 Fifteenth Street Northwest.[citation needed] He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[2]
Adee never married and fathered no children. He was well known for his annual summer bicycling trips through Europe, which he continued until the outbreak of the First World War, and on which he was usually accompanied by Alexander Montgomery Thackara, American consul general at Berlin and later Paris, and his wife Eleanor, daughter of General William Tecumseh Sherman.
Legacy
Adee is said to be a major influence on characterization of Nero Wolfe by Rex Stout according to the latter's official biographer John J. McAleer. Adee being a scholar, sleuth, gourmet, bachelor, a model of efficiency, a master of the English language is said to have inspired the characterization of Wolfe.[3]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h Johnson 1906, p. 58
- ^ "Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. (Montrose) - Lot 993" (PDF). oakhillcemeterydc.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-08-14. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Rex Stout: A Biography". silo.pub. 1977. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
Sources
- public domain: Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1906). "Adee, Alvey Augustus". The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. Boston: American Biographical Society. p. 58. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- An Appreciation of Alvey Adee at www.unc.edu
External links
- Media related to Alvey A. Adee at Wikimedia Commons
- Alvey A. Adee at Find a Grave
- Alvey A. Adee at Library of Congress, with 2 library catalog records