George T. Summerlin

George Thomas Summerlin (November 11, 1872 – July 1, 1947) was an American army officer and diplomat from Louisiana.

George T. Summerlin
6th Chief of Protocol of the United States
In office July 29, 1937 – January 15, 1944
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Richard Southgate
Succeeded by	Stanley Woodward
United States Minister to Panama
In office March 8, 1935 – July 7, 1937
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Antonio C. Gonzalez
Succeeded by	Frank P. Corrigan
United States Minister to Venezuela
In office February 21, 1930 – January 15, 1935
President	Herbert Hoover Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Willis C. Cook
Succeeded by	Meredith Nicholson
United States Minister to Honduras
In office November 21, 1925 – December 17, 1929
President	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Franklin E. Morales
Succeeded by	Julius Gareché Lay
Personal details
Born	George Thomas Summerlin

He was born in Rayville, Louisiana and studied at private schools there. In 1888, he began college at Louisiana State University, before transferring two years later to the United States Military Academy. He graduated from the latter in 1896, and was chosen aide-de-camp to General Theodore Schwan at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War. He rose to the rank of captain in the U.S. Army before resigning in 1903. After a few years in business in Pittsburgh, he entered the State Department as a clerk. After rising through the ranks and serving in Japan, China, Mexico and Italy, he was appointed Minister to Honduras in 1924. In 1929, he was transferred to Venezuela, and in 1934 to Panama.

In 1937, President Roosevelt appointed Summerlin Chief of Protocol of the United States. He was promoted to Special Assistant to the Secretary in 1944 and retired for health reasons in 1946. He died at the Navy Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Summerlin was married in 1899 to Virginia Loomis, a granddaughter of Jacob Jay Vandergrift.