ELIHU ROOT
ROOT, ELIHU, lawyer and cabinet officer, was chosen by President McKinley for secretary of war at an epoch in our nation’s history when that position demanded the most assiduous application to military and political affairs. He brought to his position acute discernment, well-balanced judgment, power of resource, administrative ability and determined will. He found the department in a somewhat chaotic state through the following of old usages. Under his control it was reduced to order. He has been a judicious and broad-minded counsellor in the cabinet, a support to right measures, a foe to favoritism and incompetency. In the army, in particular, his energy and persistence have made themselves felt, in changing conditions which were deplored, but were considered to be unalterable. It has been truly said that he has “modernized military business methods and has made the service an effective force.” Administrative leadership and discipline are the key to his admirable work in the secretaryship, perhaps the most notable since that of Stanton.
He was born in Clinton, New York, February 15, 1845. He is the son of Oren and Nancy (Buttrick) Root. He attended the common schools and entered Hamilton college, in which institution his father was professor of mathematics. His home and surroundings in boyhood and youth were such as to stimulate his mind and to awaken and elevate his ambitions. Rev. Dr. Anson J. Upson, for many years the chancellor of the University of the State of New York, was a member of the Root family during Elihu’s boyhood, from 1851 to 1860; and the late Dr. C. H. F. Peters, the astronomer, mathematician and botanist, was also an inmate of his father’s family for many years. His training for life was all acquired in small institutions and this brought him into close contact with his teachers, men of superior minds. While in college he did not care to share in the pranks and escapades of student life; but he was not by any means wanting in college spirit. His writings in college were thoughtful, logical and impressive. His own will
