John N. Irwin II
John Nichol Irwin II (born 31 December 1913 in Keokuk, Iowa, † February 28, 2000 in New Haven, Connecticut ) was an American politician and diplomat who on 13 July 1972 to February 1, 1973 as First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs the United States ( Deputy Secretary of State ) officiated.
John Irwin first attended the Lawrenceville School, a high school in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, and after the neighboring Princeton University, where in 1937 a Bachelor of Arts degree earned. There was a law student at the Law School of Fordham University, which he finished in 1941 with a Bachelor of Laws. He then went to England and received in 1944 the Master of the University of Oxford. In the meantime, he served during the Second World War with the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army.
After his return to the United States he joined in 1950 in the New York law firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, where he worked until 1977. 1958 Irwin came into state services and was Under Secretary of State ( Deputy Assistant Secretary ) for International Security Affairs, Department of Defense, a position he held until 1961. Between 1965 and 1968 he took part as a federal commissioner in negotiations on issues of the Panama Canal; In 1969 he was sent as a special envoy of the Foreign Ministry to Peru. From 1970 to 1972 he was the Under Secretary of State held the office, which was the second highest position in the State Department at this time. This rank he retained even after the establishment of the Deputy Secretary of State in 1972. He served until February 1, 1973 as Deputy Secretary of State William P. Rogers before him replaced Kenneth Rush. For his achievements, President Richard Nixon awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom; later still received the French Légion d' honneur.
From 1973 to 1974 John Irwin exercised the office of the U.S. Ambassador in France; after he retired from the civil service. He was subsequently still the CEO of IBM on, was until 1987 a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and worked from 1989 at the governing body of the American Museum of Natural History with. In advance of the 2000 presidential election, he was part of the senior staff of Steve Forbes; later, he supported the candidacy of George W. Bush. Even before the election, he passed the age of 86 in a hospital in New Haven; last he had lived with his second wife in New Canaan; with his first wife, who died in 1970, he had a daughter and a son.