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 Foreign Service rather than by political appointment such as Frederick Douglass.[1] He also became the first Black Foreign Service Officer to become chief of a diplomatic mission.[2]
He married Harriet Banks; they had four children.[3] His son Clifton Reginald Wharton Jr. is a noted economist and executive who also served in the State Department as 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.
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Born in Baltimore, Wharton received his law degree in 1920 and an advanced law degree in 1923 from Boston University School of Law. He practiced in Boston before joining the US State Department as a law clerk in August of 1924. He was the only Black professional in the Department at the time.[4] He was left alone by his coworkers; he only had lunch with a coworker once during this period. He took the 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.[4][5] Wharton went on to be Vice Consul in Monrovia (1927–1929), Consul in Las Palmas (1932–1938), Minister to Romania (1958–1961) and Ambassador to Norway (1961–1964).[6][7]
Unlike the other new Foreign Service officers, Wharton was immediately sent to post in Monrovia upon appointment. He was originally supposed to go on a cargo ship with only two cabins. After refusing to go, they then arranged for transportation via a White Star-Cunard ocean liner.[4] The Department claimed it was due to an urgent need in Liberia, but many Black newspapers were skeptical.[4] 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 Carribean where almost all Black officers were sent where the native populations were largely Black and the positions were generally undesirable.[4][8][9]
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 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.[4]
From 1930 to 1942, Wharton returned to Liberia for assignments many times. He also worked in Tananarive, Madagascar, Oporto and Ponta Delgado quintessential posts in the Negro Circuit.[9] Finally in 1949, Wharton was transferred away from this pattern as consul general and first secretary at Lisbon's American Embassy, before becoming supervisory consul general over Portugal and its islands. He was the first Black officer in Lisbon as well as the first Black senior officer.[4][10] In 1953, Wharton was appointed consul general in Marseille, again as the first Black person to hold that position.[11]
In 1958, President Eisenhower offered Wharton the position of US 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 US delegation in Europe.[12] Loy Henderson, Deputy Undersecretary for Administration wrote to Wharton later
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—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.[4]
In 1961, Wharton was appointed by President Kennedy as US Ambassador to Norway. He was the first Black ambassador to come up through the Foreign Service and not as a political appointee.[13] He also jointly served as a delegate to NATO and the UN that same year.[4]
Wharton retired on October 24, 1964. At his retirement, Secretary of State Dean Rusk wrote "Yours has been an outstanding career and I am sure you take pride in the fire reputation you have earned."[4]
Wharton died in Phoenix, Arizona.
In 1978, the State Department had a day honoring him and diplomat Lucile Atcherson Curtis, who was the first woman in what became the U.S. Foreign Service.[14][15]
On May 30, 2006, the United States Postal Service issued a stamp depicting Wharton in its Distinguished American Diplomats commemorative series.[16]