William R. Day

William R. Day served as Secretary of State from April to September 1898, during the United States war with Spain. An Ohio lawyer and close associate of William McKinley, he had already exercised considerable influence as assistant secretary while John Sherman occupied the senior office. The outbreak of war made him responsible for diplomacy as American forces fought in the Caribbean and the Pacific. ¹

Day worked to keep the European powers neutral and dealt with the diplomatic consequences of American military victories. His secretaryship also coincided with the annexation of Hawaii. In September he left the department to lead the American peace delegation in Paris, so his negotiation of the peace treaty was a separate assignment rather than an action taken while he remained secretary. ¹

Day had reservations about acquiring the Philippines but ultimately carried out McKinley’s instructions. The December 1898 treaty required Spain to relinquish sovereignty over Cuba and cede Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. The agreement substantially enlarged American overseas power and left unresolved the political future of the people living in the acquired territories. Day later became a federal judge and served on the United States Supreme Court from 1903 to 1922. His short diplomatic career thus included both the management of a war and the negotiations that formalized its territorial consequences. ^{1, 2}