J. Reuben Clark: The Public Years

by Frank W. Fox

In the foreword to this, the first of a multi-volume biography of J. Reuben Clark, Marion G. Romeny "I have always hoped that those who would write about J. Reuben Clark, Jr., would remember [that] it mattered little whether he was being praised or criticized; it mattered much, however, whether his course was right and true... An account of his life should tell of his decisions and indecisions, sorrows and joys, regrets and aspirations, reverses and accomplishments, and above all, his constant striving to overcome and and all obstacles... In this first volume, I have found what I hoped to find."

Genres: Biography, Law

702 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1980

About the author

Prof. Frank W. Fox is a professor emeritus of history and American studies at Brigham Young University.

Prof. Fox taught at BYU from 1971 until his retirement in 2006. Durnig that time, Prof. Fox served as the Department chair for the Department of History from 2000-2003. Prof. Fox received the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Teaching Award in 1984 and the Karl G. Maesar General Education Professorship in 1987. He is best known for developing the History Department's graduate curriculum and, with economics professor Clayne L. Pope, BYU's American Heritage program.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

J. Reuben Clark has largely gone unrecognized for his contributions not only in the public sphere but in his roles in LDS Church administration. This volume of the lengthy 3 volume treatise on his life is devoted to his public contributions as solicitor for the Department of State. His influence and work are still evident in the policies and structure of the State Department today. He crafted some of the core policies that define our interactions with other nations. He demonstrated an unequaled devotion to principle, even when it would have been personally beneficial to do otherwise. After reading this volume I am in awe of his abilities and character. I wonder though if this work has done him a disservice due to its inaccessibility (three very lengthy volumes, as well as very pricey). I hope someone endeavors a more concise biography that will be read by more people. For those interested in LDS Church history, the making of the U.S. State Department, and foreign policy, this book will surely be interesting to you.

[Robert Falck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interested to learn that J. Reuben Clark struggled late in life with student loan debt.

[Mark Stephenson]

I read this many decades ago while in Hong Kong. It taught me much about early 20th century American history, America's fateful decision to enter World War I, the evolution of international law and, of course, about the biography's subject, J. Reuben Clark, Jr. Fans of President Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations will probably want to leave this alone. At the war's outset Clark was summoned into the Justice Department from the Army by Attorney General Thomas W. Gregory. His skills as a solicitor were highly regarded by many of his colleagues in Washington D.C., he having served in the State Department under Bryan, Kellogg, Knox and Root as well as in the judge-advocate's division of the Officer's Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army where he helped draft selective service regulations. Toward the end of the book he is appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico from whence he was tapped by Heber J. Grant as Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Would that many more people of his integrity and competence were serving in the Bureaus of today's U.S. Government!

[David Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

BOOK REVIEW - J. Reuben Clark, The Public Years, by Frank W. Fox. (1982)

I read this book just before I applied for admission to the J. Reuben Law School at BYU. I felt it important to know something about the man behind the name. This book is part of a 3 volume series (The Public Years, The Church Years, and Teachings). This volume tracks Clark from a farm boy in Grantsville, Utah, to one of the most technically adept international lawyers and diplomats of his generation. It’s strongest when it shows how raw talent, relentless study, and sheer stamina let Clark vault from obscurity into the top tier of federal service and international affairs:

After graduating from Columbia law school, Clark rose from assistant solicitor to Solicitor of the State Department and later Undersecretary of State under President Coolidge. In that role he drafted the famous Clark Memorandum on the Monroe Doctrine, a meticulous legal brief disentangling the Doctrine from the Roosevelt Corollary and narrowing the rationale for U.S. armed intervention in Latin America. The memorandum—published in 1930—became a touchstone for the Hoover and later “Good Neighbor” approaches. The Clark Memorandum is still considered a major achievement as a re-statement of hemispheric non-intervention that influenced US–Latin America policy discussions for decades.

He was appointed Ambassador to Mexico in 1930 by President Hoover. Clark’s ambassadorship required high stakes negotiation amid post-revolutionary Mexican politics, American oil interests, agrarian reform, church–state tensions, and lingering anti-Yankee sentiment. Fox details his steadying presence and precision in defusing disputes and rebuilding a working bilateral relationship.

Between and after government posts, Clark was a sought-after counsel in international claims and finance—Fox shows how these assignments cemented his reputation as a careful, exacting legal mind. Clark’s rise resulted from his writing, encyclopedic command of sources, and an intense work ethic—traits that later made him organizationally invaluable to LDS Church leaders and positioned him for a call to the First Presidency soon after his return from Mexico in 1933.

Fox does not ignore some of the traits that caused Clark to be both loved and feared by some colleagues and adversaries. His exactness, attention to detail, and certainty could grate on peers; he could be rigid in interagency give-and-take. He had policy clashes over the reach of US power in Latin America and over debts/claims, where his lawyerly minimalism sometimes collided with more expansive geopolitical instincts in Washington. As ambassador he sought to balance US corporate interests, Mexican sovereignty, and domestic politics in both countries. Resulting in Clark absorbing plenty of heat on all sides. Unfortunately, Clark was also a product of the times including holding some anti-Semitic views common at the time.

Quotes:

“I hope I may be permitted to add a personal word of true friendship for the Mexican people, a friendship I have gained from a considerable residence among them. I have a real sympathy for their struggles and their aspirations, and a deep respect for their lofty ideals and their sterling virtues.”

“Our country, right or wrong, was a fine maxim for military men... but it had no place among diplomats.”

[Nathan Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the book immensely, there were a few minor issues that kept it from rising to 5-star status.

The organization of the book, while logical, made it difficult to synthesize information. Since it wasn't strictly chronological, I had a hard time connecting events in one part of the book to events in another (did this come before or after that other thing? Where was Clark living when that thing happened? etc.)

Also related to the organization, it was difficult to get a clear picture of Clark the man until well over halfway through the book. We don't get a section about his private life until after three meaty sections on his life at the Department of State and his fight against the League of Nations.

All that being said, the book was a very enjoyable and educational read. The first part of the book sometimes feels less like a biography of Clark and more like a history of US diplomacy in the early 20th Century. I loved the sections on the Mexican Revolution and the American response to it, but the fight against the League sometimes dragged.

The latter half of the book had some genuinely moving parts. I loved the chapter on Clark's spiritual life, and his years as ambassador to Mexico also had a number of poignant moments. The book closes on a particularly moving scene.

All in all, Clark was an amazing man, and I'm looking forward to reading more about his service in the LDS church in the subsequent volume.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the greatest constitutional legal minds the U.S. has ever produced. J. Reuben Clark wrote the U.S. State Dept's position paper on extending the Monroe Doctrine to protect U.S. citizens in foreign countries. This foreign policy is still in place today.

[Nate Cooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

J. Reuben Clarke is a hero of mine. This book is a biography of his life before serving in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.