page_1034 < previous page page_1034 next page > Page 1034 retary of state, and on the eve of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt reappointed him secretary of war, correctly believing that his reputation for integrity and his Republican party affiliation would help build support for the war effort. Whether inspecting water projects in the California wilderness or administering the largest military expansion in U.S. history, Stimson combined rugged individualism with the urbanity of a Wall Street lawyer educated at Yale and Harvard. Like his mentor, Elihu Root, he was a conservative modernizer striving to stabilize American capitalism through regulation "in the public interest." The idea of a neutral public interest was a distinguishing trait of his philosophy whether he was governing the Philippines, as he did in the twenties, or agonizing over the implications of the atomic bomb. Stimson's close friend President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to his first public office, U.S. attorney in New York City. During this time, he made fundamental, but little-known, contributions to the strengthening of federal power and the reshaping of American capitalism. He created the first modern, professional federal prosecutor's office, which engaged in high-profile enforcement of trade regulation laws. Among the bright young lawyers he brought into public life was Felix Frankfurter, who later ascended to the Supreme Court. As secretary of state at the beginning of the Great Depression, Stimson hoped to maintain American power without resorting to war. Though a strong partisan of army reform and military preparedness prior to both world wars, he energetically negotiated arms limitation treaties and took a hard line against perceived violations of international law, such as the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Under the Stimson Doctrine the United States refused to recognize any territorial change effected by conquest, but lacking British support, the doctrine remained a paper declaration. As Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretary of war, Stimson had his greatest impact on American life. During the prePearl Harbor days of World War II he worked closely with Chief of Staff George C. Marshall to secure congressional approval for conscription, promote the growth of war industries, and reorganize the War Department, a necessity in a military establishment about to expand to 12 million men and women. Stimson valued technological innovation. He pushed for the development of radar and played a central role in the administration of atomic bomb development. When Roosevelt died, Stimson was the person who informed Truman of the existence of the weapon. Though Stimson never doubted that atomic weapons should be used against Japan, he vetoed the selection of the old imperial capital of Kyoto as the first target, arguing that destruction of a major cultural treasure would violate the norms of civilized behavior. A committed internationalist, Stimson favored an early sharing of atomic technology with other nations, including the Soviet Union, with the objective of limiting further military development of the technology. In the Truman cabinet, he fought against punitive treatment of Germany and Japan. Stimson envisioned a stable, American-dominated postwar order that would permit free trade throughout the world. Elting E. Morison, Turmoil and Tradition: A Study of the Life and Times of Henry L. Stimson (1960); Henry Stimson and McGeorge Bundy, On Active Service in Peace and War (1948). JONATHAN SOFFER Stone, Harlan Fiske (18721946), lawyer, teacher, and chief justice, U.S. Supreme Court. Born in New Hampshire and raised in western Massachusetts, Stone entered Columbia Law School at a time of great intellectual ferment in the 1890s. On graduation he taught at the law school and engaged in private practice, primarily with the Wall Street firm of Wilmer and Canfield. From 1910 to 1923 he served as dean of the law school. Stone's tenure at Columbia was marked by frequent battles with the dictatorial president of the university, Nicholas Murray Butler. The faculty usually supported Stone, who was able to improve the school's standards and faculty significantly. In early 1924 President Calvin Coolidge, at- Â < previous page page_1034 next page >

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