The Hague was one stop in a diplomatic career that carried an American official from St. Petersburg and Mexico City to Colombia, the Netherlands, and Chile. The posting became notable less for diplomatic accomplishment than for the official’s reported sleep through the International Tribunal’s deliberations; in 1912, he left the service and returned home to campaign for Theodore Roosevelt.

A Posting in a Diplomatic Career

The official’s assignments included service in St. Petersburg and Mexico City in 1905–06, Bogotá in 1908–09, and The Hague and Luxemburg from 1909 to 1912. In 1912 he served in Santiago before retiring. The Hague thus belonged to a sequence of overseas posts rather than standing alone as the setting of a sustained personal or political episode.

The International Tribunal

At The Hague, he was shunted into work connected with the International Tribunal. The account characterizes its deliberations as vague and says that he went to sleep during them. This detail gives the posting an atmosphere of disengagement: the international institution’s proceedings, rather than commanding his interest, became an occasion for conspicuous boredom.

Departure and Political Return

In 1912, the diplomat resigned from the service and went home to campaign for Theodore Roosevelt. The Hague therefore marks a stage immediately before his return to domestic politics, contrasting the duties of diplomatic service with his renewed commitment to Roosevelt’s campaign.