Stimson, Henry Lewis (1867-1950), was an American statesman who held Cabinet posts under four Presidents. He served as secretary of war under William Howard Taft from 1911 to 1913, secretary of state under Herbert Hoover from 1929 to 1933, and secretary of war under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman from 1940 to 1945, during World War II.
As secretary of state, Stimson opposed Japan’s seizure of Manchuria in 1931 by issuing a warning known as the Stimson Doctrine. The doctrine stated that the United States would recognize no changes made in Manchuria in violation of treaties. But Hoover refused Stimson’s call for an economic boycott of Japan.
As a private citizen, Stimson continued to urge economic measures against Japan. Such measures were finally adopted in 1940 and 1941, after Stimson became Roosevelt’s secretary of war. After the United States entered the war in 1941, Stimson oversaw the organization and operations of the United States Army and the Army Air Forces. He also oversaw the development of the atomic bomb. Stimson was born in New York City.
