philip c. jessup biography

Diplomat, scholar and jurist His Excellency Philip Caryl Jessup (January 5, 1897- January 31, 1986).

A graduate of Hamilton College (B.A.) and Yale University (LL.B.), Jessup had been Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) conference in 1943 and the U.N. Monetary and Financial Conference (the "Bretton Woods" Conference) in 1944 before serving as a member of the American delegation to the U.N. charter conference in San Francisco in 1945.

In addition to serving as a technical expert and advisor to various U.N. committees, Jessup also prepared the U.S. State Department's "White Paper" on China. His praise of Communist Party forces and condemnation of Kuomintang forces in the country led to his scrutiny by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Jessup became a primary target of McCarthy, who charged in the 1950 Tydings Committee hearings that Jessup was a security risk who had "an unusual affinity ... for Communist causes." Although Jessup was cleared of all charges the the Loyalty Board of the State Department and the Tydings Committee, and McCarthy was rebuked by many fellow senators and other statesman, McCarthy's allegations severely damaged Jessup's reputation and career.

President Harry S. Truman appointed Jessup as the U.S. delegate to the United Nations in 1951. When the appointment came before the Senate, however, it was not approved, largely because of McCarthy's influence. To circumvent the Senate's action, President Truman assigned Jessup as United States delegate to the United Nations on an "interim appointment." Shortly after John F. Kennedy took office as president, the State Department approved the appointment of Jessup as the U.S. candidate for the International Court of Justice, a post that did not need Senate confirmation.

Jessup served on the International Court of Justice from 1961-1970.

Biographical Timeline:

Date Event

1897, Jan. 5 Born, New York, N.Y.

1919 B.A., Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y.

1921 Married Lois Walcott Kellogg

1924 LL.B., Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

1924-1925 Assistant solicitor, State Department

1925-1946 Lecturer and professor, international law, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.

1929 Assistant to Elihu Root, Conference of Jurists on the Permanent Court of International Justice, Geneva, Switzerland

1938 Published Elihu Root (New York: Dodd, Mead. 2 vols.)

1938-1951 Chairman and member, Pacific Council, Institute of Pacific Relations

1942-1944 Assistant director, Naval School of Military Government and Administration, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.

1943-1944 Assistant secretary-general, Council of United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA)

1943-1945 Chief, Division of Personnel and Training, Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations, State Department

1944 Assistant secretary-general, United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire

1945 Assistant on judicial organization, United States delegation, United Nations Conference, San Francisco, California

1946-1961 Hamilton Fish Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.

1947 United States representative, United Nations Committee on Codification of International Law

1948 Published A Modern Law of Nations (New York: Macmillan Co. 236 pp.)

1948-1952 United States representative to the second, third, and fourth special sessions, General Assembly; deputy United

States representative, Interim Committee, General Assembly and Security Council; and deputy chief of the United

States Mission to the United Nations

1949-1953 Ambassador-at-large

1956 Published Transnational Law (New Haven: Yale University Press. 113 pp.)

Trustee, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

1960 Elected member of the International Court of Justice, Hague, Netherlands

1961-1970 Judge, International Court of Justice, Hague, Netherlands

1967-1986 Chairman, Chile-Norway Permanent Commission

Honourary member, Governing Council, International Institute for Unification of Private Law

1970 Sibley lecturer, University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, Georgia

1970-1971 Whitney H. Shepardson senior research fellow in residence, Council on Foreign Relations, Columbia University,

New York, N.Y.

1971 Barnette Miller lecturer, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts

1974 Published The Birth of Nations (New York: Columbia University Press. 361 pp.)

1986, Jan. 31 Died, Newton, Pennsylvania