Preceded by 44th Secretary Jacob M. Dickinson Preceded by 45th Secretary Frank B. Kellogg Preceded by 53rd Secretary Harry Hines Woodring |
Henry Lewis Stimson 45th United States Secretary of War1911—1913 46th United States Secretary of State1929—1933 54th United States Secretary of War1940—1945 |
Succeeded by 46th Secretary Lindley Miller Garrison Succeeded by 47th Secretary Cordell Hull Succeeded by 55th Secretary Robert P. Patterson |
"Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician.
Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in the foreign policy of the United States, serving in Republican and Democratic administrations. He served as Secretary of War (1911–1913) under William Howard Taft, Secretary of State (1929–1933) under Herbert Hoover, and Secretary of War (1940–1945) under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman" (wikipedia excerpt).
Stimpson was born into a wealthy New York family, Dr. Lewis Atterbury Stimson and Candace Thurber (Wheeler) Stimson on September 21, 1867. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, received his B.A. degree from Yale, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1890.
On July 6, 1893, Mr. Stimson married Miss Mabel Wellington White, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. White of New Haven, Conn. Of this marriage and Mrs. Stimson Mr. Stimson wrote in his memoirs: "That marriage has now lasted over fifty-four years, during which she has ever been my devoted companion, and the greatest happiness of my life."
Stimson rose to prominence first as a partner in the legal firm run by Elihu Root, who served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War in the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. Stimson ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for Governor of New York in 1910, but was then appointed Secretary of War by President William Howard Taft in 1911. He served in the U.S. Army during the First World War as a colonel in the artillery.
Between 1918 and 1926, he served only as an occasional envoy to Latin America, mediating a dispute between Chile and Peru in 1925, and negotiating an end to the Nicaraguan civil war in 1927. President Calvin Coolidge appointed Stimson Governor General of the Philippines later that year, a post that he held until he was appointed Secretary of State in March of 1929.
After President Hoover’s defeat in 1932, Stimson retired but was recalled to U.S. Government service by President Franklin Roosevelt, who appointed him Secretary of War in 1940. Instrumental in directing the atomic bomb program after 1943, he advised President Harry S. Truman to use it in 1945. He also helped develop plans for the trial of war criminals after World War II. He retired in September of 1945.
Mr. and Mrs. Stimson had no children.
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