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Contact Info
Home Town Washington, DC
Last Address Westport, Connecticut
Date of Passing Oct 29, 1985
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates Section 30 Lot 8966 Grid AA-39
John Davis Lodge
Captain, United States Naval Reserve
Lawyer - Actor - Member of Congress - Governor of Connecticut American Diplomat on special presidential missions to
Puerto Rico, Panama, and Costa Rica United States Ambassador to Spain, Argentina, Switzerland and the U.N.
He received a direct commission in the Naval Reserve in 1939, a Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve on 19 January 1940, and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, 29 May 1944, and to Commander 1 July 1950. He retired from the United States Naval Reserve in 1966 with the rank of Captain.
Reporting for active Naval service in August 1942, he was assigned to the Special Events Section, Public Relations Office in the Third Naval District, with headquarters in New York, New York. He remained there until April 1943 and in June of that year joined the staff of Commander Naval Forces, Northwest African Waters, as French Naval Rearmament and Naval Liaison Officer.
From 1 August to 10 December 1944, he had successive service as Executive Officer in the Office of the Senior US Naval Liaison Office, Algiers; as Assistant Liaison Officer on the staff of the US Naval Liaison Officer, French Ports; as Headquarters Liaison Officer at the US Naval Detachment, Toulon, France; and as Headquarters Liaison Officer on the Staff of the Commander Naval Advance Bases and Commodore Liaison, American-British Staff. During that period he also served as Public Relations Officer and Press Censor for the Sicilian Operation and for the landings at Salerno and Southern France.
He had the Naval Reserve Medal; the American Campaign Medal; the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal. He was also decorated with: Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur and Honneur Croix de Guerre with Palm, France; Grand officer Order of Merit, Italy; Grand Cross Noble Order of Charles III, Spain; Grand Cross Orden de Mayo, Argentina; Order Polonia Restituta, Poland; recipient Gold medal, Madrid, Spanish Institute.
He was a resident of Westport, Connecticut, until his death in New York City on October 29, 1985. His private memorial in Section 30 of Arlington National Cemetery reads:
"To be useful to our fellow man is a noble aspiration.
A life of service is still a life well spent."
Lawyer, 1929-32; Actor, 1932-42; Naval Officer, 1942-46; U.S. Congressman, 1947-51; Governor of Connecticut, 1951-55; U.S. Ambassador to Spain, 1955-61, to Argentina, 1969-74, to Switzerland, 1983-85; U.S. Delegate, 1984-85.
Other Comments:
Courtesy of the U.S. House of Representatives:
LODGE, John Davis, (grandson of Henry Cabot Lodge, brother of Henry Cabot Lodge II, and nephew of Augustus P. Gardner), a Representative from Connecticut; born in Washington, D.C., October 20, 1903; attended the Evans School, Mesa, Ariz., the Middlesex School, Concord, Mass., and Ecole de Droit, Paris, France; was graduated from Harvard University in 1925 and from the Harvard Law School in 1929; was admitted to the New York bar in 1932 and commenced practice in New York City; affiliated with the motion-picture industry and the theater 1933-1942; served with the United States Navy as a lieutenant and lieutenant commander August 1942 to January 1946 and was a liason officer between the French and American fleets; was decorated with the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor and with the Croix de Guerre with palm by General de Gaulle; engaged in research work in economics; elected as a Republican to the Eightieth and Eighty-first Congresses (January 3, 1947-January 3, 1951); was not a candidate for renomination in 1950; Governor of Connecticut from January 1951 to January 1955; unsuccessful for reelection as Governor in 1954; United States Ambassador to Spain from January 1955 until January 1961; National president, Junior Achievement, Inc., 1963-1964; chairman, Committee Foreign Policy Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania, 1964-1969; delegate and assistant floor leader, Connecticut Constitutional Convention, in 1965; United States Ambassador to Argentina, 1969 to 1974; Ambassador to Switzerland, 1983; was a resident of Westport, Connecticut until his death in New York City, October 29, 1985; intermant in Arlington National Cemetery.
Membership: National president, Junior Achievement, 1963-1964. Committee chairman Foreign Policy Research Institute University Pennsylvania, 1964-1969. Member of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Inter-American Bar Association, New York Bar Association, Mexican Academy International Law, Foreign Service Association, Former Members of Congress, Harvard Alumni Association, Connecticut Republican Labor League, American Legion, Western Connecticut Retired Officers Association, Reserve Officers Association, Navy League, Association Former Intelligence Officers, Army & Navy Club, Dutch Treat Club, Harvard Club, Chowder & Marching Club (founding member), Explorers Club, Grange Club, Fairfield County Hunt Club, National Press Club, DACOR House Club, Phi Beta Kappa, French Legion of Honor.
Also, from the book: "JOHN DAVIS LODGE, a life in three acts: actor, politician, diplomat" by Thomas A. DeLong, chapter 10 "A Military Bearing".
