McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Bacon, Robert
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1860-1919
History
Hon. Robert Bacon was born on July 5, 1860, in Jamaica Plain, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
He was an American distinguished diplomat and Cabinet Secretary. Bacon graduated from Harvard University and joined the JP Morgan firm. However, in 1905, he left his job to become the Assistant Secretary of State. He served in this position until 1909 when he was appointed as the Secretary of State by President Theodore Roosevelt. He served in this role from January 27, 1909, to March 5, 1909. In 1909, President William Howard Taft appointed him as an Ambassador to France. After returning to the United States in 1912, Bacon was sent to South America by the Carnegie Endowment. In 1914, he returned to France and played a critical role in setting up an ambulance corps to help Allied soldiers. During World War I, he accepted a Major's commission and received the Distinguished Service Medal for his work as General John J. Pershing's aide and commander of his headquarters. Bacon was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and served as a liaison officer at British Headquarters. After the armistice, Bacon returned home in poor health. His son Robert Low Bacon (1884-1938) was a Congressman from New York.
He married Martha Waldron Cowdin (1859-1940). He died on May 29, 1919, in New York City, New York, due to complications after surgery.