Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary...and my Grandfather

We have been interested in going to Cuba for a number of years, in part because it has a place in our family history.

The significant text on the back of the photo reads, 
 

               AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO CUBA PRESENTS PAPERS

               HAVANA, CUBA -- HENRY NORWEB, NEW AMERICAN

                  AMBASSADOR TO CUBA PRESENTED HIS PAPERS TO

                  PRESIDENT GRAU SAN MARTIN IN HAVANA ON JULY

                  24TH.  HERE THE TWO ARE SHOWN OUTSIDE THE PALACE.

                  PRESIDENT SAN MARTIN IS ON THE LEFT.           

                  ACME NEWPICTURES, Inc.                             7/27/45

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Excerpt from New York Times obituary in 1983

R. Henry Norweb, a United States diplomat who served during both world wars and held ambassadorial posts in Latin America, died of cancer Saturday in Cleveland. He was 89 years old.

...he went to Paris in 1917 as secretary to Ambassador William G. Sharp. He was sent to Japan as secretary of the embassy in 1922, to the Netherlands as secretary of the embassy and charge d'affaires in 1925, and to Chile as counselor in 1929. 

He later served in in Bolivia and the Dominican Republic and in 1940 was named Ambassador to Peru. 

During World War II, in 1943, Mr. Norweb was sent as Ambassador to Portugal to head the negotiations for establishing the United States air base in the Azores. 

He retired to Cleveland in 1948 from his post as Ambassador to Cuba.

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• R. Henry Norweb – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: May 21, 1945
  • Presented credentials: July 24, 1945
  • Terminated mission: Left post, May 22, 1948
  
  U.S. diplomatic terms
  

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  Career FSO
  After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) for those who have served in the Foreign Service for a specified amount of time.
  Political appointee
  A person who is not a career foreign service officer, but is appointed by the president (often as a reward to political friends).
  Appointed
  The date that the ambassador took the oath of office; also known as “commissioning”. It follows confirmation of a presidential appointment by the Senate, or a Congressional-recess appointment by the president. In the case of a recess appointment, the ambassador requires subsequent confirmation by the Senate.
  Presented credentials
  The date that the ambassador presented his letter of credence to the head of state or appropriate authority of the receiving nation. At this time the ambassador officially becomes the representative of his country. This would normally occur a short time after the ambassador’s arrival on station. The host nation may reject the ambassador by not receiving the ambassador’s letter, but this occurs only rarely.
  Terminated mission
  Usually the date that the ambassador left the country. In some cases a letter of recall is presented, ending the ambassador’s commission, either as a means of diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another envoy.
  

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"But what does "plenipotentiary" mean?", I hear you ask.  Dictionary.com defines it as:

A person, especially a diplomat, invested with

the full power of independent action on behalf

of their government, typically in a foreign country.