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Cavendish W. Cannon

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Cavendish Cannon
United States Ambassador to Morocco
In office
October 6, 1956 – July 1, 1958
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byWilliam J. Porter (Chargé d'Affaires)
Succeeded byCharles Yost
United States Ambassador to Greece
In office
September 2, 1953 – July 28, 1956
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byJohn Emil Peurifoy
Succeeded byGeorge V. Allen
United States Ambassador to Portugal
In office
June 2, 1952 – August 1, 1953
PresidentHarry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byLincoln MacVeagh
Succeeded byM. Robert Guggenheim
United States Envoy to Syria
In office
October 30, 1950 – May 8, 1952
PresidentHarry S. Truman
Preceded byJames Hugh Keeley, Jr.
Succeeded byJames S. Moose, Jr.
United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia
In office
July 14, 1947 – October 19, 1949
PresidentHarry S. Truman
Preceded byRichard C. Patterson, Jr.
Succeeded byGeorge V. Allen
Personal details
Born(1895-02-01)February 1, 1895
Salt Lake City, Utah
DiedOctober 7, 1962(1962-10-07) (aged 67)
Morón Air Base, near Morón de la Frontera, Spain 37°10′N 5°36′W / 37.167°N 5.600°W / 37.167; -5.600
Spouse
Lilla Horzetsky
​
(m. 1921)​
RelativesJohn Q. Cannon (Father)
George Q. Cannon (Grandfather)
Daniel H. Wells (Grandfather)
EducationUniversity of Utah
University of Paris
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Marine Corps
Years of service1917
Battles/warsWorld War I

Cavendish Wells Cannon (February 1, 1895 – October 7, 1962) was a long-time United States foreign service officer and diplomat.[1]

Early Life

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Cannon was born in Salt Lake City in 1895 to newspaper editor John Q. Cannon and Utah State Representative Elizabeth Anne Wells Cannon.[2][3]

Family History

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He was the grandson of Salt Lake City Mayor and Lieutenant General Daniel H. Wells and US Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Utah Territory's at-large district and prominent LDS early member George Q. Cannon. Daniel was a descendant of English immigrant Thomas Welles, an early Colonial Governor of Connecticut and John Webster, 5th Governor of Connecticut. George Cannon immigrated from England in 1842.

Education and Military Service

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He went through the Salt Lake City School District, then graduated from University of Utah.[2][3] He also taught school in Hyrum.[3] On June 17, 1917 he joined the United States Marine Corps during World War I.[3] At the end of the war he remained in Paris to study at University of Paris.[2][3]

State Department Service

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During World War II, Cavendish served as the Assistant Chief of the State Department's Division of Southern European Affairs.[4]

Cannon served as US Ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1947 to 1949,[3][5] then as Envoy to Syria from 1950 to 1952,[3][6] then US Ambassador to Portugal from 1952 to 1953,[3] then US Ambassador to Greece from 1953 to 1956 and finally as US Ambassador to Morocco from 1956 to 1958.[3] Among his fellow ambassadors was the Czechoslovak Ambassador Josef Korbel (father of Madeleine Albright). Cannon spoke in favor of Korbel's pro-democratic leanings when he was trying to gain asylum in the United States.[7] In 1948, he was the chair of the US delegation to the Danube River Conference of 1948.[8]

Personal Life

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Cannon was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[3][9] He married Marie Lucia Otilie "Lilla" Horzetsky in January 1921.[2][3] He died of a heart attack at Morón Air Base, near Morón de la Frontera, Spain just a few days after having a gallbladder surgery. He was later interred in Seville, Spain.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ "Cavendish Wells Cannon". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Cavendish Wells Cannon (1895-1962)". The Strangest Names In American Political History. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Utah Diplomat, 67, succumbs in Spain". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  4. ^ the Problem of Bessarabia and Northern Bucovina during World War II Archived May 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Jones, Howard. "A New Kind of War", America's Global Strategy and the Truman Doctrine. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989) pg. 126
  6. ^ "My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt". Eleanor Roosevelt. March 28, 1957. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  7. ^ Dobbs, Michael (March 15, 2000). Madeleine Albright: A Twentieth-Century Odyssey. Henry Holt and Company. pp. 130, 137. ISBN 978-0-8050-5660-0. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  8. ^ "The Ambassador in Yugoslavia (Cannon) to the Secretary of State". United States Department of State. July 31, 1948. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  9. ^ "Church Member Nominated Ambassador to Finland", Ensign, March 1975 pg. 78.


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