SECRETARY OF STATE, 1915-1920

Wartime Cabinet Member.

As secretary of state during World War I, Robert Lansing was over-shadowed by President Woodrow Wilson, who conducted most important foreign-policy matters himself. As the German ambassador to the United States once commented, "Since Wilson decides everything, any interview with Lansing is a mere matter of form."

Background.

Born in Watertown, New York, on 17 October 1864, Robert Lansing graduated from Amherst College in 1886. After studying law in his father's law office, he was admitted to the New York State bar in 1889 and became a junior partner in his father's firm in Watertown. In 1890 Lansing married Eleanor Foster, whose father became secretary of state for President Benjamin Harrison in 1892. Reaping the benefits of nepotism, Lansing was appointed associate counsel for the United States in international arbitration and served as counsel on...