Leonard Woodcock
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Ambassador Leonard Woodcock |
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| 1st United States Ambassador to China | |
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In office February 27, 1979 – February 13, 1981 |
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| President |
Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by |
Himself as Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China |
| Succeeded by | Arthur W. Hummel, Jr. |
| Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China | |
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In office July 26, 1977 – February 27, 1979 |
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| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Thomas S. Gates, Jr. |
| Succeeded by |
Himself as United States Ambassador to China |
| 5th President of the United Auto Workers | |
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In office 1970–1977 |
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| Preceded by | Walter Reuther |
| Succeeded by | Douglas Fraser |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 15, 1911 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Died | January 16, 2001 (aged 89) Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | College of the City of Detroit |
Leonard Freel Woodcock (February 15, 1911 – January 16, 2001) was President of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the first US ambassador to the People's Republic of China (and the last Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing).
Woodcock was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1911, the son of Ernest Woodcock and Margaret Freel. At the outbreak of World War I, the family was living in Germany and Ernest was interned. While Leonard had been born in the United States, his parents were British and mother and son returned to the UK for the duration of the war. The family was eventually reunited and sought a new life in North America. They originally settled in Canada, relocating a few years later, to Detroit, Michigan.
The pressures of the Great Depression led Woodcock to drop out of College of the City of Detroit in 1933. He found work as a machine assembler in Detroit, and both he and his father became involved in the union movement. Woodcock became International Vice President in 1955 and in 1970 he succeeded Walter Reuther as UAW president, after Reuther's tragic death in a plane crash.
Woodcock was an active participant in the civil rights movement, marching with Martin Luther King and adding his voice and political clout to the cause. He was a champion of both minority and women's rights, pushing for comprehensive non-discrimination rules and introducing the first union-wide contracted maternity leave in the US.
It was during his time at the helm of the UAW that Woodcock appeared on Nixon's enemies list at #9, with the annotation "No comments necessary".
In 1977, Woodcock retired from the union and was named by President Jimmy Carter as head of the United States Liaison Office in Beijing which, in the absence of full diplomatic relations, served as the de facto U.S. embassy in the People's Republic of China. During this same period, Woodcock was charged with leading a special delegation to Laos and Vietnam in search of POW and MIA American soldiers.
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