Lodge, Henry Cabot, Jr. (1902-1985), served as a diplomat under four United States presidents. In 1960, he was the vice presidential running mate of Richard M. Nixon on the Republican ticket.
Lodge was born on July 5, 1902, in Nahant, Massachusetts. He became a newspaperman following his graduation from Harvard University in 1924. He served in the Massachusetts legislature from 1933 to 1937 and won election to the U.S. Senate in 1936. He served there until 1944, when he resigned to enlist in the Army during World War II. He was reelected to the Senate in 1946.
In 1952, Lodge managed Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential campaign. Eisenhower won, but Lodge lost his Senate seat to a young Democrat, John F. Kennedy. Under Eisenhower, Lodge served as United States ambassador to the United Nations. Nixon and Lodge lost the 1960 presidential election to Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
In 1963, President Kennedy appointed Lodge ambassador to South Vietnam. Lodge served 11 months. He held the same post from 1965 to 1967 under President Johnson.
Lodge became ambassador to West Germany in 1968. He resigned in 1969 to become President Nixon’s chief negotiator at the Vietnam peace talks in Paris. He served as U.S. envoy to the Vatican from 1970 until 1977. Lodge then retired from public office. He died on Feb. 27, 1985.
