{{short description|American diplomat and businessman (1892-1980)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Use American English|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [[Excellency|His Excellency]] | name = James Cabell Bruce | honorific_suffix = | image = | office = 29th [[United States Ambassador to Argentina]] | appointer = [[Harry S. Truman]] | term_start = July 12, 1947 | term_end = August 20, 1949 | predecessor = [[George S. Messersmith]] | successor = [[Stanton Griffis]] | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1892|12|23}} | birth_place = [[Baltimore, Maryland]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1980|7|17|1892|12|23}} | death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S. | education = [[Gilman School]] | alma_mater = [[Princeton University]]<br>[[University of Maryland, Baltimore|University of Maryland]] | parents = [[William Cabell Bruce]]<br>Louise Este Fisher | spouse = {{marriage|Ellen McHenry Keyser<br>|May 24, 1919|February 5, 1980|reason=her death}} | children = 2 | relations = [[David K. E. Bruce]] (brother)<br>[[Thomas Nelson Page]] (uncle) }} '''James Cabell Bruce''' (December 23, 1892 – July 17, 1980) was a 20th-century American businessman and banker in New York City and Baltimore, who served as U.S. ambassador to Argentina in the 1940s.<ref name=UMDarchives>{{cite web| title = James Bruce papers| publisher = [[University of Maryland, Baltimore|University of Maryland]]| url = http://digital.lib.umd.edu/archivesum/actions.DisplayEADDoc.do?source=MdU.ead.histms.0065.xml&style=ead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120623013503/http://digital.lib.umd.edu/archivesum/actions.DisplayEADDoc.do?source=MdU.ead.histms.0065.xml&style=ead| url-status = dead| archive-date = June 23, 2012| date = 27 July 1977| accessdate = 21 February 2017}}</ref><ref name=memoirs>{{cite book| first = James Cabell| last = Bruce| title = Memoirs| publisher = Gateway Press | date = 1975| lccn = 75013821}}</ref>
==Background==
James Cabell Bruce was born on December 23, 1892, in Baltimore, Maryland, son of [[William Cabell Bruce]] (a lawyer, author, and U. S. Senator) and Louise Este Fisher and brother of [[David K. E. Bruce]].<ref name=UMDarchives />
He studied at the [[Gilman School]] in Baltimore. He attended [[Princeton University]], from which he graduated in 1914 with a BA in literature. In 1918, Bruce received a law degree from the [[University of Maryland, Baltimore]].<ref name=UMDarchives />
==Career== In 1915, Bruce trained with the U.S. Army at [[Plattsburgh, New York]]. In 1916, he worked in Rome as secretary to [[U.S. Ambassador to Italy]] (and uncle) [[Thomas Nelson Page]]. In 1917, he enlisted in the U. S. Army. He served in France and Germany, then took time off to complete his law degree. In 1919, he served as a military attache at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. From there, he traveled to the Balkans to investigate Albania and Montenegro for the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]].<ref name=UMDarchives />
In 1919, Bruce worked for the Mercantile Trust Bank of Baltimore and for the Atlantic Trust Company. In 1926, Bruce moved to New York, where he worked for banks including Chase National. In 1931, he moved back to Baltimore as president of the Baltimore Trust Company.<ref name=UMDarchives />
In 1933, he became financial advisor to the Homeowners Loan Corporation in Washington, DC.<ref name=UMDarchives /> In 1934, he became vice president of the [[National Dairy Products Corporation]].<ref name=UMDarchives />
He also became a director of several large businesses, including: [[American Airlines]], the Maryland Casualty Company, [[Republic Steel]], the [[American Shipbuilding Company]], and Lowe's Theatres.<ref name=UMDarchives />
===U.S. Ambassador to Argentina=== In 1947, Bruce became U.S. ambassador to Argentina. He returned to the U.S. to campaign for [[Harry S. Truman|President Truman]]. In 1949, Bruce resigned so he could become U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. However, Truman withdrew his offer, since brother David Bruce was already in line as U.S. ambassador to France. Instead, he became director of the [[Mutual Defense Assistance Program]], a forerunner of [[NATO]].<ref name=UMDarchives />
While ambassador, Bruce received a letter from attorney [[William L. Marbury, Jr.]], dated December 28, 1948. In the letter, Marbury states, "there have been new developments in this case which would put to shame any respectable author of a detective story." The letter formed part of correspondence: "this case" refers to the case of [[Alger Hiss]] (Marbury's client).<ref>{{cite web| first = William L.| last = Marbury, Jr.| author-link = William L. Marbury, Jr.| title = Personal letter to the Honorable James Bruce| publisher = Maryland Historical Society| url = http://www.mdhs.org/findingaid/alger-hiss-collection-1934-1979-ms-2504| date = 28 December 1948| accessdate = 16 February 2017}}</ref>).
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box|title=[[United States Ambassador to Argentina]]|before=[[George S. Messersmith]]|after=[[Stanton Griffis]]|years=1947–1949}} {{s-end}}
===Later life=== In 1950, Bruce returned to business. His 1958 bid for United States Senate failed.<ref name=UMDarchives />
==Personal and death== On May 24, 1919, Bruce married Ellen McHenry Keyser. They had two daughters: Ellen (1920-1998) and Louise (1924-2013).<ref name=UMDarchives />
He died on July 17, 1980, in New York City; his wife had preceded him on February 5, 1980.<ref name=UMDarchives />
==Works== * ''College Journalism'' with [[James Forrestal]] (1914)<ref> {{cite book | first1 = James | last1 = Bruce | first2 = V. James | last2 = Forrestal | title = College Journalism | publisher = Princeton University Press | date = 1914 | lccn = 15012870 }}</ref> * ''Those Perplexing Argentines'' (New York: Longmans, Green, 1953)<ref> {{cite book | first = James | last = Bruce | title = Those Perplexing Argentines | publisher = Longmans, Green | date = 1953 | lccn = 53010840 }}</ref> * ''Memoirs'' (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 2004)<ref name=memoirs />
==See also== * [[United States Ambassador to Argentina]] * [[William Cabell Bruce]] * [[David K. E. Bruce]]
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{find a Grave|84648534}}
{{US Ambassadors to Argentina}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, James Cabell}} [[Category:1892 births]] [[Category:1980 deaths]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina]] [[Category:People from Charlotte County, Virginia]] [[Category:Politicians from Baltimore]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Baltimore]] [[Category:University of Maryland, Baltimore alumni]] [[Category:20th-century American diplomats]] [[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]] [[Category:Princeton University alumni]] [[Category:Gilman School alumni]] [[Category:American Airlines people]] [[Category:United States Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:20th-century American Episcopalians]]