 These proconsuls ruled in the age of the transoceanic telegraph, so rapid communication did not end proconsular independence.Various American commanders and ambassadors have been referred to as proconsuls.Writer Carnes Lord discusses William Howard Taft in the Philippines (1900–1903); Leonard Wood in Cuba; Lucius D. Clay in Germany; Douglas MacArthur in South Korea; Edward Lansdale in South Vietnam; Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., U.S.