Background
James Grover McDonald was born in Coldwater, Ohio, and was the son of Kenneth John McDonald, a hotel manager, and Anna Dietrich.
Diplomat educator internationalist
James Grover McDonald was born in Coldwater, Ohio, and was the son of Kenneth John McDonald, a hotel manager, and Anna Dietrich.
McDonald graduated in 1905 from high school in Albany, Indiana. McDonald entered Indiana University and received an A. B. in history in 1909 and an M. A. in political science and international relations in 1910. After teaching a year at Indiana University, he attended Harvard University, where he was a teaching fellow in history and international law (1911 - 1914). After another year teaching history at Indiana University he became a Harvard traveling fellow (1915 - 1916), studying in France and Spain.
McDonald worked for a year (1905 - 1906) in a hotel. He returned to Indiana as assistant professor of history but resigned in 1918 in protest when a faculty member was dismissed because he divorced his wife. McDonald then moved to New York City, where he worked briefly for the Civil Service Reform Association. With others interested in peace and international relations McDonald formed a study group late in 1918; this became the Foreign Policy Association in 1921. McDonald was its chairman or executive officer from early in 1919 to 1933. The Foreign Policy Association, which sought to present world issues to the American public in an objective way through publications, speakers, and institutes, grew in membership from fifteen to over 12, 000 under McDonald's direction. He developed an efficient staff, obtained financial support, spoke and wrote on a wide variety of postwar economic and political issues, and developed extensive personal contacts with public figures in the United States and abroad. He went to Europe nearly every year. In 1932 and again in 1933 he was in Germany, where he saw the rise of the Nazis to power. An interview with Hitler in 1933, which he personally conveyed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, convinced McDonald of the ruthless character of the new regime. From 1928 to 1932 he gave weekly radio talks on "The World Today" over the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) network. His addresses, presented with a slight English accent, attracted an extensive radio audience. For the next two years McDonald served on the board of editors of the New York Times, writing on international affairs. He then became president (1938 - 1942) of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.
He also served as a member of the Board of Education of New York City (1940 - 1942). He maintained relationships with peace and foreign-policy study groups, serving as vice-chairman of the National Council for the Prevention of War, as trustee of the World Peace Foundation, and as chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Political Refugees (1938 - 1945). He returned to broadcasting and from 1942 to 1944 presented daily news analyses on the NBC network. McDonald had long expressed an interest in a homeland for Jews, and in November 1945 he accepted appointment from President Harry S. Truman to the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine. After a visit to the Middle East, the committee recommended in April 1947 that 100, 000 Jews be allowed admission to Palestine. While McDonald had not intially favored partition, by 1947 he endorsed that course. With the creation of the state of Israel, Truman, in June 1948, named McDonald as special United States representative. In ensuing months McDonald clarified relations between the two governments, which led to diplomatic recognition on January 31, 1949. He subsequently held the title ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary (March 1949 - January 1951). From 1951 to 1961 McDonald served as an adviser to the Development Corporation for Israel and embarked on fund-raising campaigns for several Jewish organizations. He died in New York City.
While McDonald sought to convey to listeners an aura of objectivity, he left no doubt about his personal views. He favored membership of the United States in the World Court and the League of Nations and continually called for the greater participation of the United States in world affairs as the only true safeguard to peace. In the 1930's he insisted upon an abandonment of economic nationalism. McDonald publicly expressed his concern over the plight of Jews in Germany and in 1933 he accepted a post under the League of Nations as high commissioner for refugees and as such established a reputation as a champion of minorities. He raised funds and coordinated the efforts of fifteen governments and private organizations in finding homes for over 100, 000 refugees fleeing Hitler. In a highly publicized letter of resignation from the League effective Jan. 1, 1936, McDonald castigated the German government for its policy of race extermination and charged the democracies with shirking their responsibilities.
a member of the Board of Education of New York City
McDonald lectured extensively. He made an impressive appearance on the platform with his distinguished looks, bronze-gold hair, and slender six-foot, three-inch frame.
He claimed that whatever success in life he achieved was largely attributable to his ability to relate to people; he was also an effective administrator and a hard worker for whatever task confronted him.
McDonald married Ruth Stafford on October 25, 1915. They had two children.
