Background
Richard Cunningham Patterson was born on January 31, 1886 in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. He was the son of Richard Cunningham Patterson, an attorney with land and mining interests, and Martha Belle Neiswanger.
Richard Cunningham Patterson was born on January 31, 1886 in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. He was the son of Richard Cunningham Patterson, an attorney with land and mining interests, and Martha Belle Neiswanger.
After graduating from high school Richard Cunningham Patterson worked as a laborer in a gold mine in South Dakota, and for many years he maintained his membership in the Western Federation of Miners. Patterson attended the University of Nebraska for a year (1905 - 1906) but left to enroll at Columbia University, from which he received the degree of engineer of mines in 1912. At Columbia he was a member of the swimming team and president (1909 - 1910) of the Intercollegiate Swimming Association.
After graduating Richard Cunningham Patterson worked briefly for Brown Brothers in Manhattan as a runner and then was employed by the city of New York as an engineering inspector in the construction of the Catskill Aqueduct. Early in 1916 Patterson volunteered as a private in the cavalry and went with Pershing's expedition to Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa. After returning from Mexico, Patterson was appointed secretary of the New York City Fire Department. In November 1917 Patterson rejoined the army, this time as a captain of engineers. While serving in France he was promoted to the rank of major and in 1918 was chosen by Colonel Edward M. House, President Woodrow Wilson's representative to the Paris Peace Conference, to be administrative officer of the American Commission. Patterson later described this assignment, from December 1918 to July 1919, as the most important job of his career. He reported to Joseph C. Grew and "ran the business end of the conference. " While in Paris he became one of the founders of the American Legion and a member of its first executive committee. He was discharged from the army in 1919 with the reserve rank of lieutenant colonel.
Returning to the United States in 1920, Patterson became assistant to Gano Dunn, president of the J. G. White Engineering Corporation. The following year he accepted a position with E. I du Pont de Nemours and Company as an engineer. Between 1922 and 1927 he made four trips to China to investigate construction prospects for du Pont. He lived in Shanghai and Peking, explored a number of remote interior towns, and learned Chinese.
During his residence in China, Patterson became interested in Chinese motion pictures and in the export to China of American films. Early in 1927 he wrote a substantive article for the New York Times, "The Cinema in China, " in which he compared Chinese and American films and audiences. He also acquired a 44 percent interest in the Peacock Motion Picture Company, of which he became president. In August 1927 Mayor James J. Walker appointed Patterson New York City's commissioner of corrections and commissioner of the city's parole board. During his five-year tenure Patterson improved conditions in the city's eighteen prisons, particularly in the principal city prison, the Tombs, which he referred to as a "crime college. "
Although Richard Cunningham Patterson had become active in Democratic politics as a student, Patterson had avoided being closely linked with Tammany Hall. Because of this and his success as commissioner of corrections, he was invited, a few months after Mayor Walker's resignation, to run as a Republican and Fusion-party candidate for mayor. Patterson had resigned a month after Walker's resignation to become executive vice-president of the National Broadcasting Company. Frank Polk, whom he had known at the Paris Peace Conference, Arthur Sulzberger of the New York Times, and his wife all advised him not to run. In 1938 and 1939 Patterson was assistant secretary of commerce. From 1939 to 1945 he was chairman of the board of R. K. O. , an active member of several other boards, and a trustee of the Import-Export Bank. From 1941 to 1943 he was also head of the United States War Savings Bond program for the state of New York. In November 1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Patterson ambassador to Yugoslavia's government in exile in London. The following September he went to Belgrade when the United States granted provisional recognition to Marshal Tito, whom Patterson described as "a great personality, easy to like. " Their relationship initially was cordial but deteriorated in 1946. In October of that year the United States Information Agency library in Belgrade was forced to close, and Patterson held a press conference at the embassy, forthrightly criticizing Tito's government for this and for human-rights violations.
Shortly thereafter Richard Cunningham Patterson took home leave, and in March 1947 he resigned as ambassador, though he continued as a State Department consultant. In September 1948 President Harry S. Truman appointed Patterson ambassador to Guatemala to study means of improving relations with President Juan José Arevalo, whose attitude toward foreign business interests had been consistently unfriendly since his election in March 1945. During Patterson's fifteen months in Guatemala City he tried to counteract the strong leftist influence on Arevalo's government. In March 1950 he returned to Washington after threats against his life. In April 1951 Truman appointed him minister to Switzerland, and he served until President Dwight D. Eisenhower took office in 1953. Robert F. Wagner, mayor-elect of New York City, designated Patterson chairman of the Mayor's Reception Committee, in which capacity he presided over Wagner's inauguration on New Year's Day 1954.
During his first year in office Wagner appointed Patterson head of the new Department of Commerce, charged with "attracting more business life to our city. " He continued in this post and with similar responsibilities until 1966, when he became commissioner of public events and chief of protocol. Richard Cunningham Patterson died in New York City on September 30, 1966.
Richard Cunningham Patterson was rather short, of broad build, with black hair and brown eyes. He is a dynamic type, talks very directly, and sartorially ranks with the Mayor himself.
In May 1924 Richard Cunningham Patters was married to Shelley McCutcheon Rodes. They had one child.