Person
Howard Sweetser Bliss
President of the Syrian Protestant College, Middle East Advisor to the Paris Peace Conference
Howard Sweetser Bliss (December 6, 1860 in Suq al-Gharb, Lebanon —March 2, 1920 in Saranac, New York) is the President of the Syrian Protestant College (SPC) during the First World War.
His congenial relationship with Djemal Pasha helps to ensure the security of the college and American community throughout the war.
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, he recommends consulting the occupants of the former Ottoman territories about which power they would prefer overseeing their Mandate.
Accordingly, President Woodrow Wilson appoints an American panel, the King-Crane Commission, to investigate the disposition of Ottoman territories and the assigning of mandates.