John Flournoy Montgomery - Budapest Posting

Budapest Posting

In June 1933, Montgomery was sworn in as U.S. Minister to Hungary (he had hoped to be sent to Vienna, but Budapest was what he was offered). Montgomery was clearly expected to watch over the political intrigues not only in Budapest but, from his central location on the Danube, to monitor the goings-on in Hungary’s neighbors (Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia) and other countries in the region as well, including Bulgaria, Poland, Germany and Italy. Roosevelt invited Montgomery to report to him personally, an opportunity the ambassador took occasionally.

Although he had no career experience as an international diplomat, Montgomery proved to be an enthusiastic and dedicated ambassador. He cultivated hundreds of friendships among the Hungarian and European political class, with whom he socialized regularly; he faithfully dictated records of almost every conversation he held with important political players, and kept a detailed journal. He avidly collected and recorded information about his many contacts, including their earlier jobs, their families and hobbies, and even gossip he heard about them from his other friends.

At the same time, Montgomery was hindered by his background: he spoke only English, which limited most of his meaningful contacts to those Hungarians and other Europeans who had studied English themselves and spoke it fluently. By definition, this meant that most of his close relationships in Budapest were with educated aristocrats and members of the ruling political elite. His inability to read local newspapers or understand casual conversations in the street meant that Montgomery was cut off from much of the middle- and working-class political activity in the Hungarian capital.

Montgomery was also plainly charmed by Budapest’s Gilded Age atmosphere, and enchanted by the capital’s old-world pageantry – the elaborate costumes and glittering, semi-feudal rituals to which Hungary clung. In particular, he was won over by the considerable charisma and personal charm of Hungary’s head of state, the regent Miklós Horthy.