Everything about James Harbord totally explained
James Guthrie Harbord (
March 21,
1866 –
August 20,
1947) was a
Lieutenant General in the
United States Army and President and Chairman of the Board of
RCA.
Harbord was born in
Bloomington, Illinois, and raised in
Bushong, Kansas and
Manhattan,
Kansas. He graduated from
Kansas State Agricultural College in 1886, and thereafter worked as an instructor at the college for two years. In 1889, he enlisted in the Army, and in 1891 he received a commission.
Army career
Harbord's first overseas experience came as a member of the occupation army in
Cuba after the
Spanish-American War. After leaving Cuba, he served as Assistant Chief of the
Philippines Constabulary from 1903 to 1909 and again from 1910 to 1913. In 1916, he was on the
Mexican border with
General John J. Pershing, pursuing
Pancho Villa.
When the United States entered
World War I in 1917, Harbord went to
France as General Pershing's chief of staff, which won him a promotion to
Brigadier General. Throughout the war he continued to work closely with General Pershing. In June 1918, he was given command of the
Fourth Marine Brigade, which was serving as part of the Army
Second Infantry Division, and then on July 15, briefly given command of the Division itself. He commanded the Marines during the
Battle of Château-Thierry and the
Battle of Belleau Wood. In August 1918, Harbord was recalled from the front and put in charge of troop and supply movement. Following the war, he was promoted to Major General and awarded the
Distinguished Service Medal.
In August
1919, President
Woodrow Wilson sent a fact-finding mission to the
Middle East, headed by General Harbord, to investigate the feasibility of the
Balfour Declaration, which supported the creation of a
Jewish state in
Palestine, taken from the
Ottoman Empire during the war. Harbord was also to report on Turkish-Armenian relations in the wake of the
Armenian Genocide. Harbord's report stated that "the temptation to reprisals for past wrongs" would make it extremely difficult to maintain peace in the region.
Radio Corporation of America
In 1922, Harbord retired from the Army to become President of the
Radio Corporation of America. While Harbord was President of RCA, the corporation undertook a number of significant moves. In 1926, RCA began television broadcasts and formed
NBC. In 1928, RCA was one of four corporations that jointly formed
RKO Pictures. Finally, in 1929, RCA acquired the
Victor Talking Machine Company (maker of the famous "Victrola") and became RCA-Victor. In 1928, Harbord took a leave of absence to campaign for
Herbert Hoover for President, and in 1930 he officially retired from the position, allowing
David Sarnoff to assume the office.
Harbord remained as Chairman of the Board for RCA until
1947, finally retiring shortly before his death. He is buried at
Arlington National Cemetery.
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