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Kingdon Gould Jr. (January 3, 1924 – January 16, 2018) was an American diplomat, businessman, and philanthropist.[1] A Republican businessman, Gould was appointed by President Richard Nixon to serve as United States Ambassador to Luxembourg, a position he would hold from 1969 through 1972. In 1973, Gould was appointed as Ambassador to the Netherlands also by President Nixon, serving until 1976.
Kingdon Gould Jr. | |
|---|---|
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| United States Ambassador to the Netherlands | |
| In office October 18, 1973 – September 30, 1976 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | J. William Middendorf |
| Succeeded by | Robert J. McCloskey |
| United States Ambassador to Luxembourg | |
| In office 1969–1972 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | George J. Feldman |
| Succeeded by | Ruth Lewis Farkas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 3, 1924 Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 16, 2018 (aged 94) North Laurel, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mary Thorne |
| Children | 9, including Kingdon Gould III |
| Parent(s) | Kingdon Gould, Sr. Annunziata Lucci |
| Education | Millbrook School Yale University |
| Occupation | Diplomat, businessman, philanthropist |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank |  Second lieutenant |
| Unit | 36th Mechanized Cavalry |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | 2 Purple Hearts and 2 Silver Stars |
He is part of the fourth generation of the Gould family of financiers, philanthropists and diplomats, which includes his father Kingdon Gould Sr., grandfather George Jay Gould and great-grandfather Jay Gould, with associated generations of mothers, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews.
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Gould was the third child and the only son of Kingdon Gould, Sr., and his wife, Annunziata Lucci.[2] He attended Millbrook School in 1938[3] and graduated in 1942. He attended Yale University for two months in the spring of 1942[2] before serving in the United States Army in World War II and was the recipient of two Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars.[4] After returning from England in 1945,[3] he married Mary Bruce Thorne in 1946;[2] they had four sons, including Kingdon Gould III (born 1948), Frank, Thorne and Caleb, as well as five daughters, Lydia, Candida, Melissa, Annunziata and Thalia.[2][5] Gould returned to Yale to complete his undergraduate degree and then to study law, graduating in 1951.[3] He was the grandfather of United States Olympic cyclist Georgia Gould.[6]
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Gould served as United States ambassador to Luxembourg from May 1969 to October 1972 during the Richard Nixon administration.[7] He later served as ambassador to the Netherlands from October 1973 to September 1976 under a second appointment by President Nixon, and continued serving through most of the Ford Administration.[8]
When President Nixon delivered his resignation speech in August 1974, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger was visiting with Gould in The Hague during his tenure as Ambassador to the Netherlands.[2] When discovering that Burger would swear in Gerald Ford to the presidency, Burger told Gould: "Do you understand the irony, Kingdon? That man [Nixon] appointed me to the highest office, and I wrote the opinion [that forced Nixon to turn over the Watergate tapes and papers as evidence in the trial of presidential aides accused of covering up the Watergate scandal".[2]
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For many years Gould was business partner of Dominic F. Antonelli, Jr. in the Washington DC parking and real estate development PMI Parking Management Inc.[2] From 2013 until his death, he served as a trustee to the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs, a nonpartisan organization "dedicated to educating citizens about foreign affairs".[9] Gould's donations to Republican candidates and party organs attracted the attention of the media, as for instance in 2006 when the New York Times reported that he had donated $25,000 to the Republican National Committee.[10]
In addition to his business and political interests, he was known in the area as a donor to a range of educational institutions.[11] He also figured in the creation of the Capital Crescent Trail; having purchased the DC portion of the newly abandoned Georgetown branch from CSX in 1989, he sold the route to the National Park Service the following year.[12] In his retirement, Gould was known in the Baltimore-area as a donor to a range of educational institutions.[11] Gould died on January 16, 2018, at his home in North Laurel, Maryland of pneumonia at the age of 94, 13 days after his 94th birthday.[2]
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