J. Butler Wright

Joshua Butler Wright (October 18, 1877 – December 4, 1939) was a United States diplomat who served as representative of the US in Hungary, Uruguay, Czechoslovakia, and Cuba. He was the twentieth and last Third Assistant Secretary of State.

J. Butler Wright
Third Assistant Secretary of State
In office June 11, 1923 – June 30, 1924
Preceded by	Robert Wood Bliss
Succeeded by	office abolished
United States Ambassador to Cuba
In office August 23, 1937 – December 4, 1937
Preceded by	Jefferson Caffery
Succeeded by	George S. Messersmith
United States Envoy to Czechoslovakia
In office October 25, 1934 – June 1, 1937
Preceded by	Francis White
Succeeded by	Wilbur J. Carr
United States Envoy to Uruguay
In office February 9, 1931 – July 10, 1934
Preceded by	Leland Harrison
Succeeded by	Julius G. Lay
United States Envoy to Hungary
In office June 18, 1927 – October 24, 1930
Preceded by	Theodore Brentano
Succeeded by	Nicholas Roosevelt
Personal details
Born	October 18, 1877 Irvington, New York, United States
Died	December 4, 1939 (aged 62) Havana, Cuba

Wright was born in Irvington, in Westchester County, New York on 18 October 1877, the son of C. R. Wright. J. Butler Wright later married Maude A. Wolfe of Tuxedo Park, in June 1902.[1]

In 1925 Wright was serving as Assistant Secretary of State under president Calvin Coolidge and Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes.[2]

Coolidge appointed Wright to served as Envoy to Hungary in 1927. Herbert Hoover appointed Wright as Envoy to Uruguay in 1930, and Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Wright as Envoy to Czechoslovakia in 1934, and afterwards as the U.S. Ambassador to Cuba from 1937 to 1939. During his stint as ambassador to Cuba, the SS St. Louis with its cargo of mostly German Jewish refugees tried to land in Havana in 1939. This incident was the basis for the 1976 film Voyage of the Damned.

Wright died at his post in Havana on 4 December 1939 after an operation.[3]