Elihu Root
American lawyer and statesman
1845 CE to 1937 CE
Elihu Root (February 15, 1845 – February 7, 1937) is an American lawyer and statesman who serves as Secretary of State under President Theodore Roosevelt and as Secretary of War under Roosevelt and President William McKinley.
He moves frequently between high-level appointed government positions in Washington, D.C. and private-sector legal practice in New York City.
For this reason, he is sometimes considered to be the prototype of thetwentieth century political "wise man," advising presidents on a range of foreign and domestic issues.
He is elected by the state legislature as a U.S. Senator from New York and serves one term, 1909–1915.
Root is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912.
Root is a leading lawyer, whose clients include major corporations and such powerful players as Andrew Carnegie.
Root serves as president or chairman of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
As Secretary of War under McKinley and Roosevelt, Root design American policies for the new colonial possessions, especially the Philippines and Cuba.
His role in suppressing a Filipino revolt angers anti-imperialist activists at home.
Root favors a paternalistic approach to colonial administration, emphasizing technology, engineering, and disinterested public service, as exemplified by the ethical standards of the Progressive Era.
He helps design the Foraker Act of 1900, the Philippine Organic Act (1902), and the Platt Amendment of 1901, which authorizes American intervention in Cuba in the future if needed to maintain a stable government.
He is a strong advocate of what becomes the Panama Canal, and he champions the Open Door to expand world trade with China.
Root is a prominent opponent of women's suffrage and works to ensure the New York state constitution allows only men to vote.
Root is the leading modernizer in the history of the War Department, transforming the Army from a motley collection of small frontier outposts and coastal defense units into a modern, professionally organized, military machine comparable to the best in Europe.
He restructures the National Guard into an effective reserve, creates the Army War College for the advanced study of military doctrine, and—most important—sets up a general staff.
As Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt, Root modernizes the consular service by minimizing patronage, promotes friendly relations with Latin America, and resolves frictions with Japan over the immigration of unskilled workers to the West Coast.
He negotiates twenty-four bilateral treaties that commit the United States and other signatories to use arbitration to resolve disputes, which lead to the creation of the Permanent Court of International Justice.
In the United States Senate, Root is part of the conservative Republican support network for President William Howard Taft.
He plays a central role at the Republican National Convention in 1912 in getting Taft renominated.
By 1916–17, he is a leading proponent of preparedness, with the expectation that the United States will enter the World War.
President Woodrow Wilson sends him to Russia in 1917 in an unsuccessful effort to establish an alliance with the new revolutionary government that has replaced the czar.
Root supports Wilson's vision of the League of Nations, but with reservations along the lines proposed by Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.
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He is deeply involved in this strike as well: his interests include the Reading Railroad, one of the largest employers of miners.
He had installed George Baer, who speaks for the industry throughout the strike, as the head of the railroad.
At the urging of Secretary of War Elihu Root, Morgan comes up with another compromise proposal that provides for arbitration, while giving the industry the right to deny that it is bargaining with the union by directing that each employer and its employees communicate directly with the commission.
The employers agree on the condition that the five members be a military engineer, a mining engineer, a judge, an expert in the coal business, and an "eminent sociologist".
The employers are willing to accept a union leader as the "eminent sociologist," so Roosevelt names E. E. Clark, head of the railway conductors' union, as the "eminent sociologist."
After Catholic leaders exerted pressure, he adds a sixth member, Catholic bishop John Lancaster Spalding, and Commissioner Wright as the seventh member.
Baer makes the closing arguments for the coal operators, while lawyer Clarence Darrow closes for the workers.
Although the commissioners hear some evidence of terrible conditions, they conclude that the "moving spectacle of horrors" represents only a small number of cases.
By and large, social conditions in mine communities are found to be good, and miners are judged as only partly justified in their claim that annual earnings ware not sufficient "to maintain an American standard of living."
The rhetoric of both sides makes little difference to the Commission, which splits the difference between mineworkers and mine owners.
The miners ask for 20% wage increases, and most are given a 10% increase.
The miners have asked for an eight-hour day and are awarded a nine-hour day instead of the standard ten hours prevailing at this time.
While the operators refuse to recognize the United Mine Workers, they are required to agree to a six-man arbitration board, made up of equal numbers of labor and management representatives, with the power to settle labor disputes.
Mitchell considers that de facto recognition and calls it a victory.