Forbes, William Cameron

Forbes, William Cameron, 1870–1959, American business executive and diplomat, b. Milton, Mass. He entered the mercantile house of his grandfather, John Murray Forbes, in Boston and was a partner in the firm after 1899. Appointed (1904) to the Philippine Commission by President Theodore Roosevelt, he held several administrative posts there before he served (1909–13) as governor-general of the islands. He was a member of the Wood-Forbes Commission, which was sent (1921) by President Harding to the Philippines. He was later (1930) chairman of a commission to study conditions in Haiti, served (1931–32) as ambassador to Japan at the time of the Manchurian crisis, and led (1935) an economic mission to East Asia.