Whitelaw Reid

Whitelaw Reid
Image:Whitelaw Reid.jpg
28th United States Ambassador to France
In office March 23, 1889 – March 25, 1892
Preceded by	Robert M. McLane
Succeeded by	T. Jefferson Coolidge
35th United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
In office March 23, 1889 – December 15, 1912
Preceded by	Joseph H. Choate
Succeeded by	Walter Hines Page
Born	October 27, 1837 Cedarville, Ohio, USA
Died	December 15, 1912 London, England
Political party	Republican
Profession	Politician, Editor

Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.

Born on a farm near Xenia, Ohio, Reid attended Xenia Academy and went on to graduate from Miami University with honors in 1856.^[1] At Miami, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, and lobbied for the expulsion of the six members who ultimately went on to found Sigma Chi.

He was the longtime editor of the New York Tribune and close friend of Horace Greeley. He was a leader of the Liberal Republican movement in 1872.

A Republican, he had an illustrious career as a diplomat, serving as United States Ambassador to France from 1889 to 1892, and again as U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James from 1905 to 1912. In 1892, he was the Republican vice presidential nominee replacing Levi P. Morton on a ticket headed by incumbent President Benjamin Harrison. Reid was given a spot on the Peace Commission following the Spanish-American War. Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York of Westchester County is currently located on his former estate.

After his death whilst serving as the ambassador to Britain, his body was returned to New York aboard HMS Natal. He is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

Trivia

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• His family summered on Upper St. Regis Lake in the Adirondacks.
• In 1892, Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid formed the only U.S. presidential ticket composed of candidates that were also alumni of the same university, Miami University. Both men had buildings on Miami's campus named for them. Reid Hall was a dormitory, while Harrison Hall still houses the Political Science department. Reid Hall was demolished in 2006 to make way for a new business school building on Miami University's campus.
• He gave a highly commendatory eulogy to Benjamin Piatt Runkle—a fellow DKE before founding Sigma Chi— after seeing Runkle wounded at the Battle of Shiloh and mistakenly thinking him dead. Runkle returned the favor upon Reid's death.
• His great, great grandson, also named Whitelaw, covers the University of Virginia men's basketball team for The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Virginia.

References

1. ^ American Authors 1600-1900: A Biographical Dictionary of American Literature (H. W. Wilson Co., New York, 1938)

External links

• Whitelaw Reid at Find A Grave
• Modern Eloquence: Vol III, After-Dinner Speeches P-Z, available at Project Gutenberg., contains two speeches by Reid.
• American and English studies Vol. 1 by Whitelaw Reid
• American and English studies Vol. 2 by Whitelaw Reid
• The greatest fact in modern history (The rise and development of the United States) by Whitelaw Reid
• Abraham Lincoln by Whitelaw Reid
• Ohio in the war : her statesmen, her generals, and soldiers Vol. 1 by Whitelaw Reid
• Ohio in the war : her statesmen, her generals, and soldiers Vol. 2 by Whitelaw Reid
• Byron. Address at University College, Nottingham, on Speech day, 29th Nov., 1910, for the Byron chair of English literature by Whitelaw Reid
• One Welshman: a glance at a great career. Inaugural address, autumn session, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, October 31st, 1912 by Whitelaw Reid
• Our new duties: a commencement address at the seventy-fifth anniversary of Miami university, Thursday, June 15, 1899 by Whitelaw Reid

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