Bainbridge Colby

Bainbridge Colby ( born December 22, 1869 in St. Louis, Missouri, † April 11, 1950 in Bemus Point, New York) was an American lawyer and politician. He was co-founder of the Progressive Party and Woodrow Wilson's last Secretary of State ( Secretary of State ).

Colby was educated at Williams College and Columbia Law School and was admitted as a lawyer in New York. In 1901, he began his political career as a Republican congressman of the New York State Assembly; in 1912 he was then involved in the founding of the Progressive Party, whose most prominent member was ex-President Theodore Roosevelt. For this party Colby competed in 1914 and 1916 respectively unsuccessfully for a seat in the Senate of the United States.

After the dissolution of the Progressive Party Colby joined the Democrats and was a delegate to the 1920 Democratic National Convention. He served as Special Representative of the Ministry of Justice until he was appointed on 23 March 1920 by President Wilson as foreign minister in his cabinet. In contrast to his predecessor Robert Lansing Colby supported the policy of the President fully. He advocated the establishment of the League of Nations and created with the refusal to recognize the Soviet Union a precedent. Until 1933, the United States recognized the communist state not to.

After the end of the reign of Woodrow Wilson in March 1921 Colby worked until 1923 with the ex- President in his law firm together. He took in 1924 again at the Democratic convention in part, but then had no political office held.