Robert Lansing

Robert Lansing
42nd United States Secretary of State
In office June 24, 1915 – February 13, 1920 Acting: June 9 – 24, 1915
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	William Jennings Bryan
Succeeded by	Bainbridge Colby
3rd Counselor of the United States Department of State
In office April 1, 1914 – June 23, 1915
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	John Bassett Moore
Succeeded by	Frank Polk
Personal details
Born	(1864-10-17)October 17, 1864 Watertown, New York, U.S.
Died	October 30, 1928(1928-10-30) (aged 64) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Eleanor Foster (1890–1928)
Education	Amherst College (BA)

Robert Lansing (/ˈlænsɪŋ/; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as Counselor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I, and then as United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1915 to 1920. A conservative pro-business Democrat, he was a strong advocate of democracy and of the United States' role in establishing international law. He was an avowed enemy of German autocracy and Russian Bolshevism.^[1] Before U.S. involvement in the war, Lansing vigorously advocated freedom of the seas and the rights of neutral nations. He later advocated U.S. participation in World War I, negotiated the Lansing–Ishii Agreement with Japan in 1917 and was a member of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace at Paris in 1919. However, Wilson made Colonel House his chief foreign policy advisor because Lansing privately opposed much of the Treaty of Versailles and was skeptical of the Wilsonian principle of self-determination.