Robert Lansing

Robert Lansing
42nd United States Secretary of State
In office June 24, 1915 – February 13, 1920
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	William Jennings Bryan
Succeeded by	Bainbridge Colby
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(s)	Eleanor Foster Lansing (1890 - 1928, his death)
Alma mater	Amherst College
Profession	Lawyer, politician

Robert Lansing (/ˈlænsɪŋ/; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and Conservative Democratic politician who served as Legal Advisor 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. Before U.S. involvement in the war, Lansing vigorously advocated in favor of the principles of 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.

Robert Lansing was born in Watertown, New York in October 1864, the son of John Lansing (1832–1907) and Maria Lay (Dodge) Lansing. He graduated from Amherst College in 1886, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1889.

From then until 1907 he was a member of the law firm of Lansing & Lansing at Watertown. An authority on international law, he served as associate counsel for the United States, in the Bering Sea Arbitration in 1892-1893, as counsel for the United States Bering Sea Claims Commission in 1896-1897, as the government's lawyer before the Alaskan Boundary Tribunal in 1903, as counsel for the North Atlantic Fisheries in the Arbitration at The Hague in 1909-1910, and as agent of the United States in the American and British Arbitration in 1912-1914. In 1914 Lansing was appointed counselor to the State Department by President Woodrow Wilson.

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