# Bert Fish > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bert_Fish > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bert_Fish.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Fish > Source revision: 1341448624 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American diplomat (1875–1943)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Bert Fish | office = [United States Ambassador to Portugal](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Portugal) | term_start = March 26, 1941 | term_end = July 21, 1943 | predecessor = [Herbert Claiborne Pell](/source/Herbert_Claiborne_Pell) | successor = [Raymond Henry Norweb](/source/Raymond_Henry_Norweb) | office2 = [United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Saudi_Arabia) | term_start2 = February 4, 1940 | term_end2 = February 28, 1941 | predecessor2 = ''Position established'' | successor2 = Alexander Comstock Kirk | office3 = [United States Ambassador to Egypt](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Egypt) | term_start3 = December 2, 1933 | term_end3 = February 28, 1941 | predecessor3 = [William M. Jardine](/source/William_M._Jardine) | successor3 = [Alexander Comstock Kirk](/source/Alexander_Comstock_Kirk) | image = Portrait of Bert Fish.jpg | alt = This is a portrait of Bert Fish from his legs up, facing forward. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1875|10|8}} | birth_place = [Bedford, Indiana](/source/Bedford%2C_Indiana), US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|07|21|1875|10|08}} | death_place = [Lisbon](/source/Lisbon), Portugal{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/07/22/archives/bert-fish-i8-dead-u-8-diplomat-6-minister-to-portugal-since-1941.html?smid=url-share | title=BERT FISH I8 DEAD; U. 8. DIPLOMAT, 6/; Minister 'to Portugal Since 1941 Succumbs in Lisbon After 2 Weeks' Illness SERVED IN EGYPT 8 YEARS Also Our Minister to Saudi ArabiaPracticed Law in Florida 24 Years | newspaper=The New York Times | date=22 July 1943 }} }} '''Bert Fish''' (October 8, 1875{{spaced ndash}}July 21, 1943) was an American [lawyer](/source/lawyer), [judge](/source/judge), [philanthropist](/source/Philanthropy), and [ambassador](/source/ambassador). ==Early life== Fish originally hailed from [Bedford](/source/Bedford%2C_Indiana), [Indiana](/source/Indiana),{{cite news|url-access=subscription |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/07/22/archives/bert-fish-i8-dead-u-8-diplomat-6-minister-to-portugal-since-1941.html |title=Bert Fish is Dead; U.S. Diplomat, 67 |agency=Associated Press |work=The New York Times |date=1943-07-22}} but moved to [Volusia County](/source/Volusia_County%2C_Florida), [Florida](/source/Florida) in 1881. He became the Superintendent of the [Volusia County Schools](/source/Volusia_County_Schools) district when he was 25, and went on to study at [Stetson Law School](/source/Stetson_Law_School) and becoming a founding member of Stetson University's [Sigma Nu](/source/Sigma_Nu) chapter, graduating and being admitted to the Florida bar in 1902. Fish then joined a law partnership in [DeLand](/source/DeLand%2C_Florida), and from 1904 to 1910 served as a judge.{{cite web|title=Judge Bert Fish|url=http://216.157.37.6/history/bertfish.htm|publisher=Volusia County Heritage|accessdate=2009-01-23}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ==Politics and diplomacy== Fish was the finance director of the [Democratic National Committee](/source/Democratic_National_Committee) and [Franklin Roosevelt](/source/Franklin_D._Roosevelt)'s Florida Campaign Manager during the [1932 presidential election](/source/1932_United_States_presidential_election) and a reputed friend of Senator [Claude Pepper](/source/Claude_Pepper). === Ambassador to Egypt === Upon Roosevelt's victory, Fish received the [ambassadorship to Egypt](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Egypt), being appointed on September 6, 1933, and presenting his credentials December 2, 1933; because his appointment came while the [Senate](/source/United_States_Senate) was in recess, he was subsequently confirmed on January 15, 1934, and recommissioned.{{cite web |title=Chiefs of Mission by Country, 1778-2005: Egypt |publisher=U.S. Department of State |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/10502.htm |accessdate=2009-01-23}} As part of Fish's assignment in Egypt he would try to improve relations between Egypt, the United Kingdom and United States. During this time Egypt was a protectorate of the United Kingdom. At an April 12, 1937 international conference in [Montreux, Switzerland](/source/Montreux) Fish said Egypt had the right to govern and ability to do so which surprised foreign diplomats. This led to a new treaty being signed on May 8 which gave Egypt the ability to oversee its own laws and taxes without the British intervening. While serving in Egypt, Bert was seen positively because of his comment at the 1937 conference. Apart from his regular duties, he also enjoyed seeing the Egyptian pyramids and looking at "other antiquities" in his government issued [Packard Super 8](/source/Packard_Super_Eight) car.{{Cite journal |last=Johnston |first=Sidney |date=1999 |title=Bert Fish: From Volusia County Courthouse to American Embassy |url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4257&context=fhq |journal=Florida Historical Quarterly |volume=78 |issue=4 |via=STARS}} === Ambassador to Saudi Arabia === Though still residing in [Cairo](/source/Cairo), Fish was appointed the first [U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia](/source/List_of_United_States_Ambassadors_to_Saudi_Arabia) on August 7, 1939, presenting his credentials on February 4, 1940.{{cite web |title=Chiefs of Mission by Country, 1778-2005: Saudi Arabia |publisher=U.S. Department of State |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/11214.htm |accessdate=2009-01-23}} Roosevelt's Administration wanted to have diplomatic relations begun with Saudi Arabia before the Japanese and/or German governments could do so because of their oil interests; with both the Japanese and Germans failing to do so. In the next few months he would still have his headquarters in Cairo but did frequently go to [Jeddah](/source/Jeddah). In mid-1940 he contacted Florida US Senator Claude Pepper who was on the US House Committee of Foreign Relations about being reassigned to [Turkey](/source/Turkey). He left both assignments on February 28, 1941. That February he took a steamer down the [Red Sea](/source/Red_Sea) to Jeddah, [Saudi Arabia](/source/Saudi_Arabia), where he gave a silver-framed photograph of Roosevelt to King [Ibn Saud](/source/Ibn_Saud_of_Saudi_Arabia) and was treated to a banquet by Prince [Faisal](/source/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia).{{cite magazine |title=Fish to Jidda |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763514-1,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211125334/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763514-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 11, 2010 |magazine=[Time](/source/Time_(magazine)) |date=1940-02-19 |accessdate=2009-01-24}} === Service in Portugal === Even before terminating these assignments, Fish was appointed as [Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal](/source/United_States_Ambassador_to_Portugal) on February 11, 1941, and presented credentials on March 26, 1941.{{cite web |title=Chiefs of Mission by Country, 1778-2005: Portugal |publisher=U.S. Department of State |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/11147.htm |accessdate=2009-01-23}} At the time of his appointment Portugal was one of the only few countries in Europe that was neutral in World War II and in 1941 relations between the United States and Portugal were cooling down. When the United States entered the war, Secreatary of State [Cordell Hull](/source/Cordell_Hull) would push Fish to concentrate on getting higher imports of [tungsten](/source/tungsten) from Portugal, US landing rights in the Azores and returning Allied pilots and planes who were stuck in Portugal. Fish was not successful in getting more tungsten imports but was able to get some of the pilots who were interned out of Portugal. In June 1943 he asked Senator Pepper to give his posting the status of embassy and the position of ambassador but Roosevelt did not act on this due to Portugal's neutrality. While at his new post he became ill, and later died of a heart attack on July 21, 1943 He received a Portuguese state funeral and was buried temporarily in Lisbon. His body was repatriated later that year to the United States buried at the Oakdale Cemetery in [DeLand, Florida](/source/DeLand%2C_Florida). == Legacy == The American diplomat and historian [George F. Kennan](/source/George_F._Kennan) who served under Bert Fish in Lisbon, in his memoirs, describes Fish as a shrewd and amiable diplomat but placid and inactive, spending most of his days in an armchair in his room and seldom appearing at the legation chancery.{{Citation |last=Kennan |first=George F. |title=Memoirs: 1925–1950 |year=1967 |location=Boston |publisher=[Little, Brown and Company](/source/Little%2C_Brown_and_Company) |oclc=484922}} Bert Fish was recognized as a ["Great Floridian"](/source/List_of_Great_Floridians) with a commemorative plaque for significant contributions to the history and culture of Florida. His Great Floridian plaque is located at the Fish Building, 100 North Woodland Boulevard, DeLand.{{cite web|title=Ambassador Bert Fish - DeLand, Florida.|url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/139622|website=Florida Memory|accessdate=5 December 2015}}{{cite web|title=Great Floridians 2000 Program|url=https://dos.fl.gov/historical/preservation/great-floridians-program/great-floridians-2000/|website=Florida Division of Historical Resources |access-date=5 December 2015}} == Awards == In 1935 [Stetson University](/source/Stetson_University) bestowed an honorary LL.D. degree on Fish.{{cite web |title=Bert Fish Collection |url=http://scholar.library.miami.edu/treasure/chapters/chaptr21.html |accessdate=5 December 2015 |website=University of Miami Libraries |archive-date=1 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801022628/http://scholar.library.miami.edu/treasure/chapters/chaptr21.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |date=July 22, 1943 |title=Bert Fish, Florida Envoy Dies at His Lisbon Post |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1SFPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hU0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2307%2C5678947 |accessdate=5 December 2015 |work=St. Petersburg Times}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20081120005919/http://bertfish.com./ Bert Fish Medical Center] *[https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/fish-bert Fish's webpage], Office of the Historian {{US Ambassadors to Portugal}} {{US Ambassadors to Saudi Arabia}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Bert}} Category:1875 births Category:1943 deaths Category:People from Bedford, Indiana Category:People from DeLand, Florida Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Egypt Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Saudi Arabia Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal Category:Stetson University College of Law alumni Category:Florida Democrats Category:Democratic National Committee people Category:Diplomats from Florida Category:Diplomats from Indiana --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bert Fish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Fish) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Fish?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.