HENRY LANE WILSON: BIOGRAPHY, POLITICAL POSITIONS, MEMOIRS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Henry Lane Wilson (1857-1932) was an American politician, well remembered for his continuous attempts to end the government of Francisco Madero in Mexico while being an ambassador in that country. He participated in movements such as the Tragic Ten or the Embassy Pact.

He had a leading role in making relations between the United States and Mexico hostile. During his diplomatic stage, the option of US intervention in Mexico was raised on Wilson's recommendation.

Source: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Wilson's objective when he arrived in Mexico was to protect the interests of the monopolies and licenses that US companies and investors had obtained in the Latin American country. These interests began to be affected with the beginning of the revolution.

He first worked as a lawyer, was a newspaper editor, and then fully entered the diplomatic world. He was ambassador to Chile, Belgium and Mexico where he held his position in a controversial way.

He held a diplomatic post during three different governments. He first worked for William McKinley, then for Theodore Roosevelt, and finally with William Howard Taft.

His performance in Mexico was so controversial that he was banned from returning to the country after being removed from the role of ambassador.

Biography

Henry Lane Wilson was born in Crawfordsville, one of the eleven cities that make up Montgomery County in Indiana, United States. It came to the world on November 3, 1857 thanks to the union between James Wilson and Emma Ingersoll.

Education and jobs

Henry Lane studied at Wabash College where he obtained his degree in 1879. The institution, located in his hometown, was characterized by being a private campus and only accepting men as students, traits that remain to this day.

For a few years he was closely linked to the world of law. He went on to work in law offices locally. He also owned a local media outlet and became an editor.

After they got married, Wilson made the decision to move to the city of Spokane, in eastern Washington. In this new place, she returned to practice as a lawyer, but she also became involved with banking and real estate matters. Some bad decisions caused him to lose almost all his wealth.

Family

Politics was always something that was very present in the Henry Lane family. His father was James Wilson, who died when Henry was only 10 years old. He was the United States ambassador to Venezuela, where he died at just 42 years old.

His mother was Emma Ingersoll and he had two other children besides Henry: John Lockwood and Tilghman Howard. The eldest of the brothers, John, was also involved in the political world since he was part of the Senate and the Congress of the United States.

Henry Lane managed to start his own family when he married Alice Wilson in 1885. The couple had four children: John, Warden, Stewart, and Helen.

Political charges

Wilson was active in the Republican Party of the United States, a group that was formed only three years before Henry's birth. His first activity was to support the candidacy of his older brother, John Wilson, a candidate for a seat in the Indiana House of Representatives.

Henry Wilson also supported the candidacies of Benjamin Harrison and William McKinley for the presidency of the country. The first came to offer Wilson a position as ambassador of Venezuela, the same position his father had held in the past, but the proposal was rejected.

His first steps as a diplomat were taken during the government of William McKinley. He then worked with Theodore Roosevelt for two presidential terms and his life as an ambassador ended during the tenure of William Howard Taft. All three presidents were representatives of the Republican Party.

Ambassador to Chile

President William McKinley began his government on March 4, 1897, and three months later appointed Wilson as the United States ambassador to Chile. He did not have major shocks or conflicts in the South American country during the performance of his work.

Throughout this stage, Wilson showed concern for various events on Chilean soil. First, it was contrary to the policies implemented by local governments at an economic level, especially because of these decisions that were the cause of the high inflation in the South American country.

It also came to witness multiple violations during the 1991 civil war. It was considered that it had a prominent role in helping Chile and Argentina resolve the conflicts they had in relation to the border limits.

His work was highly valued on Chilean soil. He was awarded recognition at the University of Chile in 1911, years after leaving his post as ambassador to that country. Wilson received a Ph.D. in philosophy, humanities, and arts for his contributions.

In 1902, still as ambassador, President Theodore Roosevelt offered him the Greek embassy on a temporary basis. Wilson did not accept the new assignment and the decision angered the president for a time.

Diplomat in Belgium

Wilson ended his term as ambassador to Chile in 1904 and a year later he moved to Belgium. Before the change of nation, he spent a few months in the United States as an observer and political supporter for Roosevelt in the 1904 elections.

His work in Belgium had no major shocks. He was one of the guests at the Hague Conference that was held in 1907, between June 15 and October 18. The purpose of these meetings was to limit the use of weapons by the nations of the world.

He was also present at the coronation of King Albert I of Belgium in 1909.

Role in Mexico

When William Taft was elected president of the United States, on March 4, 1909, he was considered to have a diplomatic role in various countries. Russia, Austria and Turkey were some of the options, but Wilson opted to go to Mexico.

His period as ambassador to the Latin American country began in March 1910 and turned out to be the most controversial of his entire political career.

Wilson arrived in Mexico when Porfirio Díaz was still president of the country and came to experience the birth of the first revolutionary movements. When Francisco Madero came to power, problems began for Wilson. There was no good relationship between the two politicians, Madero even had a very bad opinion of Wilson's taste for alcohol.

From the beginning, Wilson was critical of Madero's decisions. He lobbied the Mexican government with the excuse of protecting American interests and for this he reported a multitude of violations of the rights of Americans who lived in the country.

He informed the government chaired by Taft in the United States of all kinds of situations and recommended the mobilization of US military to the shores of Mexico. His insistence that Madero resign from office was constant.

He was one of the allies of Victoriano Huerta, who was in charge of the Mexican army and who decided to betray Madero to reach the top of power. Negotiations to finalize the details of Huerta's future presidency were polished at the US embassy with Wilson as a witness and together with Félix Díaz, an opponent of Madero.

Although Wilson advised the Taft government to support the new Mexican government, led by Huerta, this did not happen. Especially after Madero was assassinated along with his vice president.

Without confidence

Democrat Woodrow Wilson came to power on March 4, 1913 and the recognition of the new government in Mexico depended on them. Wilson assured that with Huerta the interests of the United States were guaranteed, but there were already doubts about the diplomat by his own compatriots.

President Woodrow sent emissaries to obtain more information on the situation in the neighboring country, including William Bayard Hale. The reports on Wilson's actions as ambassador were not the best and he was ordered to return to the United States.

On July 17, 1913, Wilson returned to his home state, Indiana, and his resignation as ambassador was made public two weeks later. In the announcement of Wilson's dismissal, it was ensured that his participation in the early stages of the Mexican revolution was one of the causes for discharging his services.

Embassy Pact

Wilson signed with some of the opponents of Madero and together with Victoriano Huerta the Pact of the embassy. The agreement was signed at the US embassy in Mexico. The document established that Huerta would take over the presidency of the country. It was also known as the Citadel Pact.

Last years

World War I was a conflict in Europe that occurred between 1914 and 1918. During the early years, Wilson was part of an organization known as the League to Enforce Peace. He resigned in 1917 because he did not share some ideas or goals of other leaders in the organization.

During the governments of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge he had some consulting roles, especially on issues that had to do with problems in Latin American countries. Meanwhile, he continued his career in business.

At the end of 1932 he died in the capital of Indiana. His remains are in Crown Hill Cemetery, one of the largest in the country. He never received any kind of honor or recognition in the United States for his diplomatic work.

Memories

Few works or works on Henry Lane Wilson. It was the lawyer himself who was in charge of writing his memoirs and recording some of his decisions as a politician.

In 1927 the book Diplomatic Episodes in Mexico, Belgium and Chile was released. In this work, the diplomat was in charge of recounting some of the actions he took as ambassador in those countries, as well as his role in the revolution in Mexico.

References

1. Flores Torres, Oscar. The Other Side Of The Mirror. Center for Historical Studies UDEM, 2007.
2. Ingoldsby, Larry. Henry Lane Wilson: Controversial Minister To Mexico, 1909-1913. Fresno State College, 1968.
3. Prida, Ramón. The Guilt Of Lane Wilson. Boots Editions, 1962.
4. Wilson, Henry Lane. Diplomatic Episodes In Mexico, Belgium, And Chile. Kennikat Press, 1971.
5. Zepeda Trejo, Valeria, and Patricia Galeana. Henry Lane Wilson And The Overthrow Of President Madero. National Institute of Historical Studies of the Revolutions of Mexico, 2018.