Angier Biddle Duke

Angier Biddle Duke (November 30, 1915 – April 29, 1995) was an American diplomat who served as Chief of Protocol of the United States in the 1960s. Prior to that, at the age of 36, he became the youngest American ambassador in history when he was appointed to be the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. Early life Duke was born in New York City. His father was Angier Buchanan Duke (1884–1923) and his mother was Cordelia Drexel Biddle, later Cordelia Biddle Robertson. Angier Buchanan Duke was an heir to the American Tobacco Company fortune while Cordelia Drexel Biddle was a member of the Biddle family who were prominent in business, political and cultural affairs in Philadelphia. Angier Biddle Duke's only sibling was Anthony Drexel Duke (1918–2014). After separating in 1918, Duke's parents divorced in 1921. His paternal grandfather was Benjamin Newton Duke (1855–1929), a major benefactor of Duke University and brother of James Buchanan Duke, himself the father of Doris Duke, Angier's cousin. His maternal grandfather was Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Sr. Through his mother, he was a great-great-grandson of banker Anthony Joseph Drexel. Duke attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He dropped out of Yale University in 1936.