Christopher H. Phillips

Christopher H. Phillips
Phillips in 1953
United States Ambassador to Brunei
In office
1989–1991
Preceded byThomas C. Ferguson
Succeeded byDonald Ensenat
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Affairs
In office
1954–1957
Member of the Massachusetts Senate from the 2nd Essex district
In office
1949–1953
Preceded byJ. Elmer Callahan
Succeeded byC. Henry Glovsky
Personal details
Born
Christopher Hallowell Phillips

December 6, 1920
American Legation in The Hague
DiedJanuary 10, 2008 (aged 87)
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Mabel Olsen
​
​
(m. 1949; died 1995)​
Sydney (Watkins) Osborne
​
​
(m. 1997)​
Children3
Parent(s)William Phillips
Caroline Astor Drayton
Alma materHarvard College
OccupationReporter, State senator, Diplomat

Christopher Hallowell Phillips (December 6, 1920 – January 10, 2008) was an American diplomat and politician who served as United States Ambassador to Brunei and was a member of the Massachusetts Senate.

Early life

Phillips was born on December 6, 1920, to William and Caroline Astor (née Drayton) Phillips (1880–1965) at the American Legation in The Hague.[1] His siblings included Beatrice Schermerhorn Phillips (1914–2003), who married Rear Adm. Elliott Bowman Strauss (1903-2003),[2][3] William Phillips, Jr. (1916–1991), who married Barbara Holbrook (1915–1997),[4][5] Drayton Phillips (1917–1985), who married Evelyn Gardiner,[6][7] and Anne Caroline Phillips (1922–2016),[8] who married John Winslow Bryant (1914–1999).[9][10]

Phillips father twice served as United States Under Secretary of State and was the U.S. ambassador to Italy, Belgium, and Canada. Phillips was a member of the Boston Brahmin family and his ancestors included the first Mayor of Boston John Phillips, abolitionist Wendell Phillips, and Phillips Academy and Phillips Exeter Academy founders Samuel Phillips, Jr., and John Phillips. He was a descendant of the Rev. George Phillips of Watertown, the progenitor of the New England Phillips family in America.[11][12]

Through his mother, Phillips was a grandson of Charlotte Augusta Astor (1858–1920) and J. Coleman Drayton (1852–1934),[13][14] and a great-grandson of William Backhouse Astor Jr. (1829–1892) and Caroline Webster Schermerhorn (1830–1908).[15]

Phillips attended a number of schools during his youth, including Avon Old Farms. In 1939, he enrolled in Harvard College but left the school after his freshman year to attend Montana State University and work on a ranch as a cowboy.[11]

Career

During World War II, Phillips then served four years in the United States Army Air Forces. During the Allied Occupation of Japan, Phillips established food distribution policies.[11] In 1946, Phillips returned to Harvard. He graduated with the class of 1948 and wanted to go into politics, however, he took a job as a City Hall reporter the Beverly Evening Times instead to support his wife and 2-year-old daughter.[11]

Political career

In 1948, Beverly Mayor Daniel E. McLean convinced Phillips to run for a seat in the Massachusetts Senate. Phillips defeated incumbent J. Elmer Callahan in the Republican primary and was reelected twice, serving until 1953.[11][16][17]

Diplomatic service

During the 1952 presidential election, Phillips served on the Massachusetts Eisenhower for President Committee. In October 1953, Phillips resigned his Senate seat to serve as the deputy to the Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs.[18] On October 15, 1954, Phillips was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Affairs.[19] Phillips left the State Department in 1957 following his appointment as vice chairman of United States Civil Service Commission,[20] under Chairman Harris Ellsworth, a former U.S. Representative from Oregon.[21]

In 1958, he returned to the State Department when he was appointed by President Eisenhower as the United States Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.[22] He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 29, 1958.[23] In this role, he sponsored a proposal for a worldwide inventory of the investments, and results achieved so far, in technical assistance to less developed nations by the International Bank for Recovery and Development and the International Monetary Fund.[24] He also supported a resolution favoring freedom of information, including freedom of the press.[25]

In 1970, President Richard Nixon nominated Phillips to serve as the Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Security Council, serving under the Permanent Representative of the United States, Charles W. Yost. Previous to that, he was deputy to the previous Permanent Representative William B. Buffum, who left to become the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon.[26][27][28] Phillips served in that role until 1973.[29] From 1973 until his retirement in 1986, he served as founding president of the U.S.-China Business Council.[29]

On October 10, 1989, president George H. W. Bush appointed Phillips to serve as the United States Ambassador to Brunei succeeding Thomas C. Ferguson.[30] He presented his credentials on November 28, 1989, and remained in this position until he left his post on October 31, 1991,[30] and himself was succeeded by Donald Ensenat.[11] Following his retirement, he became a trustee of the American Institute in Taiwan.[31]

Personal life

While in Montana, he met Mabel Bernice Olsen (1919–1995), whom he married in 1943. She served as president of the United Nations Delegations Women's Club, a cultural, philanthropic and social organization, from 1971 to 1973.[32] Together, they had three children before her death in 1995:[33]

  • Victoria P. Phillips
  • Miriam O. Phillips
  • David W. Phillips

On November 29, 1997, Phillips remarried to Sydney (née Watkins) Osborne at Ascension Memorial Church in Ipswich.[31] Sydney was a real-estate broker who was the daughter of the Alida W. Watkins and Julian L. Watkins. Her previous marriage ended in divorce.[31]

Phillips died on January 10, 2008, at the Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, Massachusetts, due to complications from a stomach ulcer.[33] At the time of his death, Phillips was living in Ipswich, Massachusetts.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Public officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1953-1954. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  2. ^ "Rear Adm. Elliott Bowman Strauss, 100, Dies". The Washington Post. 24 August 2003. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  3. ^ Times, Special To The New York (1 February 1951). "BEATRICE PHILLIPS TO BE WED FEB. 12; Daughter of Former Envoy the Fiancee of Capt. Elliott B. Strauss of the Navy". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  4. ^ Times, Special To The New York (31 August 1941). "Miss Holbrook Engaged to Wed Son of Diplomat |; She Will Be Bride of William Phillips Jr., Whose Father Is Ambassador to Italy". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  5. ^ Times, Special To The New York (26 October 1941). "BARBARA HOLBKOOK MARRIED IN CHURCH; Wed to William Phillips Jr. in a Ceremony Performed at Naugatuck, Conn". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  6. ^ Times, Special To The New York (11 September 1940). "EVELYN GARDINER PROSPECTIVE BRIDE; Engagement of Boston Girl to Drayton Phillips, Son of U.S. Envoy, Announced MEMBER OF VINCENT CLUB Her Fiance, a Great-Grandson of William Astors, Studied at Universities in Europe". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  7. ^ Times, Special To The New York (1 December 1940). "EVELYN GARDINER BECOMES A BRIDE; Boston Girl Married in Church Ceremony at Chestnut Hill to Drayton Phillips ATTENDED BY HER SISTER Bridegroom Is Son of Envoy to Italy--Great Grandson of Late William Astors". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Anne Phillips Bryant". Clarion Ledger. February 17, 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  9. ^ Times, Special To The New York (30 May 1942). "MISS ANNE C. PHILLIPS IS ENGAGED TO MARRY; Daughter of Ex-Ambassador To Be Wed to Lt. John W. Bryant". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  10. ^ Times, Special To The Nrw Tobk (16 June 1942). "MISS ANNE PHILLIPS BECOMES A BRIDE; Daughter of Ex-Ambassador to Italy Wed in Hamilton, Mass., to Lieut. John W. Bryant SISTER THE MAID OF HONOR Four Other Attendants Serve ouReception Is Held at Home of the Bride's Parents". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Negri, Gloria (February 11, 2008). "Christopher H. Phillips, 87, state senator, ambassador". The Boston Globe.
  12. ^ Bond, Henry and Jones, Horatio. Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston: To which is Appended the Early History of the Town. New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1860, pgs. 872-882
  13. ^ Times, Special to The New York (12 November 1934). "J. C. DRAYTON DEAD; RETIRED BANKER, 82; Newport Resident for Several Years Was Son-in-Law of the Late William Astor. AN EXPERT PIGEON SHOT kJ Issued Challenge to Hallett A. Borrowe to Duel, Which Never Took Place". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  14. ^ Times, Special To The New York (16 November 1934). "J. C. DRAYTON WILL FILED.; His Daughter, Mrs. William Phillips, Is Made Chief Beneficiary". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  15. ^ "MISS DRAYTON WEDS WILLIAM PHILLIPS; Only Daughter of J. Coleman Drayton Married to Secretary of American Embassy. WEDDED IN QUAINT CHURCH Nuptials Were to Have Been Held in New York City, but Ambassador Reid's Absence Changed Plans". The New York Times. 3 February 1910. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  16. ^ "2d Essex District Votes Phillips Over Callahan". The Boston Daily Globe. September 15, 1948.
  17. ^ "Massachusetts Rejects Bill To Bar Drinking at Games". The New York Times. 3 April 1952. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  18. ^ "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR CHRISTOPHER H. PHILLIPS" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 12 May 1993. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Beverly's Christopher Phillips, 33, Named International Aide to Dulles". The Boston Daily Globe. October 16, 1954.
  20. ^ Winship, Thomas (February 12, 1957). "Christopher Phillips Named Civil Service Commissioner". The Boston Daily Globe.
  21. ^ "Civil Service Headed By Oregon Republican". The New York Times. 19 April 1957. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  22. ^ "President Fills U. N. Posts". The New York Times. January 25, 1959. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  23. ^ "3 ENVOYS CONFIRMED; Senate Acts on Nominations of Rankin, Yost and Phillips". The New York Times. January 30, 1958. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  24. ^ "U. N. AID SURVEY ASKED; U. S. and Ten Other Nations Call for World Review". The New York Times. 4 November 1958. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  25. ^ "U. N. Unit Sets Aside News-Freedom Plea". The New York Times. 22 April 1959. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  26. ^ "Nixon Keeps Buffum at U.N. But Replaces 2 Delegates". The New York Times. 12 March 1969. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  27. ^ "Nixon to Name U.N. Delegate". The New York Times. 26 September 1970. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  28. ^ Times, Special To the New York (24 December 1971). "Article 1 — No Title". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  29. ^ a b "George Bush: Nomination of Christopher H. Phillips To Be United States Ambassador to Brunei". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  30. ^ a b "Christopher H. Phillips - People - Department History". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  31. ^ a b c "WEDDINGS; Sydney Osborne, C. H. Phillips". The New York Times. 30 November 1997. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  32. ^ "Mabel O. Phillips; Volunteer, 75". The New York Times. 19 May 1995. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  33. ^ a b "Paid Notice: Deaths PHILLIPS, CHRISTOPHER H". The New York Times. January 14, 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Brunei
1989–1991 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Member of the Massachusetts Senate
from the 2nd Essex district
1949 – 1953 		Succeeded by