Sumner Welles

United States state institutions 1892–1961 ○ Natural death

US Under Secretary of State whose Welles Declaration of July 1940 refused to recognise the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states

Born in New York City to a wealthy political family, he graduated from Harvard in 1914 and joined the diplomatic service on the advice of the family friend Franklin Roosevelt. A Latin America specialist, he saw his career ended by President Coolidge, but under Roosevelt he became Assistant Secretary for Latin American Affairs and then Under Secretary of State from 1937 to 1943. As acting Secretary of State he issued the Welles Declaration on 23 July 1940, condemning the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states and refusing to recognise their annexation; the day before, he had authorised diplomatic visas for the family of Konstantin Päts. He went on to oppose any concession on the Baltic question. He helped write the Atlantic Charter, but was forced out by Cordell Hull in 1943 after word spread that he had propositioned two railroad porters. He died in New Jersey in 1961.