Robert Lansing
| Robert Lansing link Spartacus (Lawyer, politician) | |
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| Born | 1864-10-17 Watertown, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 30, 1928 New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Amherst College |
| Spouse | Eleanor Foster Lansing |
| Party | Democratic |
US Secretary of State during and after World War I | |
Robert Lansing was an American lawyer and diplomat who was the 42nd United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1915 to 1920. As Counselor to the US State Department and then as Secretary of State, he was a leading advocate for American involvement in World War I.
State Department Counselor
Lansing initially advocated for the United States to adopt a position of "benevolent neutrality" after the outbreak of World War I and opposed the blockade of Germany by the Allied powers.
Following the sinking of the RMS Lusitania on 7 May 1915 by the German submarine U-20, Lansing backed Woodrow Wilson in issuing three notes of protest to the German government. William Jennings Bryan resigned as Secretary of State following Wilson's second note, which Bryan considered too belligerent. Consulting Colonel House, Wilson was advised to select Lansing as replacement Secretary because he did not have "too many ideas of his own". Unlike Bryan he lacked a political base, though he had technical knowledge of international law and diplomatic procedure. Wilson told Colonel House that as president he would practically be his own Secretary of State, and "Lansing would not be troublesome by uprooting or injecting his own views."
US Secretary of State
According to John Milton Cooper, appointing Lansing and then "treating him like a clerk" would be one of President Wilson's worst mistakes. While Wilson set foreign policy directions almost entirely on his own, Lansing resented this treatment, and attempted to undermine the president in various ways. As Lansing said in his memoirs, following the Lusitania tragedy he had the "conviction that we would ultimately become the ally of Britain". According to Lester H. Woolsey, Lansing expressed his views by manipulating the work of the State Department to minimise conflict with Britain and maximise public awareness of Germany's faults.
In 1916, Lansing hired a handful of men who became the State Department's first special agents in the new Bureau of Secret Intelligence. The agents were initially used to observe the activities of the Central Powers in America and later to watch over interned German diplomats. The small group of agents hired by Lansing would eventually become the US Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).
Lansing Declaration
On 4 August 1916, Lansing concluded a treaty with his Danish counterpart, whereby Denmark sold its territories in the West Indies to the United States for US$25 million. The treaty included the Lansing Declaration that “the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.”
In 1917, he signed the Lansing–Ishii Agreement with Japan on 2 November 1917 when both parties agreed to respect the independence and territorial integrity of China and to follow the principle of equal opportunity for commerce and industry in that country. The United States recognised Japan had special interests in certain areas, especially Manchuria. The Chinese objected to the agreement, which was abrogated in 1923, having been replaced by the Nine-Power Treaty on 6 February 1922.
In 1919, Lansing became the nominal head of the US Commission to the Paris Peace Conference. Because he did not regard the League of Nations as essential to the peace treaty, Lansing began to fall out of favour with President Wilson, who considered participation in the League of Nations to be a primary goal. During Wilson's stroke and illness, Lansing called the cabinet together for consultations on several occasions. In addition, he was the first cabinet member to suggest for Vice President Thomas R. Marshall to assume the powers of the presidency. Displeased by Lansing's independence, Edith Wilson requested Lansing's resignation.
Resignation
Lansing stepped down from his post on 12 February 1920.[1]