Ralph Townsend

Ralph Townsend (November 27, 1900 – January 25, 1976) was an American writer, consul and political activist noted for his opposition to the entry of the United States into World War II. He served in the foreign service as a consul stationed in Canada and China from 1931 to 1933. Shortly after returning to the United States he came to prominence through his book Ways That Are Dark: The Truth About China, a harsh critique of Chinese culture which became a widely controversial bestseller. Townsend became a prominent advocate of non-interventionism, and in the 1930s and 1940s was well known for his vocal opposition to the Roosevelt administration's foreign policy from a pro-Japanese and pro-neutrality point of view. Following the US entry into World War II, Townsend was arrested for acting as a Japanese agent without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He pleaded guilty, admitting that he had accepted payments before the war from a propaganda organization funded by the Japanese government, but denying that he was a Japanese agent. He was sentenced to 8 months to two years in prison. While serving his sentence, Townsend was involved in the Great Sedition Trial. After the war, he moved to Fairfax, Virginia, where he died on 25 January 1976. His writings continue to be influential in far-right circles. Early life, 1900–33 Ralph Townsend was born on November 27, 1900 in Raynham, North Carolina to "one of Robeson county's oldest and most prominent families." He was the son of Richard Walter Townsend (1859–1937) and Mara Aurora McDuffie Townsend (1866–1906). He had four sisters and brothers, including Dallas Townsend, Sr. After graduating from Mount Hermon Preparatory School in Massachusetts, he attended Columbia University in New York City and in 1924 received his degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He worked as a journalist in San Francisco for several years before returning to New York where he taught English at Columbia University from 1927 to 1930. On 11 November 1930 he passed the foreign service test and was posted to Montreal, Canada, as vice-consul on 20 December 1930. His second assignment was to Shanghai, where he officially served as vice-consul between 10 December 1931 and 9 January 1932, though a two-month temporary detail kept him in the city long enough to witness the Shanghai Incident firsthand. After that he was stationed in Fuzhou up to his resignation from the service on 1 March 1933.