William Henry Draper Jr. (August 10, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American army officer, banker, government official, and diplomat.
Early life
William Henry Draper Jr., was born on August 10, 1894, in Harlem, New York City. His parents were Mary Emma (née Carey) Draper (1872–1960)[1] and William Henry Draper (1859–1929).
Draper joined the U.S. Army soon after finishing college and served during World War I as a major in the infantry. After the war, he stayed in the Army Reserves and worked his way up to chief of staff of the 77th Division from 1936 to 1940.[2]
From 1919 to 1921, he worked for National City Bank in New York City. He later worked for Bankers Trust Company from 1923 to 1927, and then Dillon, Read & Co. from 1927. In 1937, he was made a vice president of Dillon Read. Dillon Read promoted bonds of the Soviet Union after its recognition by the US government in 1933. Dillon Read also underwrote millions of dollars worth of German industrial bonds in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s.[3] He worked for Dillon Read until 1953.[2]
At the end of the war, he was promoted to brigadier-general and was posted to Berlin to serve as chief of the Economics Division, Allied Control Council for Germany from 1945 to 1947. He opposed the Morgenthau Plan, which was designed to prevent a resurgence of German economic and military power by deindustrializing it and turning into a pastoral country. Instead, he strongly supported measures to expedite Germany's economic recovery along liberal free-market and democratic lines followed by Konrad Adenauer and Ludwig Erhard. There was some criticism of him by the Chief of the Decartelization Branch for Military Government in Germany after World War II, James Stewart Martin for leaving some former Nazis in their positions in industry, in particular Alexander Kreuter.[4]
After a promotion to major-general, Draper was asked by the new Secretary of WarKenneth C. Royall to become his Under Secretary of War. With the transition of the Department of War to the Department of the Army, Draper became the first under secretary of the Army from September 18, 1947, to February 28, 1949.[3] Later in 1949, he rejoined Dillon Read as a senior partner.[5]
According to the Annenberg CPB documentary "The Pacific Century, Ep.5 Reinventing Japan" Gen. Draper, referred to therein as the "Wall Street General" was instrumental in overturning some key progressive reforms sought by Colonel Charles Kades of the Supreme Command Allied Powers (SCAP) in occupied Japan.
On August 7, 1948, Draper, then Undersecretary of War, requested that William L. Marbury Jr. fly to Geneva, Switzerland, and spend a month there to help the U.S. negotiate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Marbury was a close friend of Alger Hiss. Draper's request came days after Whittaker Chambers had included Hiss's name among those of government spies in the Ware Group during Chambers' testimony under subpoena before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). In effect, the request prevented Marbury from helping during Hiss's further HUAC testimony in August and into September, when Hiss was considering a libel suit against Chambers for statements made August 27 on NBC Radio's nationwide Meet the Press broadcast.[6][7]
On September 7, 1918, Draper was married to Katherine Louise Baum, a daughter of George Baum of Yonkers, New York. Before her death in 1942,[12] they were the parents of three children, including:
Through his son William, he was the grandfather of actress Polly Draper and venture capitalist Timothy C. Draper who founded Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Through his grandson Timothy, he was a great-grandfather of venture capitalist and television personality Jesse Draper. Through his granddaughter Polly, he was a great-grandfather of Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff, who are both actors and musicians.