Elihu Root . American jurist and politician. Recognized as one of the most brilliant political figures in American history, he dedicated a significant part of his public career to the cause of international arbitration. In 1912 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize .
Biographical synthesis
He was born in Clinton, New York , in 1845; son of a mathematics professor at Hamilton College, he began his studies in Hamilton , graduating first in his class in 1864 at the age of nineteen and, in 1867, graduated in law from the University of New York . After a year of practice, he founded a law firm and before reaching the age of thirty he was already a prominent jurist specializing in business matters. Dedicated to the practice of law, he managed to amass a considerable fortune as an advisor to financial and railway companies and soon won the recognition and admiration of his professional colleagues.
A regular contributor to the Republican Party in local political campaigns in New York City, President McKinley offered him the Secretary of War in 1899 . During his tenure, which lasted until 1904, Root carried out an extensive reorganization of the Department of Defense with measures such as the establishment of new promotion procedures in the Army, the founding of the Military College, the expansion of West Point, the inauguration of schools for special services, the creation of the General Staff, the strengthening of control over the National Guard and the reinstatement of internal discipline in the Ministry.
His mandate was also determined by the annexation of the Spanish overseas places after the Spanish-American War and his were the initiatives to design a plan to return Cuba to the Cubans; to eliminate tariffs on Puerto Rican imported products and, finally, to send the Philippine Government a proposal for a statute that guaranteed the independence of the national government, the protection of local customs and the eventual establishment of self-determination.
He returned to his private practice in 1904 , but in 1905 at the invitation of President Theodore Roosevelt , he accepted the post of Secretary of State. And as was the case during his tenure as head of the Department of Defense, also in this new responsibility he launched a vast program of activities.
History in favor of peace
- It brought the consular service into the Civil Service, thus the elimination of “influence peddling.”
- He maintains the “open door” policy in the Far East, a policy that he had helped formulate as Secretary of War.
- He dealt with the emigration of Japanese to the United States
- He strengthened friendly relations with South Americain 1906 during an unprecedented diplomatic tour.
- He sponsored the Central American Peace Conference, held in Washington in 1907, which resulted in the creation of the Central American Court of Justice, an international tribunal for the judicial settlement of controversies; negotiated some reciprocity treaties regarding arbitration.
- Together with Lord Bryce, he solved a set of American-Canadian problems and instituted the American-Canadian High Commissioner for joint problem solving in the future.
- He was a United States senator from 1909 to 1915 , the year in which he declined reelection and even a possible run for the presidency of the United States.
- He opposed Woodrow Wilson’s policy of neutrality, but supported him during the war, accepting Wilson’s appointment as Ambassador Extraordinary at the head of a special diplomatic mission to Russia in 1917 .
- He was a member of the Alaska Boundary Court (1903), a counselor to the North Atlantic Fisheries Commission (1910), first president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1910 – 1925 ), and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbritration (1910) .
- He participated as a jurist in the creation of the Permanent Court of International Justice, dependent on the League of Nations ( 1920 – 1921 ).
- In 1912 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
