Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

STIMSON, HENRY • 237
STIMSON, HENRY (1867–1960). An old follower of Theodore Roosevelt,
Henry Stimson conceived of international relations as governed
by strict standards of moral principles and moral respect. From
1911 to 1913, Stimson served as Secretary of War in the administration
of President William Howard Taft, in which capacity he reorganized
and modernized the War Department. After the outbreak of
World War I, he joined the army and served in France as an artillery
officer. He was appointed governor of the Philippines in 1927, only
to leave the islands after two years to take up a position as President
Herbert Hoover’s secretary of state. Hoover—who did not know
Stimson well and approached him only after three other men had
turned down the post—may well have regretted the decision, for the
two men differed sharply over Far Eastern policy.
But this split was not immediately obvious. Stimson headed the
American delegation to the London Naval Conference of 1930. He
emerged impressed with the courage of the Japanese government for
having pushed ahead with naval limitation in spite of the opposition
of the Navy General Staff. He told the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee: “I take my hat off to the Japanese government in this
treaty.”
Soon after the Manchurian Incident of September 1931, when
the Japanese cabinet revealed itself more or less powerless to rein in
its army, however, Stimson’s attitude toward Tokyo hardened. Viewing
Japanese aggression as a threat to international peace, Stimson
emerged as a foremost advocate of a policy of firmness toward the
Japanese. This, in turn, put him at odds with President Hoover, who
was determined to limit the nation’s foreign commitments. Hoover,
nonetheless, agreed with Stimson that the United States should condemn
Japan’s actions. Thus was born the Stimson Non-Recognition
Doctrine. In identical notes to Japan and China on 7 January 1932,
the American government refused to recognize any changes in China
brought about by force and in violation of the Open Door policy.
This remained a benchmark of American policy right through until
Pearl Harbor.
After Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidential election of
1933, Stimson practiced law. He remained in the public eye, however,
with his public calls for a hardline policy toward Japan. Roosevelt
then appointed him Secretary of War in July 1940. In this