Edward Grant Stockdale (July 31, 1915 – December 2, 1963),[1] was a Florida businessman and friend of President John F. Kennedy who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1961 to 1962.

Born Edward Grant Stockdale in 1915,[2] he was an Episcopalian from Greenville, Mississippi, where one of his childhood friends was the writer, Shelby Foote.

[11][12][13] He also introduced the first anti-Ku Klux Klan legislation in a southern state, designed to prohibit the wearing of masks and hoods in public.

[16] He also led a successful campaign against a tax on hotels and rooming houses and supported legislation to increase criminal penalties for child molestation.

He staged a one-man revolt in September 1954 by making an issue of the commission's practice of conducting closed-door meetings and requiring unanimous votes.

[24] Time magazine criticized Kennedy for nominating Stockdale after promising during the campaign to appoint ambassadors on the basis of ability alone.

[26] In April, 1961, just before leaving for Ireland, Stockdale was sued by a business rival that claimed he had used "undue influence" to win government contracts for a Miami vending machines company in which he held stock.

"[29] After his time as ambassador, Stockdale returned to real estate and worked in public relations for the American Canteen Company.

On January 1, 1963, Stockdale sat with Kennedy to watch the Orange Bowl game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners, for which the President performed the opening coin toss.

[30] Stockdale was invited by Kennedy to participate in the May 30, 1963, Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as the President laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

[32] On November 23, 1963, Stockdale received a telegram from Robert F. Kennedy at 12:59 a.m. stating: "THE PRESIDENT'S BODY WILL LIE IN REPOSE IN THE EAST ROOM OF THE WHITE HOUSE SATURDAY.

[9] Stockdale died in a fall from his office on the 13th floor of the DuPont Building in Miami, Florida, on December 2, 1963, one week after the funeral and just ten days after the assassination of President Kennedy.