John Gilbert Winant Papers, 1916-1947 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Title: John Gilbert Winant Papers, 1916-1947

Primary Creator: John Gilbert Winant (1889-1947)

Extent: 147.26 Cubic Feet

Date Acquired: 00/00/1948

John Gilbert Winant was born in New York City on February 23, 1889. He attended St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire and entered Princeton University as a member of the Class of 1913.

After withdrawing from Princeton in late 1912, Winant returned to St. Paul’s School as a history teacher. He became active in local politics and was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1917. When the United States entered World War I, Winant enlisted in the American Expeditionary Forces and was assigned to the 1^st Aero Squadron. By the time he left the service in 1919, he had risen to the rank of Captain of the 8^th Aero Squadron. After the war he returned to St. Paul’s school as a teacher and Second Vice-Rector. He reentered New Hampshire politics in 1920 and was elected to a term in the State Senate. Later he served a second term in the House and three terms as Governor of the state, 1925-26, 1931-32, and 1933-34.

Throughout his career, Winant was interested in social and labor legislation. During his Governorship, the State Legislature passed a Minimum Wage bill, a State Relief bill, an Aid to Dependent Children bill and established a State Planning Board. Winant also unsuccessfully supported the passage of a 48-Hour bill. In 1931, he proposed the “New Hampshire Plan” which urged a nationwide four-day work week as a means of solving the nation’s economic ills. At this time, Winant was also active in the National Recreation Association, the National Consumers’ League, the American Association for Labor Legislation, and the Young Men’s Christian Association.

Although a Republican, Winant became a supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal policies. In 1934 Roosevelt appointed him to an Advisory Council to the Committee on Economic Security which assisted the Labor Department in drafting national social security legislation.

After successful intervention in the 1933 strike of textile workers in Manchester, New Hampshire, Winant became head of a Special Board of Inquiry into the United Textile Workers’ Strike of 1934. His work on this committee gave rise to a movement to have him nominated as the 1936 GOP Presidential candidate. Winant refused to run for the Presidency or for a fourth term as Governor. Instead, he accepted the post of Assistant Director of the International Labor Office in Geneva in April 1935 but stayed in Geneva only a few months before returning to Washington to become the first chairman of the Social Security Board. Continuing his contacts with the International Labor Organization, he served as chairman of the American Delegation to the 1936 Labor Conference in Geneva. After Landon attacked the Social Security Act during the 1936 Presidential campaign, Winant resigned as Chairman of the Social Security Board to freely defend the Act and President Roosevelt; he later returned to the Chairmanship. Resigning from the Board a second time in early 1937, he returned to Geneva as Assistant Director of the I.L.O. He was made Director of the organization in February 1939. With the coming of the second World War, Winant assured the continuance of the I.L.O. by engineering the transfer of the Office to Montreal.

President Roosevelt appointed Winant to replace Joseph P. Kennedy as Ambassador to Great Britain in 1941. Winant advocated increased aid to Great Britain and Russia before the United States officially entered the war. He was extremely popular with the British people however his authority as Ambassador was often overshadowed by the dispatch of special missions to London and the personal relationship which developed between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. Winant was also interested in post-war planning, particularly as it affected Russia and in November 1943 was named as Untied States representative on the European Advisory Commission which considered post-war treatment of Germany.

Early in 1946, President Truman appointed Winant to be the United States representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council which dealt with refugees, displaced persons and other post-war problems. Resigning as Ambassador, Winant returned to the United States in May 1946. He continued to serve on the Economic and Social Council until January 1947.

Though officially retired, Winant accepted the chairmanship of National Brotherhood Week in February 1947, making an exhausting cross-country speech-making tour. At that time he was also working on a series of books describing his Ambassadorial experiences. The first volume, entitled Letter From Grosvenor Square, was completed and he had begun work on the second when he died on November 3, 1947.

Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Access Restrictions: This collection is available for use by the general public.

Use Restrictions: Material in this collection is subject to the Copyright Law, Title 17 U.S. Code.

Acquisition Source: Constance Winant, Rivington Winant and others

Acquisition Method: The papers of John Gilbert Winant were deposited in the Library by his widow, Constance Winant, in 1948 and 1949, and donated to the Library by his son, Rivington Winant, acting on behalf of himself and the other descendants of John G. Winant, in April 2000.

Related Materials: President’s Secretary’s File: Great Britain; President’s Secretary’s File: Great Britain: Winant; President’s Personal File 42 John G. Winant; President’s Official File 48 Great Britain; President’s Official File 1710 Social Security Board; President’s Official File 4281 John G. Winant; Bernard Bellush Papers; Isador Lubin Papers.