View source for Clifton Reginald Wharton Sr.

{{short description|American diplomat (1899-1990)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name         = Clifton Reginald Wharton Sr.
| image        = Clifton Reginald Wharton Sr. Portrait Trim.jpg
| caption      = Wharton {{circa}} 1961–1964
| order        = 6th
| ambassador_from = United States
| country      = Norway
| term_start   = March 2, 1961
| term_end     = September 4, 1964
| predecessor  = [[Frances E. Willis]]
| successor    = [[Margaret Joy Tibbetts]]
| president    = [[John F. Kennedy]]<br/>[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
| order1       =  22nd
| minister_from1 = United States
| country1     =  Romania
| term_start1  =  March 7, 1958
| term_end1    =  October 21, 1960
| predecessor1 =  [[Robert H. Thayer]]
| successor1   =  [[William A. Crawford]]
| president1   =  [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| birth_name   = Clifton Reginald Wharton
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1899|05|11}}
| birth_place  = [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]], U.S. 
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1990|04|25|1899|05|11}}
| death_place  = [[Phoenix, Arizona]], U.S. 
| nationality  = American
| profession   = Career [[Diplomat]]
| alma_mater   = [[Boston University School of Law]] ([[Master of Law|LL.M.]])
| spouse       = Harriet Banks
| children     = 4, including [[Clifton R. Wharton Jr.|Clifton Jr.]]
}}

'''Clifton Reginald Wharton Sr.''' (May 11, 1899 – April 25, 1990) was an American [[diplomat]], and the first [[African American]] diplomat to become an ambassador by rising through the ranks of the [[United States Foreign Service|Foreign Service]] rather than by political appointment such as [[Frederick Douglass]].<ref name=stamp>[https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/stamps/67017.htm U.S. Department of State: "Clifton R. Wharton: U.S. Postage Stamps Commemorate Distinguished American Diplomats"]</ref> He also became the first Black [[Foreign Service officer|Foreign Service Officer]] to become chief of a diplomatic mission.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/faq/#distinguished |title=Office of the Historian |access-date=26 December 2015 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
He married Harriet Banks; they had four children.<ref>{{cite web |date=12 March 2012 |title=Wharton Sr., Clifton Reginald (1899–1990) – The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed |url=http://www.blackpast.org/aah/wharton-sr-clifton-reginald-1899-1990 |access-date=26 December 2015}}</ref> His son [[Clifton R. Wharton Jr.|Clifton Reginald Wharton Jr.]] is a noted economist and executive who also served in the State Department as [[United States Deputy Secretary of State|Deputy Secretary of State]] during the [[Clinton administration]], and before that as president of [[Michigan State University]].

Wharton was a member of [[Alpha Phi Alpha]] fraternity.

==Career==
Born in [[Baltimore]] to William Bowman Wharton and Rosalind Griffin, Wharton received his law degree in 1920 and an advanced law degree in 1923 from [[Boston University School of Law]]. He practiced in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] before joining the [[United States State Department|U.S. State Department]] as a law clerk in August of 1924. He was the only Black professional in the Department at the time.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Calkin |first=Homer L. |date=February 1978 |title=A reminiscence: Being black in the Foreign Service |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112108168938&seq=97 |journal=Department of State Newsletter |pages=25-28 |via=Hathitrust}}</ref> He was left alone by his coworkers; he only had lunch with a coworker once during this period. He took the [[United States Foreign Service|Foreign Service]] examination the first time it was given and received high marks on the written tests. Wharton was appointed to the Foreign Service on March 20, 1925 and was the first Black Foreign Service Officer.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information |first=Bureau of Public Affairs |title=Clifton R. Wharton |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/stamps/67017.htm |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=2001-2009.state.gov |language=en}}</ref> Wharton went on to be Vice Consul in [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Liberia|Monrovia]] (1927–1929), Consul in [[Las Palmas de Gran Canaria|Las Palmas]] (1932–1938), Minister to [[Romania]] (1958–1961) and Ambassador to [[Norway]] (1961–1964).<ref>Navraez, Alfonso A. (April 25, 1990). Clifton R. Wharton, 90, Is Dead; Pioneering Black U.S. Diplomat. ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Clifton Reginald Wharton – People – Department History – Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/wharton-clifton-reginald |access-date=26 December 2015}}</ref>

Unlike the other new Foreign Service officers, Wharton was immediately sent to post in [[Monrovia]] upon appointment as opposed to attending the [[Foreign Service Institute]] for training. He was originally supposed to go on a cargo ship with only two cabins. After refusing to go, the Department then arranged for transportation via a [[Cunard-White Star Line|White Star-Cunard ocean liner]].<ref name=":0" /> The Department claimed it was due to an urgent need in Liberia, but many Black newspapers were skeptical.<ref name=":0" /> Wharton was unsurprised to be sent to Monrovia, as it was a post in the "Negro Circuit", a string of posts in Africa and the Caribbean where almost all Black officers were sent where the native populations were largely Black and the positions were generally undesirable.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=The American Diplomat {{!}} American Experience |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/american-diplomat/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=www.pbs.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2019-02-28 |title=African American Trailblazers in Diplomacy |url=https://diplomacy.state.gov/events-listing/african-american-trailblazers-in-diplomacy/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=The National Museum of American Diplomacy |language=en-US}}</ref> On the subject of the Negro Circuit, Wharton told the Department of State's Personnel Office, "You're not only discriminating against us [Black employees] in the Service, but you're also exporting discrimination abroad in the Foreign Service."<ref name=":0" />

After five years in Liberia, Wharton was assigned to go to [[Calais]] but the officer he was set to replace refused to leave so Wharton was reassigned to the French overseas department of [[Martinique]]. He requested a post with better weather and was redirected to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Wharton was the first Black officer in Las Palmas but soon after, other Black officers began to be assigned there.<ref name=":0" />

From 1930 to 1942, Wharton returned to Liberia for assignments many times. He also worked in [[Antananarivo|Tananarive, Madagascar]], [[Porto|Oporto]] and [[Ponta Delgada|Ponta Delgado]] quintessential posts in the Negro Circuit.<ref name=":1" /> Finally in 1949, Wharton was transferred away from this pattern as [[Consul (representative)|consul general]] and first secretary at [[Embassy of the United States, Lisbon|Lisbon's American Embassy]], before becoming supervisory consul general over Portugal and its islands. His transfer to Lisbon came months after his transfer request as personnel officials were resistant to sending a Black officer to Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Dunham,%20William%20B.TOC.pdf |title=Wiliam B. Dunham Memoir |publisher=Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training |year=1996}}</ref> When his transfer was finally accepted, it was as first secretary and consul instead of consul general, the position he qualified for based on experience. He was finally made consul general a year after his initial transfer. Wharton was the first Black officer in Lisbon as well as the first Black senior officer.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Narvaez |first=Alfonso A. |date=1990-04-25 |title=Clifton R. Wharton, 90, Is Dead; Pioneering Black U.S. Diplomat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/25/world/clifton-r-wharton-90-is-dead-pioneering-black-us-diplomat.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310191841/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/25/world/clifton-r-wharton-90-is-dead-pioneering-black-us-diplomat.html |archive-date=2016-03-10 |access-date=2024-07-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1953, Wharton was appointed consul general in [[Marseille]], again as the first Black person to hold that position.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clifton R. Wharton, Sr. |url=https://diplomacy.state.gov/encyclopedia/clifton-r-wharton-sr-ambassador/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=The National Museum of American Diplomacy |language=en-US}}</ref>[[File:Clifton Wharton Sr. swearing-in (40741576093).png|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Clifton R. Wharton Sr. being sworn in as Ambassador to Romania, February 1958]]

In 1958, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] offered Wharton the position of [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Romania|U.S. Envoy to Romania]]. He originally refused the position, suspecting that it was being extended due to his race. After he was assured this was not the case, Wharton accepted the position and became the first Black officer to head a U.S. delegation in Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clifton Wharton — Diplomat and Pioneer – Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training |url=https://adst.org/oral-history/fascinating-figures/clifton-wharton-diplomat-and-pioneer/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=adst.org}}</ref> [[Loy W. Henderson|Loy Henderson]], Deputy [[Under Secretary of State for Management|Undersecretary for Administration]] wrote to Wharton later<blockquote>One of the most unforgettable moments of my Foreign Service life was my conversation with you when you flew from Marseilles to Washington in order to make sure that your appointment as minister to Romania was based on merit and qualifications{{Em dash}}not on racial considerations. You made it clear to me that if the matter of race had been one of the criteria, you would not be able to accept the appointment. I was deeply touched and glad to tell you that race had not been a factor.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>In 1961, Wharton was appointed by President Kennedy as [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Norway|U.S. Ambassador to Norway]]. He was the first Black ambassador to come up through the Foreign Service, not as a political appointee.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clifton R. Wharton, Sr. |url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/the-black-experience-prominent-diplomats/clifton-r-wharton-sr |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=postalmuseum.si.edu |language=en}}</ref> He also jointly served as a delegate to [[NATO]] and the [[United Nations|UN]] that same year.<ref name=":0" />

Wharton retired on October 24, 1964. At his retirement, [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Dean Rusk]] wrote, "Yours has been an outstanding career and I am sure you take pride in the fine reputation you have earned."<ref name=":0" />

Wharton died in [[Phoenix, Arizona]].

== Legacy ==
In 1978, the State Department had a day honoring Wharton and diplomat [[Lucile Atcherson Curtis]], who was the first woman in what became the [[U.S. Foreign Service]].<ref name="harvard.edu">{{cite web|url=http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch01223|title=Curtis, Lucile Atcherson, 1894–1986. Papers of Lucile Atcherson Curtis, 1863–1986 (inclusive), 1917–1927 (bulk): A Finding Aid|work=harvard.edu|access-date=19 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403081532/http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch01223|archive-date=3 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Special to The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/09/obituaries/lucile-a-curtis-dead-foreign-service-pioneer.html |title=Lucile A. Curtis Dead – Foreign Service Pioneer |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1986-05-09 |access-date=2015-03-19}}</ref>

On May 30, 2006, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a stamp depicting Wharton in its Distinguished American Diplomats commemorative series.<ref name=stamp1>{{cite web|last=Stump|first=Brice|title=Wharton family is honored by stamp issuance|url=http://www.delmarvanow.com/easternshore/stories/20060705/2303567.html|publisher=DelmarvaNow|access-date=3 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060705190409/http://www.delmarvanow.com/easternshore/stories/20060705/2303567.html|archive-date=5 July 2006|date=5 July 2006}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Rogers Act]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*https://web.archive.org/web/20150724035343/http://diplomacy.state.gov/discoverdiplomacy/explorer/peoplehistorical/170207.htm

{{s-start}}
{{s-dip}}
{{succession box
| title= [[United States Ambassador to Norway]]
| before=[[Frances E. Willis]]
| after= [[Margaret Joy Tibbetts]]
| years= 1961–1964
}}
{{s-end}}
{{US Ambassadors to Romania}}
{{US Ambassadors to Norway}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Clifton Reginald Sr.}}
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Romania]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Norway]]
[[Category:Boston University School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:African-American diplomats]]
[[Category:United States Foreign Service personnel]]
[[Category:Diplomats from Baltimore]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American people]]
[[Category:20th-century American diplomats]]