EncyclopediaFoster, John Watson
Foster, John Watson, 1836–1917, American diplomat, b. Pike co., Ind.; grandfather of John Foster Dulles. 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 Sea 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).
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