Leonard Woodcock
Leonard Woodcock | |
---|---|
Thomas S. Gates, Jr. | |
Succeeded by | Himself as Ambassador to China |
5th President of the United Auto Workers | |
In office 1970–1977 | |
Preceded by | Walter Reuther |
Succeeded by | Douglas Fraser |
Personal details | |
Born | Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. | February 15, 1911
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses |
|
Children | 3 |
College of the City of Detroit | |
Leonard Freel Woodcock (February 15, 1911 – January 16, 2001) was President of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the first US ambassador to the People's Republic of China after being the last Chief of the US Liaison Office in Beijing.[1]
Early life
Woodcock was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1911. He was the son of Ernest Woodcock and Margaret Freel. At the outbreak of World War I, the family was living in Germany, and Ernest was interned. While Leonard had been born in the United States, his parents were British. Both mother and son returned to the United Kingdom for the duration of the war, where he attended school.[2]
The family members were eventually reunited and sought a new life in North America. Originally settled in Canada, they relocating a few years later, to Detroit, Michigan.
Early career
The pressures of the
UAW president
In 1970, he became UAW president, succeeding Walter Reuther, who died in a plane crash.
Woodcock was an active participant in the
Woodcock appeared on
China
In 1977, Woodcock retired from the union and was named by President
After leading negotiations to establish full
In a 2000 speech at the
One of the choices I had to make was whom to send to China to begin the secret negotiations with Deng Xiaoping; he was the unquestioned ruler of the nation. And I chose a man who was the senior statesman of the American labor movement, Leonard Woodcock—respected by, I guess, every working man and woman who was a member of a union or not in this country, and he was also respected by all those who had dealt with him from the management side. And he was my personal representative in Beijing.
Leonard Woodcock, working directly with me from the White House, negotiated successfully the terms for normalization of diplomatic relations. And on the first day of January, 1979, we formed those relationships. That year, Leonard Woodcock, still highly conversant with, and whose heart was attuned to, the labor movement of America, negotiated the first trade agreement, Most Favored Nations agreement, with China, in 1979. And now for 20 years, each year the Congress has confirmed his decision, and mine.[4]
Personal life
Woodcock married Loula Martin, with whom he had three children, in 1941. He was remarried in 1978, to Sharon Tuohy, a nurse working with the American delegation in China. He later taught political science at the
Woodcock had three children, Leslie Woodcock Tentler (professor of history), Janet Woodcock (photographer) and John Woodcock (ret. Lt Col, USAF); two daughters-in-law (Carol, framer, partner of Janet and Susan, married to John) and a son-in-law (Thomas Tentler, professor of history); and three grandchildren, Sarah Tentler (speechwriter and political advisor), Daniel Tentler (lawyer) and Gregory Tentler (professor of art history).
Archival records
The archival records of Woodcock can be found mostly at the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs. Notable are the UAW President's Office: Leonard Woodcock Records[5] and UAW Vice-President’s Office: Leonard Woodcock Records,[6] two extensive collections that document his time as an executive with the UAW. The materials include Woodcock’s personal correspondence, photographs, official memorandum, and other various record types. Additional repositories with historical materials chronicling Woodcock are the Bentley Historical Library and the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.
References
- "Woodcock, Leonard Freel." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004.
- ^ Jones, Shannon (3 February 2001). "Former UAW President Leonard Woodcock dies". World Socialist Web Site. World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- New York Times, January 18, 2001
- ISBN 978-1-317-46235-4. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ Clinton Presidential Materials Project: 2000-05-09 Remarks at PNTR event
- ^ Rice, Deborah. "UAW President's Office: Leonard Woodcock Records". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ Rice, Deborah. "UAW Vice President's Office: Leonard Woodcock Records". Retrieved 1 May 2015.