Ralph Elihu Becker Explained

Ralph Elihu Becker
Birth Date:January 29, 1907
Death Date:August 24, 1994 (aged 87)
Birth Place:New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma Mater:St. John's University (LLB)
Battles:World War II
Death Place:Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting Place:Arlington National Cemetery
Children:Ralph Becker
Office:United States Ambassador to Honduras
Termstart:October 27, 1976
Termend:August 1, 1977
Predecessor:Phillip V. Sanchez
Successor:Mari-Luci Jaramillo
President:Gerald Ford

Ralph Elihu Becker Sr. (January 29, 1907 – August 24, 1994) was an American diplomat and attorney who served as U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from 1976–1977 under the Ford administration.[1] He was a founding trustee of the National Center for the Performing Arts and served as its general counsel during the Eisenhower administration and until 1976.

Early life and education

Ralph Becker was born on January 29, 1907, in New York City, to a tailor from Lithuania and a mother from Minsk.[2] He took night courses at the City College of New York earned his law degree from St. John's University law school in 1928.[3]

Career

He served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps in World War II as a part of the 30th Infantry Division. He landed in Normandy after D-Day and won a Bronze Star, along with medals from the Belgian, French, and Dutch governments.

After his discharge, he worked as a lawyer in Westchester County, New York.[4] He went to Washington, D. C. and was the chairman for the Young Republican National Committee from 1946 to 1950. In the 1960s, he joined an Arctic expedition that he had helped sponsor, and brought back a pair of polar bears as a gift for the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. From 1976 to 1977, he was appointed Ambassador to Honduras.

Personal life

Becker died of congestive heart failure at the George Washington University Hospital on August 24, 1994. He was interred soon afterwards in Arlington National Cemetery.[5]

His son Ralph Elihu Becker Jr. was elected Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah in 2007.[6] [7]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 9 February 1988 . The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR RALPH E. BECKER . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240712180118/https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Becker,%20Ralph%20E.toc.pdf . 12 July 2024 . 12 July 2024 . Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.
  2. News: Saxon. Wolfgang. 1994-08-26. Ralph E. Becker, 87, Lawyer And Ex-Ambassador, Is Dead. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-09-28. 0362-4331.
  3. News: Smith. J.Y.. 25 August 1994. Lawyer and Ambassador Ralph E. Becker Dies at 87. The Washington Post.
  4. Book: Mak. Dayton. American Ambassadors in a Troubled World: Interviews with Senior Diplomats: Interviews with Senior Diplomats. Kennedy. Charles Stuart. 1992. ABC-CLIO. 978-0-313-06576-7. en.
  5. Web site: Burial Detail: Becker, Ralph E. ANC Explorer.
  6. News: Washington-area obituaries of note. The Washington Post.
  7. Web site: Woodruff. Daniel. 2015-11-03. Biskupski leads Becker in SLC mayoral race. 2020-09-28. KUTV.