Foster, John Watson

Foster, John Watson,

1836–1917, American diplomat, b. Pike co., Ind.; grandfather of John Foster DullesDulles, John Foster
, 1888–1959, U.S. secretary of state (1953–59), b. Washington, D.C.; brother of Allen Dulles, grandson of John Watson Foster, secretary of state under President Benjamin Harrison, and nephew of Robert Lansing, secretary of state under Woodrow
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. Foster practiced law (1857–61) at Evansville, Ind., and then served (1861–65) with the Union army in the Civil War. He later edited (1865–69) the Evansville Daily Journal and became a leader of the Indiana Republican party. The U.S. minister to Mexico (1873–80), to Russia (1880–81), and to Spain (1883–85), Foster was (1892–93) Secretary of State under President Benjamin Harrison. He represented (1893) the United States in the arbitration of the Bering Sea Fur-Seal Controversy (see under Bering SeaBering Sea,
c.878,000 sq mi (2,274,020 sq km), northward extension of the Pacific Ocean between Siberia and Alaska. It is screened from the Pacific proper by the Aleutian Islands. The Bering Strait connects it with the Arctic Ocean.
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 and acted (1894) for China in negotiations for the treaty with Japan. His numerous books include A Century of American Diplomacy, 1776–1876 (1900, repr. 1969) and Diplomatic Memoirs (1909).