Joseph Potter Cotton (July 22, 1875 – March 10, 1931) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the

United States Under Secretary of State Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the Assistant Secretaries and below the Deputy Secretary. From 1919 to 1972, the Under Secretary was the second-ranking off ...

from 1929 until his death in 1931.

Biography

Cotton was born in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

on July 22, 1875. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1896 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1900. In New York, he worked as a prominent lawyer and in 1907 became a member of the law firm ''Cravath, Henderson and De Gersdorff''. In 1910, he joined with

John Coit Spooner John Coit Spooner (January 6, 1843June 11, 1919) was a politician and lawyer from Wisconsin. He served in the United States Senate from 1885 to 1891 and from 1897 to 1907. A Republican, by the 1890s, he was one of the "Big Four" key Republicans ...

in the firm of Spooner & Cotton. In 1915, he went to Washington to work as a federal attorney for the Alaskan Railway Commission. He became a law partner of

William Gibbs McAdoo William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name: * Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior" * William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "Ju ...

in 1919 and founded the firm of ''McAdoo, Cotton & Franklin''. He also served as the Chief of the US Food Administration's Meat Division where he became friends with President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

who then served as the head of the

United States Food Administration The United States Food Administration (1917–1920) was an independent Federal agency that controlled the production, distribution and conservation of food in the U.S. during the nation's participation in World War I. It was established to preve ...

. Cotton was a major policy adviser to Hoover and was appointed as the Under Secretary of State on June 7, 1929 when the latter became President. He served as the acting Secretary of State, and succeeded in maintaining the dominant influence of the United States, when

Henry Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and D ...

went to assist as the Chairman of the U.S. delegation to the

London Naval Conference 1930 The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, and the United States that was signed on 22 April 1930. Seeking to address is ...

. Cotton was admitted at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from an infection of the spinal cord where surgeons removed a tumor from his spine. He developed blood-poisoning in his right eye, which had to be removed. He underwent two major operations and succumbed to complications from infections on March 10, 1931.

Works

* in two volume
Vol. 1Vol. 2
(New York and London). *

Biography

Works

References

Further reading