
Bainbridge Colby
Former United States Secretary of State
Education
- Graduated - Williams College
- Columbia Law School -
- and New York Law School -
Overview
Bainbridge Colby was an American politician and attorney who was a co-founder of the United States Progressive Party and Woodrow Wilson's last Secretary of State. Colby was a Republican until he helped co-found the National Progressive Party in 1912; he ran for multiple offices as a member of that party, but never won.
Colby served as Secretary of State from February 1920 until 1921, at a time when President Woodrow Wilson was medically handicapped and largely out of touch. He is best known for promoting a Good Neighbor policy for Latin America, and for denouncing the communist regime in Russia.
Career :
He was admitted to the New York bar, and served as a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 29th D.) 1901–1902. He spoke at the Colby College commencement on June 19, 1933, at which time he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree
Secretary of State :
Wilson appointed him Secretary of State on March 23, 1920, after firing his predecessor, Robert Lansing, for insubordination. Wilson's appointment of Colby was "bizarre" says historian John Milton Cooper, for Colby had no diplomatic experience or skills. Editorial responses from leading newspapers ranged "from puzzlement to outrage." Colby was chosen because he was totally loyal to Wilson.
On August 26, eight days after ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, Colby issued the official proclamation that it had become a part of the Constitution of the United States, guaranteeing women the right to vote. In December 1920, Colby embarked on the battleship Florida for an official goodwill cruise to South America. His goodwill trip set the stage for the transition to a "Good Neighbor" policy.
Colby advocated his policies firmly even as Wilson suffered the debilitating side effects of a series of strokes. Colby supported the League of Nations and established a precedent for not recognizing newly Communist Russia; that would be reversed in 1933. In a major statement in 1920, Colby declared:
It is not possible for the Government of the United States to recognize the present rulers of Russia as a government with which the relations common to friendly governments can be maintained. This conviction has nothing to do with any particular political or social structure which the Russian people themselves may see fit to embrace. It rests upon a wholly different set of facts....that the existing regime in Russia is based upon the negation of every principle of honor and good faith, and every usage and convention, underlying the whole structure of international law; the negation, in short, of every principle upon which it is possible to base harmonious and trustful relations, whether of nations or of individuals. The responsible leaders of the regime have frequently and openly boasted that they are willing to sign agreements and undertakings with foreign Powers while not having the slightest intention of observing such undertakings or carrying out such agreements....it is their understanding that the very existence of Bolshevism in Russia, the maintenance of their own rule, depends, and must continue to depend, upon the occurrence of revolutions in all other great civilized nations, including the United States, which will overthrow and destroy their governments and set up Bolshevist rule in their stead. They have made it quite plain that they intend to use every means, including, of course, diplomatic agencies, to promote such revolutionary movements in other countries.
He served until Wilson left office on March 4, 1921.
The Library of Congress maintains a collection of Colby’s documents.
Early Life
Bainbridge Colby was born in St. Louis, Missouri on December 22, 1869. He graduated from Williams College, where he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa, then attended Columbia Law School and New York Law School (1892).
Career
- United States - Former Secretary of State