On Dec. 3, 1871, Newton Diehl Baker - who would become a prominent lawyer in Ohio, mayor of Cleveland and U.S. secretary of war during World War I - was born in Martinsburg, W.Va.
After joining a law firm in Cleveland, the reform Democrat served as city solicitor from 1902 to 1912, when he was elected mayor. Although a declared pacifist, Baker was named secretary of war by President Wilson in 1916. While he intended to serve just one year, World War I intervened.
Baker organized the buildup of the U.S. military from 190,000 troops when war was declared against Germany on April 6, 1917, to 3.6 million by the signing of the armistice Nov. 11, 1918. After the war, along with Wilson, Baker helped establish the League of Nations.
He resumed the private practice of law in Cleveland in 1921. President Coolidge appointed him to the World Court at The Hague in 1928.
Baker died in Cleveland in 1937 at age 66.
Rebecca Goodman
E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com or call 768-8361
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