Foskett, James H. Papers

Naval Aide to President Truman, 1946-1948

The papers of James H. Foskett include correspondence, printed materials, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, handwritten notes, speeches, and other materials related to Foskett's military career, personal life, and duties as Naval Aide to President Harry S. Truman.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 1 linear foot, 4 linear inches (about 1,800 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the U.S. government her copyrights in this material and in any other material received by the U.S. government and maintained at the Harry S. Truman Library. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Willie L. Harriford, Jr. (1962); Jan Davis and David Clark (2016); Alec Graham (2016).
Updated by: Alec Graham (2016) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1898 (August 19)		Born James Hicks Foskett, Wollaston, Massachusetts
1917-1918		Attended University of Michigan
1918		Enlisted in the U.S. Navy
1925		Promoted to Lieutenant
1927-1929		Post graduate work at U.S. Naval Academy
1928 (June 9)		Married Florence Paul Kane
1934		Promoted to Lieutenant Commander
1939		Promoted to Commander
1942		Promoted to Captain
1942-1943		Head of Joint Intelligence Committee in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations
1943-1944		Naval Liaison Officer on Staff of Commander in Chief, Levant Fleet
1944-1945		Commander of U.S.S. Savannah
1945		Commander of U.S.S. Augusta
1945-1946		Chief of Staff to the Commander, Nineteenth Fleet
1946-1948		Naval Aide to the President
1946		Promoted to Rear Admiral
1948-1949		Commander, Cruiser Division 12
1949-1952		Director, Standing Group, Military Committee of NATO
1952-1954		Chief, Military Assistance Advisory Group to Norway
1954		Retired from the U.S. Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral
1961 (May 22)		Died, North Kingstown, Rhode Island

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of James H. Foskett include correspondence, printed materials, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, handwritten notes, speeches, and other materials related to Foskett's military career, personal life, and duties as Naval Aide to President Harry S. Truman. The collection is arranged in one series, a Subject File.

The Subject File contains correspondence between Foskett and others, including his wife, naval officers, President Truman, White House staff members, and foreign dignitaries from Argentina, Greece, and South Africa. There is significant correspondence with President Truman, and more between Foskett and other White House staff members about issues concerning the President. In addition to correspondence, the Subject File also contains clippings from newspapers, mostly describing Foskett's trips visiting nations such as Argentina and South Africa, as well as the President's trip to the Potsdam Conference. Some biographical information concerning Foskett can be found in these clippings, and in other printed materials. The printed materials also include information on the Yalta Conference and the President's trip to Rio de Janeiro.

There are many military-related documents in this collection, including the diary and reports of the U.S.S. Huntington between September 1947 and December of 1948. These reports and the diary contain information on goodwill trips to South Africa and throughout the Mediterranean Sea. The Subject File contains military orders dating from 1919 to Foskett's retirement in 1954. Foskett's personal diaries contain his daily notes and appointments from 1938 to 1954. The Subject File contains three scrapbooks made up primarily of more clippings. These scrapbooks cover the years from 1946-1948 when Foskett was serving as Naval Aide to President Truman. One scrapbook is devoted entirely to a visit by Rear Admiral Foskett to Argentina, where he met with President Juan Peron.

More information on the individuals who served as Naval Aide for President Truman can be found in the papers of Clark Clifford, the papers of Robert Dennison, and the Naval Aide to the President Files of the papers of Harry S. Truman.

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

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