Root, Elihu, an American
statesman; born in Clinton, N.Y., Feb. 15, 1845; was graduated at Hamilton College in 1864, and after teaching for a while entered the New York University Law School and was graduated in 1867. On Aug. 1, 1899, he was appointed Secretary of War by President McKinley, and on March 5, 1901, was reappointed. After the Spanish-American War, Secretary Root represented the United States government in all official communications with Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands. He was Secretary of War in 1899-1904; Secretary of State in 1905-1909; elected United States Senator for the term of 1909-1915; chief counsel for the United States before the Permanent Arbitration Court in 1910.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia,
1912. | 
