Phelps Phelps

Phelps Phelps (May 4, 1897 – June 10, 1981), born Phelps von Rottenburg, was an American politician who held a number of offices in New York before becoming the governor of American Samoa and the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Phelps' parents divorced in 1899 and he later took his mother's maiden name as his last name, even though it was already also his first name. He attended Yale University in 1916, but was dismissed for cheating; he eventually graduated from Williams College and then Fordham University Law School, becoming an attorney.

Phelps began his political career as Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Affairs for New York City. From 1924 to 1928, he was a Republican member of the New York State Assembly. After the 1932 Republican National Convention, he became a Democrat, and acted as a delegate at a number of national conventions. He served another term in the State Assembly, and then in the New York State Senate. He also attended a New Jersey Constitutional Convention, hosted a long-running radio commentary show, and was a prolific writer of letters to the editor of major newspapers. Phelps served in the United States Army during World War II, achieving the rank of Captain. Immediately following the war, Phelps served on Douglas MacArthur's staff during the Japanese War Crimes Tribunal.

Upon his appointment as governor to American Samoa in 1951, Phelps became its first civilian governor. The United States Navy largely withdrew from the island with the last naval governor, leaving Phelps to restructure an economy previously centered on the military. He promoted the oil storage facilities on the island and attracted new airlines to Pago Pago International Airport in an attempt to make up lost revenue. His last overseas post was as Ambassador to the Dominican Republic under the rule of Rafael Trujillo. There, he had to negotiate land sales between the two governments and respond to citizen's anger when possible assassinations on United States soil were ordered by Trujillo. Phelps never married or owned property, preferring to wander between various hotels, and lived with four women throughout his life. Phelps died in Wildwood, New Jersey, and is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.

Life

Early life Phelps was born Phelps von Rottenburg on May 4, 1897, in Bonn, Germany, to Franz and Marian Phelps von Rottenburg. His mother came from a wealthy family, and his father, who died when Phelps was nine, worked as a lawyer, but came from a family of shippers. His grandfather was William Walter Phelps, a politician who served multiple terms in the United States House of Representatives out of New Jersey's 5th congressional district and as the United States ambassador to Austria-Hungary; his great-grandfathers were John Jay Phelps and Joseph Earl Sheffield. In 1899, his mother divorced his father and took the children to Teaneck, New Jersey, where they were raised with the help of their grandmother Ellen Maria. Shortly after arriving in New Jersey, Phelps' mother gave him her last name, and he became known as Phelps Phelps. He attended Yale University in 1916, but was dismissed from the school after paying another student to take his exams for him. For much of his later life, Phelps lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. A resident of Wildwood, New Jersey, he died there on June 10, 1981, and was buried July 3 of the same year at the Arlington National Cemetery. Following the 1932 Republican National Convention, Phelps became a Democrat, and travelled to the 1936, 1956, and 1960 Democratic National Conventions as a delegate. He attempted to fix a number of political problems with the island. This led him to fire his attorney general and take measures to improve the relations between inhabitants of the Tutuila and Manu'a islands.

Governor Phelps’s principal challenge was a deteriorating postwar economy. After the U.S. Navy’s departure, he sought outside capital by marketing fuel from naval storage tanks to shipping and by courting South Pacific airlines, while urging increased copra production and handicraft exports to Hawaiʻi. The initiatives yielded limited results: large-vessel fuel capacity reduced bunkering demand, Tafuna’s airport facilities were inadequate for transpacific carriers, and handicraft revenues had little macroeconomic impact.

Ambassadorship Only days after leaving the governor's seat, Phelps received appointment as the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, serving from June 27, 1952, to May 30, 1953. Dictator Rafael Trujillo was in charge of the Dominican Republic during Phelps' post. Among the issues he faced were accusations of numerous murders of Americans on United States soil ordered and funded by Trujillo. Phelps resigned on May 21, 1953, and was replaced by William T. Pheiffer nine days later.

Personal life Phelps never married, but lived with four different women throughout his lifetime. He was a major baseball fan, and had personal friendships with numerous well-known players of the time. Phelps received much of the attention of his mother and grandmother during his childhood; this led to a strained relationship with his sister, who remained embittered towards him for the rest of her life. She left America in the 1920s, and never spoke with him again. He preferred to live in hotels and move from place to place, and never owned any real estate.