Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. - Wikipedia

Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that December 17 is the anniversary of the birth of U.S. Army Expeditionary Force veteran of WWI and later American diplomat Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. who served as ambassador to several countries between the 1930s and 1961.
Rest in peace Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr.

Polish infantry division in France - 1940
Mr. Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr. US ambassador to Poland 1937-43, Mrs. Biddle and a young Biddle are the guests of General Sikorski. Mr. Biddle has come to offer seven ambulances to the Polish army. They visit infantry maneuvers and are present at a military parade. The other gentleman at the parade is M. Denain. Biddle III not seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT5_EeyuPGU

Images:
1. S.S. America Arrival -- Col. Anthony J. Drexel Biddle and Mrs. Biddle. He is the former U.S. Ambassador to Poland. September 09, 1948. photo by Barney Stein.
2. On the cover of 'LIFE' in 1943.
3. General of the Army Dwight David Eisenhower pins the star of a Brigadier General on Anthony J. Biddle, Jr. March 1951.
4. The always impeccable A.J. Drexel Biddle Jr, in tennis whites at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach.

Biography
1. townandcountrymag.com/style/mens-fashion/a13046775/anthony-drexel-biddle-best-dressed-man/
2. Diplomatic post background from history.state.gov/

1. Background from townandcountrymag.com/style/mens-fashion/a13046775/anthony-drexel-biddle-best-dressed-man/
Anthony Drexel Biddle Jr. Is the Best-Dressed Man of All Time
There’s somebody I’d like you to meet, whose example has a lot to offer us in these bumptious and shameless times. Our story is supposed to be about a well-dressed man—one of the best of them all, right up there with Fred Astaire and Gary Cooper, but not as widely remembered today. This is Anthony Drexel Biddle Jr., or A.J., all-around winning fellow and definitely one of the top three most stylish men the New World has ever produced.

But alongside the facts, there’s also a message about the qualities that go into being truly stylish—namely, good character and the power of understatement.

In 1960, Esquire published George Frazier’s essay “The Art of Wearing Clothes.” This seminal piece from the golden age of journalism explores the history of male style and the components that go into it with forensic specificity (prices) and historical scope (his discussion of Lord Byron’s military wardrobe during his service in Greece), not to mention wit (the whole damn thing).

As the article unfolds, one subject emerges as the star: A.J. He was on the cover of Life in 1943, but today he is probably the best-dressed man you’ve never heard of.

Biddle was born in 1897 to inherited wealth in Philadelphia and married into more of it, then came “into himself ” during his service as a diplomat and major general in the U.S. Army. After entering very young into the first of three marriages, and an early career as an investor that could best be described as spotty, the always impeccable dandy took on the quiet and severe line and cut of his later, mature style—the elegance of economy.

Take note, hashtaggers: This he accomplished with only seven suits, as Frazier meticulously explained (one of those suits was somehow acquired by Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who kept it in his closet like a talisman and allowed only close friends in for a look).

The suits were made by H. Harris of New York or E. Tautz of London; the latter was known for the broad and low-slung double-breasted jackets worn by Astaire and Cooper from the late 1930s onward. Indeed, had A.J. not been among the originators of the style, upon looking at photographs of him one might say he was “sporting the Tautz,” which is what people in the know used to call it when your lapels were slightly gangster.

In the only picture I have ever seen of A.J. without a jacket, he is in fact wearing a sleeveless undershirt, assisting refugees during the German bombardment of Warsaw in 1939. (He had been ambassador to Poland since 1937.)

Any meditation on the most understatedly elegant male figures of now necessarily involves George Clooney; Bryan Cranston also comes to mind, and my personal favorite is the young king of Bhutan. I think David Letterman is on his way to becoming one of the great figures of American life in the mold of Mark Twain, though that has little to do with clothes. But there is much more to embodying these qualities than what you wear.

Not long before his death I had a conversation with A.J.’s nephew Tony Duke, himself the epitome of dash, American sportsmanship and kindness at the age of 94. Tony remembered his uncle very vividly and with a certain amount of tenderness. The sum of the stories he told about A.J. made it clear that he was a great male character and got better with age.

We barely talked about clothes. My favorite story was one he told in tones of understatement that seem to have run in the family and are in notably short supply today. During the late days of the war, A.J. took Tony to lunch at the London Ritz. After the meal and a visit to A.J.’s tailor (Tautz, of course, from whom Tony ordered one pair of trousers), A.J. said, “I want you to come meet a nice fellow.” He took his nephew to U.S. Army headquarters, and it turned out the nice fellow was Eisenhower. Tony, being so close to A.J., was warmly received. D-Day was five days later."


2. Diplomatic post background from history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/biddle-anthony-joseph-drexel-jr
"Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. (1896–1961)
Non-career appointee
State of Residence: Pennsylvania
1. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Norway)
Appointed: July 22, 1935
Presentation of Credentials: September 7, 1935
Termination of Mission: Left post on May 21, 1937
2. Concurrent Appointments
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Poland)
Appointed: May 4, 1937
Presentation of Credentials: June 2, 1937
Termination of Mission: Left London December 1, 1943
Biddle left Warsaw on September 5, 1939, and followed the Government of Poland first to France (September 1939-June 1940) and later to England (where Biddle arrived on March 14, 1941). Before Biddle arrived in London, Rudolf E. Schoenfeld opened the Embassy near the Government of Poland established in England, making his initial call as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim on September 21, 1940. Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, Belgium, Greece, Norway, and Netherlands; resident at London.

3. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Belgium)
Appointed: February 11, 1941
Presentation of Credentials: March 24, 1941
Termination of Mission: Left London December 1, 1943
Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway, Netherlands, and Poland; resident at London.

4. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Norway)
Appointed: February 11, 1941
Presentation of Credentials: March 20, 1941
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary May 13, 1942
Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, Belgium, Greece, Netherlands, and Poland; resident at London.

5. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Netherlands)
Appointed: February 11, 1941
Presentation of Credentials: March 27, 1941
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary May 8, 1942
Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, Belgium, Greece, Norway, and Poland; resident at London.

6. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Yugoslavia)
Appointed: July 30, 1941
Presentation of Credentials: October 3, 1941
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 3, 1942
Served near the Government of Yugoslavia established in England. Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Greece, Norway, Netherlands, and Poland; resident at London.
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Czechoslovakia)
Appointed: September 17, 1941
Presentation of Credentials: October 28, 1941
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary July 12, 1943
Also accredited to Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, Belgium, Greece, Norway, Netherlands, and Poland; resident at London.

7. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Greece)
Appointed: November 13, 1941
Presentation of Credentials: November 28, 1941
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 30, 1942
Served near the Government of Greece established in England. Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, Belgium, Norway, Netherlands, and Poland; resident at London.
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Luxembourg)
Appointed: November 12, 1943
Took oath of office as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Luxembourg after he left London, but did not return to post. Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Belgium, Greece, Norway, Netherlands, and Poland; resident at London.
Concurrent Appointments
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Norway)
Appointed: May 12, 1942
Presentation of Credentials: May 13, 1942
Termination of Mission: Left London December 1, 1943
Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Netherlands; resident at London.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Netherlands)
Appointed: May 12, 1942
Presentation of Credentials: Legation raised to Embassy status and formally received on May 8, 1942
Termination of Mission: Left London December 1, 1943
Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Norway; resident at London.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Yugoslavia)
Appointed: September 29, 1942
Presentation of Credentials: November 3, 1942
Termination of Mission: Government of Yugoslavia transferred to Egypt September 28, 1943
Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Greece, Norway, and Netherlands; resident at London.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Greece)
Appointed: September 29, 1942
Presentation of Credentials: October 30, 1942
Termination of Mission: Government of Greece transferred to Egypt on March 16, 1943
Also accredited to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Norway, and Netherlands; resident at London.

8. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Czechoslovakia)
Appointed: June 4, 1943
Presentation of Credentials: July 12, 1943
Termination of Mission: Left London on December 1, 1943
Rudolph E. Schoenfeld was serving as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim when the mission of the Embassy near the Government of Czechoslovakia established in England was terminated Also accredited to Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway, and Netherlands; resident at London.

8. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Spain)
Appointed: March 29, 1961
Presentation of Credentials: May 25, 1961
Termination of Mission: Left Spain October 12, 1961"

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Scott Sharon CWO3 Dennis M. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG William Jones SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 H Gene Lawrence PO2 Kevin Parker PO3 Bob McCord

Thanks for the history share.

Excellent history share this morning Maj Marty Hogan