LANSING, Robert, American statesman: b. Watertown, N. Y., 1864. After graduating from Amherst College he was admitted to the New York bar and began to practise law in his native town. On various important occa sions he was engaged by the United States government on international questions, among them the Bering Sea Fur-Seal Arbitration (Paris 1892-93), in which he served as counsel and technical delegate; the Bering Sea Claims Commission (1896-97), Alaskan Boundary Tri bunal (1903), North Atlantic Coast Fisheries Arbitration (1909-10) and the American and British Claims Arbitration (1912-14). Mr. Lansing was appointed counsellor for the De partment of State in March 1914. On the unexpected resignation of Mr. William Jen nings Bryan (q.v.) from the office of Secretary of State on 8 June 1915, President Wilson on the following day authorized Mr. Lansing to perform the duties of that office a period not to exceed thirty days, until a Secretary shall have been appointed and have qualified.*
The subsequent definite appointment of Mr. Lansing as Secretary of State proved a for tunate choice. In the delicate negotiations with foreign powers which Mr. Lansing conducted during 1915, 1916 and 1917, he displayed a statesmanlike breadth of view and a judicial grasp of essential points. The unrestricted submarine policy of the German government, involving diplomatic duels with ambassadors and Foreign Offices, and the intricate problems arising under international law from the British and French attitude with regard to the rights of search and blockade, in addition to many. other thorny questions concerning the diffi culties of neutrality, were alike handled by Mr. Lansing with diplomatic skill and tact. Among his other interests Mr. Lansing is associate editor of The American Journal of Interna tional Law and part author of The Govern ment: Its Origin, Growth and Form in the United States' (New York 1902).