The Life of Frank B. Kellogg
By Jason Sibert
The thoughts and actions of human beings sometimes make a difference in the long run – for better or for worse.
Former Secretary of State (1925-1929) Frank Kellogg was such a person. Kellogg was born in 1856 in the state of New York and started practicing law in Minnesota in 1877. He later served as city attorney for Rochester (1878-1881) and county attorney for Olmstead County (1882-1887). Kellogg joined the federal government in 1905 when President Theodore Roosevelt asked him to join an antitrust case. In 1906, he was appointed special council to the Interstate Commerce Commission for the investigation of EH Harriman. In 1908, he was appointed the lead attorney in the prosecution of Union Pacific Railroad under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Kellogg also served as president of the American Bar Association (1912-1913).
He entered the realm of electoral politics in 1916 when he was elected to the senate as a Republican in the state of Minnesota. Kellogg was one of the few Republican senators who supported the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. Kellogg was defeated for reelection in 1922 but served as a delegate to the Fifth International Conference of American States in 1923.
He served as President Calvin Coolidge’s Secretary of State from 1925 to 1929. Kellogg worked to improve the relationship between the United States and Mexico and helped to resolve the long-standing Tacna-Arica controversy between Peru and Chile. His biggest accomplishment was the Kellogg-Briand Pact. The pact outlawed war as a means of settling disputes. Kellogg won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929.
Some have rightly criticized Kellogg-Briand for failing to prevent World War II or the wars that came after it. However, others give it credit for bringing about a decline in interstate warfare after its adoption, as noted by academics Scott Shapiro and Oona Hathaway. For all the treaty’s failures, there has been a decline in interstate warfare since that time.
The spirit of Kellogg-Briand was included in the United Nations Treaty. The former Secretary of State served on the Permanent Court of International Justice from 1930 to 1935. Kellogg died of pneumonia on Dec. 21, 1937 on the eve of his 81st birthday in St. Paul, Minn.
Although mostly forgotten by the public today, this man’s ideas have had a lasting impact on our history. If Kellogg were alive today, he would not be happy with the world’s geopolitical powers tearing the world apart, the breakdown of internationalist consciousness, and the trend toward right-wing populism in many democracies around the world.
Internationalists, and those interested in peace, must work to keep the spirit of Secretary of State Frank Kellogg alive!
Jason Sibert is the executive director of the Peace Economy Project in St Louis.
