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John Gilbert Winant
John Gilbert Winant OM (1889-1947) was an American teach and politician with the Republican party. He held positions in New Hampshire, national, and international politics, and was...view moreJohn Gilbert Winant OM (1889-1947) was an American teach and politician with the Republican party. He held positions in New Hampshire, national, and international politics, and was the first man to serve more than a single two-year term as Governor of New Hampshire, winning election three times. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom during most of World War II.
Born on East Side, New York City, he attended St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire and attended Princeton University, although he did not graduate. He was appointed an instructor in history at St. Paul’s in 1913, remaining there until 1917, and was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1916. In 1917 he joined the U.S. Army Air Service, trained as a pilot, and commanded the 8th Aero Squadron (Observation) in France, with the rank of captain. Following his military service he was elected to the New Hampshire Senate in 1920. He twice served as Governor of New Hampshire (1925-1927 and 1931-1935)—his later terms during the Great Depression—and, working closely with the federal government, became the first governor whose state filled its enrollment quota in the Civilian Conservation Corps.
In 1935 President Roosevelt appointed Winant to be the first head of the Social Security Board, a position he held until 1937, when he was elected to head the International Labor Office in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1941 Roosevelt appointed Winant ambassador to Britain, and he remained in that post until he resigned in March 1946. President Truman appointed Winant U.S. representative to UNESCO in 1946.
In 1947, Winant committed suicide at his Concord home on the day his book Letter from Grosvenor Square was published. He was only the second (and last) American citizen, after General Dwight Eisenhower, to be made an honorary member of the British Order of Merit. In 1943 he was awarded the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen.view less