David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech
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| Rt. Hon. (William) David Ormsby-Gore KCMG PC | |
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Member of Parliament
for Oswestry |
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| In office 1950 – 1961 |
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| Preceded by | Oliver Poole |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | John Biffen |
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| In office 1961 – 1965 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Harold Caccia |
| Succeeded by | Sir Patrick Dean |
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| Died | January 26, 1985 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Sylvia Thomas (1940-1967) Pamela Colin (1969-1985) |
| Relations | William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech Lady Beatrice Edith Mildred Cecil |
| Children | Julian Hugh Ormsby-Gore (1940-1974)
Hon. Jane Teresa Denyse Ormsby-Gore (b. 1942) Hon. Victoria Mary Ormsby-Gore (b. 1946) Alice Magdalen Sarah Ormsby-Gore (1952-1995) Francis David Ormsby-Gore (b. 1954) Hon. Pandora Ormsby-Gore (b. 1972) |
| Residence | Woodhill Estate, Oswestry, Shropshire |
| Alma mater | Oxford University |
| Occupation | Airborne reconnaissance, farmer, politician, diplomat, television executive |
William David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech KCMG PC (May 20, 1918 – January 26, 1985), known as David Ormsby-Gore until 1964, was a British diplomat Conservative Party politician.
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[edit] Early life
Ormsby-Gore was the second son of William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech, a Conservative politician, and Lady Beatrice Edith Mildred Cecil. Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, was his maternal great-grandfather. He was educated at St Cyprian's School, Eton College and Oxford University. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1939, served in the 'Phantom' reconnaissance unit and worked with airborne and other special units. He ended the war as a Major. After the war, his father handed over all his land and Ormsby-Gore farmed the 400 acres (1.6 km²) of the Woodhill Estate, Oswestry, Shropshire. In 1948 he was commissioned a Major in the Shropshire Yeomanry, but left in 1950.
[edit] Member of Parliament
At the 1950 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for Oswestry, which he remained until 1961. He served briefly under Anthony Eden as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from November 1956 to January 1957, and was Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1957 to 1961 under Harold Macmillan. After the election of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in November 1960 he was appointed British Ambassador to the United States.
[edit] Ambassador to the United States
Ormsby-Gore knew Kennedy well from his time in London where his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, had served as American Ambassador. Like Macmillan, he was distantly related to Kennedy, but enjoyed a much closer relationship with the President-elect and his brother Robert. Six months after Kennedy took office, Ormsby-Gore was in Washington. Referred to under the Kennedy administration as "our kind of Ambassador", he supplied Cuban cigars smuggled in his diplomatic bag and a stream of advice; he was practically a resident at the White House. Ormsby-Gore had the status primarily of friend of the family as opposed to merely ambassador. Following President Kennedy's assassination there were even rumours of a romance between Ormsby-Gore and Jacqueline Kennedy, these were not likely to have been believed by the family. Ormsby-Gore was one of the pallbearers at Robert Kennedy's funeral which included Robert McNamara, John Glenn, Averell Harriman, C. Douglas Dillon, Kirk Lemoyne Billings (schoolmate of John F. Kennedy), Stephen Smith (husband to Jean Ann Kennedy), David Hackett, Jim Whittaker, and John Seigenthaler Sr.. Under the LBJ administration relations were obviously more formal but remained excellent and Ormsby-Gore maintained his position even after the Labour government took power in Britain in 1964.
A fierce opponent of oil-barrel politics, Ormsby-Gore's terse dismissal of the phenomenon ran: "It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump." His political influence over the Kennedy administration is much disputed. Unable to persuade the American government to agree the British line over Yemen and the Congo, or to proceed with either a negotiated settlement with Khrushchev over Berlin or the Skybolt ballistic missile programme, he nevertheless played a significant role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and ensured that Britain's views were always taken in account by the American government—though they were not necessarily pursued.
However his friendship with John Kennedy helped to engage the first ever Test-Ban Treaty. His actions were largely off stage and not well known. Along with British Prime Minister Macmillian, they persuaded Kennedy that the time for the Test-ban treaty was at a head in 1963. Macmillian and especially Ormsby-Gore had been attempting to achieve a test-ban treaty with the Russians for the past 10 years, as saw the political climate shift in a way that they saw that they could at long last secure a deal, if only through the persuasion of Kennedy. They did this through a tag team of letters directly from Macmillan and frank and forth-right discussions between Ormsby-Gore and Kennedy. They attempted to convince him to act like a statesman rather than a politician as he was reluctant to engage in Test-ban treaties with Russia that may have made him seem as an appeaser which was strongly reviled by the American public at the time.
Otmsby-Gore was a keen participant in what is referred to as their "twenty-five year conversation to do with the role of a leader in a democratic society. He was a major influence on Kennedy, helping to remain focused on the issues that were relevant to the world and the future, rather than attempting to protect himself politically as he was inclined to do on occasion.
[edit] Later life
He retired from the post in 1965, a year after his father died and took up his seat in the House of Lords as Lord Harlech, briefly also holding the position of Conservative party deputy chairman. He also had a successful career as a television executive, founding HTV, and served as president of the British Board of Film Classification.
[edit] Family
Lord Harlech married Sylvia Thomas, daughter of Hugh Lloyd Thomas, in 1940. They had five children, sons Julian and Francis, and daughters Jane, Victoria, and Alice. The older son, Julian, died of gunshot wounds in 1974, an apparent suicide.[1] Alice, the youngest daughter, became engaged to rock guitarist Eric Clapton in 1969.[2] They lived together for five years, but did not marry. She subsequently died of a heroin overdose in 1995, the day before her 43rd birthday.[3]
Lord Harlech's wife died in a car accident in 1967. He married Pamela Colin in 1969 and they had one daughter.
He died in a car crash in 1985, aged 66, and was succeeded in the barony by his second son Francis.
[edit] Pop culture references
A creature card in the collectible card game Magic: the Gathering is called "Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore." Any reasoning behind this name is unknown, other than meaningless titular presence, though the card does interestingly feature the flavor text, "The highway of fear is the shortest route to defeat." [4]
[edit] References & External links
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
- www.thepeerage.com
- ^ Time magazine, November 18, 1974
- ^ Time magazine, March 16, 1970
- ^ FindArticles.com "Drug Overdose", The Independent, April 21, 1995
- ^ Wizards of the Coast, Magic: the Gathering, Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Oliver Poole |
Member of Parliament for Oswestry 1950–1961 |
Succeeded by John Biffen |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Douglas Dodds-Parker Lord John Hope |
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs with Douglas Dodds-Parker 1956–1957 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Gosford Ian Douglas Harvey |
| Preceded by Allan Noble |
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs with Allan Noble 1957–1959 John Profumo 1959–1960 1957–1961 |
Succeeded by Joseph Godber |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Sir Harold Caccia |
British Ambassador to the United States 1961–1965 |
Succeeded by Sir Patrick Dean |
| Media offices | ||
| Preceded by Herbert Morrison |
President of the British Board of Film Classification 1965–1985 |
Succeeded by George Lascelles |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by William Ormsby-Gore |
Baron Harlech 1964–1985 |
Succeeded by Francis Ormsby-Gore |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ormsby-Gore, David 5th Baron Harlech |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ormsby-Gore, William David |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | 5th Baron Harlech, Member of Parliament and Ambassador to the United States |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 20 May 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | 26 January 1985 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
