1838–1905

Introduction

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Born: Oc­to­ber 8, 1838, Sa­lem, In­di­ana.

Died: Ju­ly 1, 1905, New­bu­ry, New Hamp­shire.

Buried: Lake­view Ce­me­te­ry, Cleve­land, Ohio.

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Biography

Hay gra­du­ated from Brown Uni­ver­si­ty, Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land, in 1858, then stu­died law with fu­ture Am­eri­can pre­si­dent Ab­ra­ham Lin­coln.

He be­came an at­tor­ney in Spring­field, Il­li­nois, in 1861. He was Lin­coln’s as­sist­ant pri­vate sec­re­ta­ry un­til Lincoln’s death in 1865. Hay then served as sec­re­ta­ry of the Am­eri­can le­ga­tion in Pa­ris (1865–67), Vi­en­na (1867–69), and Ma­drid (1869–70).

Upon re­turn­ing home, he be­came an ed­it­or­ial writ­er at the New York Her­ald Tri­bune.

Hay re-entered pub­lic ser­vice as First As­sist­ant Sec­re­ta­ry of State (1879–81), and up­on Will­iam Mc­Kin­ley’s in­au­gu­ra­tion, was ap­point­ed Am­eri­can am­bas­sa­dor to Bri­tain.

In 1898, he be­came Sec­re­ta­ry of State, hold­ing that post un­til his death. He is per­haps best re­mem­bered for his Op­en Door po­li­cy to­ward Chi­na.

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