Spouse Belle Layton (m. 1891) Governor Andrew J. Montague Role Political figure | Preceded by Henry Fairfax Name Joseph Willard Preceded by R. C. Triplett | |
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Joseph Edward Willard (May 1, 1865 – April 4, 1924) was a U.S. political figure from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Biography
The son of Joseph Clapp Willard and Antonia Ford, he served for eight years in the Virginia House of Delegates, prior to his election as the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He held that office from 1902 through 1906, leaving after an unsuccessful run for Governor. He then assumed the office of commissioner of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, serving for four years. In 1913, he was appointed by Woodrow Wilson as the United States Ambassador to Spain. Upon the outbreak of World War I Willard was vacationing in the United States and returned to Europe aboard the USS Tennessee. Willard left knowing that his daughter, Belle, who was married to Kermit Roosevelt, was sick with typhoid fever (she would recover). Ambassador Willard held his position until shortly before his death in 1924.