Date of Award
8-2003
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
Committee Chair/Advisor
Donald McKale
Abstract
One of the principal goals for the leadership of National Socialist Germany between l 938 and 1941 was to acquire stable oil reserves so that the series of wars planned by Adolf Hitler to acquire German global domination could be implemented successfully. William Rhodes Davis, an unscrupulous American businessman, attempted to meet this need. While he worked during the first year and a half of World War II on behalf of Nazi Germany by trying to import oil and occasiona11y advancing Germany's political interests in the United States, there is no evidence that he believed in or even understood Nazi political or social philosophy. Instead of a political motivation, Davis sold his oil to Germany for personal financial gain and only advanced the interests of the Reich in the United States because his political desires conveniently, though unintentionally, matched Germany's ambitions in this regard.
Although he had no experience as a politician, Davis rose briefly to the zenith of international politics, meeting with ruling elites like Herman Goring, Hitler's designated successor after 1939, and President Franklin Roosevelt. During Davis's conferences with these two leaders in October 1939, he attempted to convince them to negotiate an end to the war. The reason he was able to associate with such important leaders was that he had both the confidence and friendship of American labor leader John L. Lewis, who was believed to control millions of votes in American elections. Ultimately, Davis's efforts were unsuccessful, and he died in 1941 as an embittered man who had failed to understand the evils of Nazi Germany or the complicated political situation that Germany's aggression produced.
Davis's activities on behalf of Nazi Germany have resulted in a general misunderstanding of him, first by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (KB.I.) during and before the war, and since the war by a number of writers who have contended that Davis was a Nazi agent. Starting in 1938, the RB.I. maintained a file on Davis, ostensibly because it considered him a spy. After the war, writers who studied Davis have accepted the KIU's position, but without a proper historical analysis of his career and personal motivations.
Recommended Citation
Illich, Niles Stefan, "The Vicissitudes of Fortune: An Analysis of the Life of William Rhodes Davis" (2003). All Theses. 4676.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4676