STIMSON, Henry Lewis, Esq, [1867-1950] -- American lawyer and diplomat

Secretary of War Jacob M. Dickinson (Taft), tendered his resignation April 28th 1911. It was not acted upon immediately, and on May 5th Mr. Dickinson repeated his request to be relieved from the duties of the position, owing to the press of private interests, but intimated that, on account of the Mexican war crisis, his withdrawal might embarrass the government, and if so he would be willing to remain in office until the emergency was over. Evidently this did not appeal to President Taft for on May 12th he named Mr. Henry L. Stimson, of New York, as Dickinson's successor. Mr. Stimson was Roosevelt's candidate for the governorship of New York state, and his selection for the important post of Secretary of War has been explained as a move by the President to heal factional differences in that state, and to influence the delegate vote of New York in the national convention of 1912.
[History of the American Nation by William J. Jackman (9 Volumes); Volume 6 : Chapter 91 "Principal Events in 1911"]

Stimson developed the Stimson Doctrine to counter the growing threat of Japanese aggression in the period preceding World War II, and oversaw the U.S. army throughout that war. He served in the cabinets of four presidents -- all related to me!

In recent years it has become fashionably revisionist to make Stimson out to have been an evil Machiavelli bent on world domination. I'm not buying it.  
 

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• 9C2M: ¤TAFT, William Howard, Esq [1857-1930] American jurist & 27° POTUS