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Eugenie Anderson

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Helen Eugenie Moore Anderson
Anderson in 1962
United States Ambassador to Bulgaria
In office
August 3, 1962 – December 6, 1964
PresidentJohn F. Kennedy
Preceded byEdward Page, Jr.
Succeeded byNathaniel Davis
United States Ambassador to Denmark
In office
December 22, 1949 – January 19, 1953
PresidentHarry S. Truman
Preceded byJosiah Marvel, Jr.
Succeeded byRobert D. Coe
Personal details
Born
Helen Eugenie Moore

(1909-05-26)May 26, 1909
Adair, Iowa, U.S.
DiedMarch 31, 1997(1997-03-31) (aged 87)
Red Wing, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
John Pierce Anderson
​
​
(m. 1930)​
ChildrenHans, Johanna
ProfessionDiplomat, Politician

Eugenie Anderson (May 26, 1909 – March 31, 1997), also known as Helen Eugenie Moore Anderson, was a United States diplomat. She is best known as the first woman appointed chief of mission at the ambassador level in US history.[1]

Personal life

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Helen Eugenie Moore was born on May 26, 1909, in Adair, Iowa, one of five children of Rev. Ezekial A. Moore, a Methodist minister, and his wife, FloraBelle. She concentrated in music as a student and attended the Juilliard School in New York; her original hope was to become a concert pianist. She was a member of the Iowa Beta chapter of Pi Beta Phi Women's Fraternity at Simpson College. She transferred to Carleton College in 1929, where she graduated in 1931.[2] It was there she met her husband, John Pierce Anderson, whom she married in 1929 and with whom she had two children, Hans and Johanna.[1][3]

Public life

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Interview with Eugenie Anderson from 1951

Anderson's interest in international affairs had been stirred by a trip to Europe in 1937, where in Germany she first saw a totalitarian state in action, as she recalled. On her return she spoke frequently for the League of Women Voters, fighting the strong isolationist policies of the time.[1]

Anderson helped to create the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in 1944. Four years later, as one of the few women, she was elected to an office in the national Democratic Party. In 1948, as the DFL split from the national Democratic Party in a controversy over goals and ideology, she supported Hubert H. Humphrey. She was rewarded for this support in 1949, when she was appointed by President Truman as U.S. ambassador to Denmark (1949–1953).[4][5]

Truman's appointment made her the first woman appointed chief of mission at the ambassador level in US history.[6] (The first female chief of mission at the minister rank was Ruth Bryan Owen in 1933). Despite undercurrents of sexism and discomfort in the press with her career flaunting gender roles, she was well-known in Denmark and was sometimes called "Auntie Anderson" by the media. Anderson was a strong proponent for people's diplomacy, or public diplomacy. For example, immediately after she presented her credentials to King Frederik, she invited the workers who furnished her official residence and their families to a house-warming party. Anderson also learned and spoke publicly in Danish which was unusual as such language skills were not seen as necessary at the time.[7][8] Her popularity and high profile allowed her to exert some political force: she convinced Denmark to make a stronger commitment to NATO, strengthened the Greenland Treaty, and in 1950 became the first American woman to sign a treaty, with the Treaty of Commerce and Friendship with Denmark, which she drafted.[3][9] When she resigned from this position in 1953, King Frederik IX awarded her the Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog, a high honor.[10]

In 1958 Anderson campaigned for, but did not win, the DFL nomination for U.S. Senator, which ultimately went to Eugene McCarthy.[11] She was later appointed by Kennedy to be ambassador to Bulgaria (1962–1964).[12] Thus, Anderson became the first American woman to represent the United States in a country allied with the Soviet Union. She was also the first American diplomat to speak on Bulgarian television and radio.[13] While ambassador to Bulgaria, Anderson negotiated the settlement of outstanding Bulgarian debts to the US from World War II.[14]

After her retirement from these posts, President Johnson appointed Anderson member of the US delegation to the United Nations, serving on the Trusteeship Council and the Security Council.[14] Anderson was the first woman to sit on the UN's Security Council.[8] A year later in 1966, she served on the United Nations Committee for Decolonization, which supported newly independent countries in Africa and Asia.[2] In 1968, Anderson was briefly engaged as Special Assistant to the Secretary.[15]

Retirement and death

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Anderson retired from the State Department in September of 1968.[16] She continued to work for Humphrey's political campaigns.[7] Anderson died in Red Wing, Minnesota at the age of 87.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Binder, David (1997-04-03). "Eugenie Anderson, 87, First Woman to Be U.S. Ambassador". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  2. ^ a b "A woman of many firsts, Minnesota's Eugenie Anderson profiled in new book". Twin Cities. 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  3. ^ a b Farber, Zac (28 June 2017). "Politics of the Past: Eugenie Anderson 'held her own in smoke-filled rooms' – Minnesota Lawyer". Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  4. ^ "Eugenie Moore Anderson". Eugenie Anderson Papers. Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  5. ^ "United States Department of State: Ambassadors to Denmark". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  6. ^ "Women in Diplomacy". Bureau of Resource Management, United States Department of State. November 2005. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  7. ^ a b Kratz, Jessie (2018-03-19). "Eugenie Anderson's Historic Firsts". Pieces of History. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  8. ^ a b "Eugenie Anderson: People's Diplomacy". The National Museum of American Diplomacy. 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  9. ^ "Helen Eugenie Anderson". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2018-08-19. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  10. ^ "EUGENIE M. (EUGENIE MOORE) ANDERSON: An Inventory of Her Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society". www2.mnhs.org. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  11. ^ "Minnesotan Eugenie Anderson blazed trail for female diplomats". MinnPost. 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  12. ^ "United States Department of State: Ambassadors to Bulgaria". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  13. ^ "U.S. Minister Gets TV Time in Bulgaria". State Department Newsletter: 22. August 1963 – via Hathitrust.
  14. ^ a b "Helen Eugenie Anderson". The National Museum of American Diplomacy. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  15. ^ "Eugenie Anderson Named Assistant To The Secretary". State Department Newsletter: 14 – via Hathitrust.
  16. ^ "Mrs. Anderson Resigns Post with UN Council". Department of State Newsletter: 17 – via Hathitrust.
  • Lamson, Peggy (1968). Few Are Chosen: American Women in Political Life Today. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by U.S. Ambassador to Denmark
1949–1953 		Succeeded by
Preceded by U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria
1962–1964 		Succeeded by
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