Robert Bacon

Robert Bacon served as Secretary of State for thirty-seven days at the end of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, from January 27 to March 5, 1909. A Harvard classmate of Roosevelt, he had worked in banking and participated in the organization of major corporations before entering the State Department as assistant secretary in 1905. ¹

Bacon’s brief secretaryship continued work already under way rather than introducing a new administration’s program. He participated in negotiations intended to settle outstanding questions among the United States, Panama, and Colombia after Panama’s separation and the canal agreement. Resistance in Colombia prevented a comprehensive settlement on the proposed terms. He also helped organize the North American Conservation Conference, which brought the United States, Canada, and Mexico together to discuss the management of natural resources. ¹

His longer diplomatic assignment came as ambassador to France from 1909 to 1912. That appointment drew on his earlier work in the department and his connections in financial and public life. During the First World War, he served with the American forces under John J. Pershing. Bacon’s career illustrates the movement of politically connected financiers into American diplomacy before the professional foreign service became the dominant route into senior diplomatic assignments. ¹