Lansing, Robert

Lansing, Robert

(1864–1928) cabinet member; born in Watertown, N.Y. An Amherst graduate, he practiced international law (1892–1915) and edited the Journal of International Law (1907–28). As secretary of state (1915–20), he angered the Chinese by giving Japan favorable trading rights. He did not support the League of Nations and was fired for running cabinet meetings during President Wilson's illness.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Lansing, Robert

 

Bom Oct. 17, 1864, in Watertown, N.Y.; died Oct. 30, 1928, in Washington, D.C. American diplomat. By education he was a lawyer, a specialist in international law.

From 1915 to 1920, Lansing was US secretary of state. Believing that a victory by Germany in World War I would threaten US interests, he advocated direct participation by the USA in the war against Germany. The Lansing-Ishii Agreement of 1917 was a Japanese-American agreement on China. Lansing took part in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919–20.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.