Don Lavender 33°
2913 49th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50310–2550
donlav@juno.com

Bro. Hanford MacNider made a significant contribution to America as a Military Officer, Assistant Secretary of War, National Commander of the American Legion, and United States Minister to Canada.

Bro. Hanford MacNider, 32°, was born in Mason City, Iowa, in 1889. His father was a successful banker who accumulated a sizeable fortune, in part through an interest in a cement plant. When Hanford was 14, his parents sent him to attend Milton Academy in Massachusetts. He went on to attend Harvard where he graduated in 1911. Returning to Mason City, he worked in his father's bank as a bookkeeper, but did not have much enthusiasm for the job.

As World War I approached, he managed to get a commission in the National Guard as a Second Lieutenant. His unit was called to duty on the Mexican border in 1916. When the United States entered the war, Bro. MacNider gave up his commission and enlisted, but he was sent to Officers Candidate School.

While serving in France as a Lieutenant with the Second Infantry Division, he got into trouble when one of his enlisted men disagreed with a Colonel, resulting in charges against MacNider. The situation was further complicated when MacNider went AWOL from his job as an instructor to get where the action was. At the front, he advanced rapidly in rank and was awarded an array of medals—14 in all, including two Distinguished Service Crosses, three Silver Stars, and several foreign honors. When the formal charges finally caught up with him, MacNider held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. By that time, the Colonel who had brought charges had been relieved of duty and MacNider had established a distinguished combat record, so the matter was moot, and, in addition, the AWOL charge was dismissed.

On another occasion, when MacNider was a Major, he got back into hot water by running afoul of General George Patton. Patton, with several French tanks, had proceeded to fire in the rear of MacNider's foot troops near Blanc Mont in France. Staunchly defending his troops, MacNider confronted Patton in a heated personal exchange. Luckily, Patton let the matter drop and moved on to another area.

Shortly after MacNider returned from service in World War I, he was elected National Commander of the American Legion, a position that took him on a nationwide tour with the French hero Marshal Ferdinand Foch in 1921. After turning down an appointment by Iowa Governor Nate Kendall to replace an Iowa Senator who had accepted a judgeship, MacNider did accept an appointment by President Calvin Coolidge as Assistant Secretary of War. In that position, Brother MacNider was associated with a number of officers who were later prominent in World War II. Dwight D. Eisenhower, then a Major, was MacNider's Assistant Executive Officer, and others on the staff included Leonard Gerow and Mark Clark, both were Generals in World War II.

When his father died in 1928, MacNider resigned his appointment as Assistant Secretary of War and returned to Mason City to take care of the family business. During the Great Depression, Bro. Hanford took over his father's cement interests, and, with an infusion of borrowed cash, the business thrived despite the nation's hard times. Public life, however, again called Bro. MacNider when he was nominated by President Herbert Hoover to be Diplomatic Minister to Canada. Despite a disagreement with an Iowa Senator, who threatened to block the appointment, MacNider was confirmed, and he presented himself in Ottawa in the full-dress uniform of an Army Colonel.

The unorthodox appearance raised some eyebrows at the time, but Bro. MacNider accomplished a key mission when he negotiated the St. Lawrence Seaway Treaty between the United States and Canada. The U.S. Congress did not ratify the treaty until 1953, but it probably never could have been passed at all without Bro. MacNider's initial work.

In the years between World War I and World War II, MacNider retained a high public profile. He was promoted as a favorite son candidate for President, and he turned down an offer by Wendell Willkie to be his Vice Presidential candidate. Immediately prior to this country's entry into World War II, MacNider was criticized for his stand against Roosevelt's foreign policy. He thought we should stay out unless Congress saw fit to declare war. Of course, the whole matter dissipated when Japan attacked on December 7, 1941.

Right after Pearl Harbor, Colonel MacNider requested the Assistant Secretary of War, John J. McCloy, to recall him to active service. He persisted until he was called and sent to the Pacific where he served in New Guinea and became one of the first General Officers to be wounded in World War II. He later led troops in the Philippines and acquired eight more medals including a third Distinguished Service Medal and a Philippine Legion of Honor medal for his courageous service.

Following the war, he commanded the 103rd Infantry Division (Reserve). He also turned down a request to be campaign manager for Douglas MacArthur's limited effort to be the Republican Party's candidate for President. In 1956, he was promoted to Lieutenant General. Upon his retirement, he returned to Mason City, Iowa, where he continued his business interests in banking and the cement industry.

MacNider was raised to the Degree of Master Mason in Benevolence Lodge No. 145, Mason City, Iowa, in March 1912, and on November 22 of the same year, he became a Master of the Royal Secret in the Valley of Clinton. Iowa. Bro. MacNider retained his Masonic ties throughout his life and died at the age of 76 on February 17, 1966. As a military officer and public servant, Bro. Hanford MacNider contributed greatly to America throughout his sometimes controversial but always productive career.

Don Lavender is a former Secretary Registrar (1974–79) of the Des Moines, Iowa, Scottish Rite Bodies. He is retired from the City of Des Moines Engineering Department and enjoys the hobbies of instrumental music and photography.