Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian
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The Most Honourable The Marquess of Lothian KT CH PC DL |
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| British Ambassador to the United States | |
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In office June 1939 – December 1940 |
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| Monarch | George VI |
| President | Franklin Roosevelt |
| Prime Minister |
Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | Sir Ronald Lindsay |
| Succeeded by | The Viscount Halifax |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
18 April 1882 London, United Kingdom |
| Died | 12 December 1940 (aged 58) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
| Religion | Christian Science |
| Signature |  |
Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, KT CH PC DL (18 April 1882 – 12 December 1940), known as Philip Kerr until 1930, was a British politician, diplomat and newspaper editor. He was private secretary to Prime Minister David Lloyd George between 1916 and 1921. He played a major role in the drafting of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, and was responsible for including the War Guilt Clause which he later felt was a bad mistake. After succeeding a cousin in the marquessate in 1930, he held minor office from 1931 to 1932 in the National Government headed by Ramsay MacDonald. In the late 1930s, he was a leading advocate of appeasement of Germany, emphasizing the harshness of the Versailles Treaty and the dangers of Stalin's communism. From 1939 until his death in December 1940 he was Ambassador to the United States, Proving highly successful in winning Americans support for these British war effort, most notably the Lend Lease program, which passed Congress after his death.
Kerr was born in London, UK, the eldest son of Major-General Lord Ralph Kerr, third son of John Kerr, 7th Marquess of Lothian. His mother was Lady Anne Fitzalan-Howard, daughter of Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk, by the Honourable Augusta Mary Mina Catherine Lyons, daughter of Vice-Admiral Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons. He was a nephew of Edmund FitzAlan-Howard, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent, and a great-nephew of Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons. He was educated at The Oratory School, Birmingham, Cardinal Newman's foundation, from 1892 to 1900 and New College, Oxford. Kerr took a First in Modern History in 1904 and in the same year tried unsuccessfully for an All Souls fellowship.
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