Background
Nelson O'Shaughnessy was born on February 12, 1876, in New York City, the only son of Col. James Francis and Lucy (Waterbury) O'Shaughnessy. His father was a heavy investor in the Nicaragua Canal project.
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Nelson Jarvis Waterbury O'Shaughnessy
Edit ProfileEducation
Nelson was taught by private tutors; studied at Georgetown University, 1892-93; received the degree of A. B. from St. John's College, Oxford University, England, in 1899; studied international law at the Inner Temple, London, for the next two years; and then applied himself to the study of languages on the Continent.
Career
On March 17, 1904, Nelson O'Shaughnessy was sent to his first post, Copenhagen, as secretary of the legation. Prior to his assignment in Mexico, for which he is chiefly notable, he served in the American diplomatic missions in Germany (appointed third secretary, March 17, 1905), Russia (detailed as second secretary, December 1906), Austria-Hungary (appointed second secretary, April 6, 1907), and Rumania (detailed as secretary, April 1909).
On January 27, 1911, O'Shaughnessy was appointed second secretary of the Mexican embassy. The counter-revolution of February 1913 brought to leadership Victoriano Huerta, whose government the United States refused to recognize. O'Shaughnessy returned to Mexico from leave on March 3, 1913, bearing a commission as first secretary of the embassy. Shortly after his inauguration, President Woodrow Wilson sent William Bayard Hale, his campaign biographer, to Mexico to report on conditions, and on July 3 the President suggested to Secretary of State Bryan that he recall the ambassador to Mexico, Henry Lane Wilson, and leave "matters in the hands of O'Shaughnessy, who, you will notice, is commended as a perfectly honest man by Hale. "
O'Shaughnessy became chargé d'affaires on July 17. Partly as a result of O'Shaughnessy's friendly personal relations with Huerta, John Lind, whom President Wilson had sent to Mexico as special representative, recommended to the Department of State in October 1913 that any suggestions emanating from O'Shaughnessy on the recognition question be considered in the light of their possible origin. Following the arrest of several American sailors at Tampico, an apology was immediately forthcoming, but Huerta rejected the American demand of a twenty-one-gun salute to the American flag, O'Shaughnessy's earnest efforts at conciliation failed, and on April 22 American forces occupied Vera Cruz. O'Shaughnessy was given his passports and, after a warm send-off by Huerta, returned to Washington.
On Sept. 2, 1914, O'Shaughnessy was detailed to the American embassy at Vienna with the rank of secretary. Following this assignment, he served at the first Plattsburg training camp in 1915.
In June 1916 A Diplomat's Wife in Mexico, the first of Mrs. O'Shaughnessy's nine books of reminiscences and fiction, was published and may have exerted a slight anti-Wilson influence in the presidential campaign. However this may be, her husband resigned from the diplomatic service on September 26, 1916. On May 3, 1920, after returning from South America, where he had represented the Western Union Telegraph Company, O'Shaughnessy told the Senate subcommittee investigating Mexican affairs that in his opinion the Wilson administration policy in regard to Mexico had been "preposterous brutal, unwarranted, and stupid. "
He represented American bondholders on the board of the Autonomous Monopolies of Yugoslavia for several years but resigned in 1928 and moved from Belgrade to Vienna, in which city he died of a cardiac ailment.
Achievements
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Nelson O'Shaughnessy served in the American diplomatic missions in Germany (third secretary, 1905), Russia (second secretary, 1906), Austria-Hungary (second secretary, 1907), and Rumania (secretary, 1909), Mexico (second secretary, and later chargé d'affaires, 1911-13), Austria-Hungary (secretary, 1914).
Personality
As a career diplomat, O'Shaughnessy looked the part. His high forehead, intelligent expression, and careful dress contributed to a generally distinguished appearance. He exemplified many good and bad features of the professional diplomat of his day. He was loyal, astute, and efficient; he was also aristocratic and unsympathetic to progressive and liberal movements.
Connections
On April 22, 1901, Nelson O'Shaughnessy married at Rome Edith Louise Coues of Washington, D. C. Their son, Elim, was born in August 1907 at Berlin.
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Born
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Died
July 25, 1932 (aged 56) -
Nationality
American