By Jason Sibert
Former Secretary of State Elihu Root was the prototype of the 20th century political “wise man.”
He was one who cold advise presidents on a wide variety of domestic and foreign issues. Root was born in Clinton, New York and graduated from the New York University of Law in 1867. After passing the bar in New York, Root started practicing law in the state. He took a dive into politics by serving as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in the Chester Arthur Administration.
Root served as Secretary of War (1899-1904) under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. During his years in this office, he reorganized the war department and modernized the military to make it comparable to European militaries. However, it must be understood that the military in his time was still quite small by today’s standards. Root’s policies as Secretary of War angered anti-imperialists, as he played a role in the suppression of a revolt in the Philippines. The Anti-Imperialist League registered opposition to his actions at the time.
While his policies are objectionable by modern standards, Root did try to improve the lives of the people in Cuba, the Philippines, and in Puerto Rico. He worked out certain procedures for turning Cuba over to the Cubans, designed a charter government for the Philippines, and eliminated tariffs on goods important from Puerto Rico.
President Roosevelt named Root United States Secretary of State in 1905, a position he held until 1909. As head of the State Department, he put the consular service under the civil service. Root also supported the Open Door Policy with China, a policy that granted all countries equal access to Chinese trade.
Root’s years as head of the State Department were years defined by diplomatic engagement and arbitration. On a tour of Latin America in 1906, Root persuaded those governments to participate in the Hague Peace Conference. He also established the Root-Takahira Agreement, which limited Japanese and American naval fortifications in the Pacific. In addition, Root worked with Great Britain on the arbitration of issues between the United States and Canada on the Alaska boundary dispute. He supported arbitration in resolving international disputes.
Root continued his career in politics after this term as secretary of state was up. He was elected a Republican senator from New York in 1908 and continued until 1915. Root served as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from 1910 to 1925. He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1912 for his advocacy of arbitration and cooperation.
The former secretary of state supported President Woodrow Wilson’s preparedness and wartime policies during the World War I era. He tried to win the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1916 but lost to Charles Evans Hughes. In 1917, President Wilson sent Root to Revolutionary Russia as leader of the Root Commission to arrange cooperation with the new government. No arrangement was reached because Soviet Russia would not stay in the war.
Root was the founding chairmen of the Council on Foreign Relations in 1918. In the aftermath of World War I, he supported membership in the League of Nations if certain conditions were met, like his Republican colleague Henry Cabot Lodge. The US never joined the League, but Root supported the League of Nations and served on the commission of jurists, which created the Permanent Court of International Justice. In 1922, when Root was 77, President Warren G. Harding appointed him as a delegate of an American team headed by Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. They participated in the Washington Naval Conference (International Conference on the Limitation of Armaments).
Root also worked with Andrew Carnegie in programs for international peace and the advancement of science, becoming the first president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Root was also among the founders of the American Law Institute in 1923, and he also helped create The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands. In addition, he served as vice president of the American Peace Society, which publishes “World Affairs,” the oldest U.S. journal on international relations. Root passed away in 1937.
Jason Sibert is Executive Director of the Peace Economy Project.
