Bert Fish

Bert Fish (October 8, 1875 – July 21, 1943) was an American judge, real-estate operator, finance director, philanthropist, and ambassador.

Fish originally hailed from Bedford, Indiana, but moved to Volusia County, Florida in 1881. He became the Superintendent of the Volusia County Schools district when he was 25, and went on to study at Stetson Law School and becoming a founding member of Stetson University's Sigma Nu chapter, graduating and being admitted to the Florida bar in 1902. Fish then joined a law partnership in DeLand, and from 1904 to 1910 served as a judge.

Fish was the finance director of the Democratic National Committee and Franklin Roosevelt's Florida Campaign Manager during the 1932 presidential election and a reputed friend of Senator Claude Pepper.

Upon Roosevelt's victory, Fish received the ambassadorship to Egypt, being appointed on September 6, 1933, and presenting his credentials December 2, 1933; because his appointment came while the Senate was in recess, he was subsequently confirmed on January 15, 1934 and recommissioned.

In 1935 Stetson University bestowed an honorary LL.D. degree on Fish.

Though still residing in Cairo, Fish was appointed the first U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia on August 7, 1939, presenting his credentials on February 4, 1940. He left both assignments on February 28, 1941. That February he took a steamer down the Red Sea to Jidda, Saudi Arabia, where he gave a silver-framed photograph of Roosevelt to King Ibn Saud and was treated to a banquet by Prince Faisal.

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