Root, Elihu. An American statesman and lawyer. Born in Clinton, NY, February 15, 1845. Graduated Hamilton College in 1864, and after teaching for a while entered the New York University Law School, and was graduated in 1867. On August 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, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands. In August, 1903, he resigned the office of secretary of war, his resignation to take effect in January, 1904. In 1905, President Roosevelt appointed him secretary of state, and while discharging the duties of that office he did much to unify the Pan-American countries. In 1907 he visited Mexico in the interests of a closer relationship between that country and the United States. United States senator from New York, 1909-15. Received Nobel Peace Prize in 1912.

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