As Head of the State Department's Division of European Affairs he received notification from the German Embassy of their declaration of war on December 11, 1941.

[5] His first assignment was a trip with the Rolland Morrow mission to Tokyo to buy ships from the Japanese to help transport troops to Europe.

[9] At the end of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Atherton was posted to Athens and in 1923-24, served as ad interim United States Ambassador to Greece.

[10] The Greek mission ended suddenly when Washington decided the Embassy in London needed an expert on Far Eastern Affairs.

The Bulgarian appointment was termited so that Atherton could chair the International Wheat Advisory Committee, attended by most European countries, Canada, the United States, Argentina and Australia.

They sailed on the SS George Washington and with other passengers swung from the davits in lifeboats while the Captain argued with a U-boat commander who had stopped the American liner on the high seas.

Hull greeted Atherton upon his arrival with the news that he was to take the post of Head of the European Division, which had been vacated by Jay Pierrepont Moffat, who assumed the role of Minister to Canada.

[2] During his time in office as acting chief of the Division of European Affairs, Nevile Butler of the British Embassy would be a frequent caller in his attempts to bring the U.S. into the war.

[13] It was Atherton who, on the morning December 12, 1941, received Germany's official declaration of war delivered by German Charge d'Affaires Hans Thomsen after Hull refused to see him.

Noted absence reported in the press was his Soviet counterpart who declined to attend the farewell function, pleading pressure of business.

[17][18] In August 1948, Atherton was accredited as an alternate U.S. delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, which was then meeting in Paris.

Constance had the pedigree of the most elite Boston Brahmim; she was a descendant of the Adams, Amory, Coolidge, Copley, Crowninshield, and Peabody families.

[23] Constance had multiple admirers and received regular relationship advice from her financial guardian, Uncle Charles Francis Adams III (1866-1954), written on his ‘Secretary of the US Navy’ stationery.

She loved anything risky; was addicted to horse racing, gambling and extramarital liaisons, which placed a great deal of a strain on their marriage.

Following her divorce from Atherton, she got engaged to the reportedly handsomeformer polo player, Count Pierre de Jumilhac.

The New York Times reported on April 17, 1928, the engagement of a Boston Girl to an American Diplomat based in London.

It also refers to her as the daughter of the late Hollis Horatio Hunnewell Jnr (1868-1922) of Boston, Massachusetts and Mrs John S. Tooker of Ascot, England.

[2] Both Atherton and Maud are buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Atherton (1815-1895),[35][36] is credited to having greatly improved the financial standing of the family, having established himself in business as a retail dealer in boots and shoes, first entering into partnership with Caleb Stetson, then admitting his two younger brothers, James (1819-1879) [37] and William, as partners in 1852.