John Ensor Harr

Background

John Harr was born on August 1, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois, the United States, to Raleigh W. and Catherine (Loftus) Harr.

Education

Harr attended Beloit College and received a bachelor's degree in 1949. He studied at the University of Chicago and graduated with a master's degree in 1960. He completed his studies with a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1967.

Career

John Ensor Harr’s long career in communications, management, and administration includes a position with the Commission on Foreign Affairs Personnel and another as director of the Office of Manage-ment Planning in the U.S. State Department. He discusses government service in the Foreign Service in two books: The Development of Careers in the Foreign Service and The Professional Diplomat.

The U.S. Foreign Service was created by the Rogers Act in 1924, which combined the Consular Corps and the Diplomatic Corps to create a single system devoted to State Department personnel serving outside the country. The functions of these two were dissimilar, and posts with the Diplomatic Corps, which had the responsibility of drafting reports to be used in considering policy decisions and negotiating with nations, were considered more desirable. The Consular Corps protected American citizens abroad, issued visas, and administered passport laws. The combined agencies continued to function separately after the passing of the Rogers Act. Diplomatic positions were filled with members of the former Diplomatic Corps. The Moses- Linthicum Act of 1931 defined positions as substantive and nonsubstantive, the latter being those formerly performed by the Consular Corps. Staff who performed substantive work generally rose to the top positions. Another problem remained, which was the way in which the Foreign Service personnel related to personnel of agencies abroad other than those in the State Department. In addition, there was a need to more closely link the Foreign Service with the State Department’s domestic service.

Harr served on the Herter Committee, which addressed these problems. He wrote The Development of Careers in the Foreign Service to address the problem of career development in the Service. Harr pointed out that there were more officers seeking positions in program direction and political reporting than there were positions. The division of functions remained, and a single personnel system had not been achieved. Those whose career paths led to the highest grades tended to hold substantive jobs.

Harr wrote about the Foreign Service office in The Professional Diplomat, based on his 1966 survey of the diplomatic profession. Harr draws on the research of Frederick C. Mosher and Morris Janowitz in his discussion of “the persuasive force of professionalism in modern society” and devotes approximately two-thirds of the book to his study. Included are an extensive bibliography, index, several appendices, charts, and graphs.

In 1967 Harr took a position with the Rockefeller Foundation. Harr and fellow employee Peter J. Johnson wrote The Rockefeller Century, detailing the philanthropic activities of three generations of the family. The book was published in 1988. Harr and Johnson detail how each of the three John D. Rockefellers developed their giving, the organizations each created to distribute monies, and how they passed their social conscience on to their sons. The senior Rockefeller concentrated his philanthropy in the fields of medicine and education. Junior established the Rockefeller Foundation and funded Rockefeller Center and the restoration of Williamsburg. John D. Rockefeller III (1906-1978), for whom Harr and Johnson worked until his death, devoted his philanthropy to restricting population growth and improving international relations.

With the publication of The Rockefeller Conscience: An American Family in Public and in Private in 1991, Harr and Johnson continued the saga of the Rockefellers. The focus is again on JDR and his philanthropic accomplishments, including his interests in the Asia Society and Lincoln Center in New York City. JDR was the eldest of the brothers, who included Nelson, Winthrop, David, Abby, and Laurance, all of whom had their own philanthropic projects. The book also details inheritances following the deaths of JDR in 1978 and Nelson in 1979.

Dark Eagle: A Novel of Benedict Arnold and the American Revolution is a historical novel about the man nicknamed by the Native Americans for his ruthlessness and military prowess. Arnold was a hero who led the troops of the Continental Army against the British until a series of events caused him to become disillusioned with the cause and change his allegiance. Because of his actions, his name has become synonymous with the word “traitor.” Harr describes Arnold’s ascent, from his defeat of the British at Valcour Bay on Lake Champlain to the turning point of the Revolution, the victory at Saratoga. Figures including Alexander Hamilton and Generals Washington, Howe, Gates, and Burgoyne are central to the story, as is British Major John André to whom Arnold becomes linked after changing his allegiance and with whom he shares Peggy Shippen, who marries Arnold but loves André.

Achievements

• John Ensor Harr is a talented prolific author. His books are highly praised by readers.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Dark Eagle

    (A stirring, dark novel of one of the nation's most notori...)

    1999
  • The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family

    (Access to confidential Rockefeller pages and interviews w...)

    1988
  • The Rockefeller Conscience: An American Family in Public and in Private

    (Surveys the history of the Rockefeller family from 1952 t...)

    1991
  • The Professional Diplomat

    (The role of the Foreign Service Officer of the United Sta...)

    2016
  • The Saturday Evening Post 1988
  • The development of careers in the Foreign Service 1965

Connections

Harr is married to Nancy Ballantine since May 29, 1959. They have five children.

Father:

Raleigh W. Harr

Mother:

Catherine (Loftus) Harr

References

• Contemporary Authors, Vol. 189
  2001