He was the son of the former Mary Douglas Chandler (1848–1930) and Eugene Hale (1836–1918), who later served as United States Senator from Maine from 1881 to 1911 as a Republican.

[1] His maternal grandfather was Zachariah Chandler, the former Mayor of Detroit, Secretary of the Interior (under Presidents Grant and Hayes), Chair of the Republican National Committee and a U.S.

[5] Shortly after graduating from college, in 1897, Hale became a Secretary at the United States Embassy in Rome.

Hale returned to the diplomatic field in 1914, serving in the United States Embassy in London as the official responsible for Austrian affairs.

Together, Rachel and Chandler were the parents of:[9] In 1929, Hale's wife purchased Poplar Hill, an estate near Clinton, Maryland, which she renamed His Lordship's Kindness.