The Elihu Root House is a historic house on College Hill Road, on the campus of

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

in Clinton, New York. Built in 1817, it was the home of American statesman

Elihu Root Elihu Root (; February 15, 1845February 7, 1937) was an American lawyer, Republican Party (United States), Republican politician, and statesman who served as the 41st United States Secretary of War under presidents William McKinley and Theodor ...

(1847-1937) from 1893 until his death. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1972.

Elihu Root

Elihu Root was born and grew up in the immediate vicinity of this house, which became his home as an adult. He graduated from

and the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

. He served as both United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention. President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

appointed him Secretary of War in 1899 and he continued in this capacity under

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. Root made many changes to the structure of the American Army, including the establishment of the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a United States Army, U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle B ...

and creation of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

. Root was Secretary of State from 1905 to 1909. He was instrumental in improving relations with Japan and with Latin America during this time. Root also was an advocate of the World Court. He won the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

, in 1912. After leaving the cabinet, Root was a United States Senator from New York. He was a bitter critic of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

History

The Elihu Root House was also known as the Grant House due to the marriage between Root's daughter, Edith, and

Ulysses S. Grant III Ulysses Simpson Grant III (July 4, 1881August 29, 1968) was a United States Army officer and planner. He was the son of Frederick Dent Grant, and the grandson of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army and President of the United ...

. The Grants lived in the house after Root's death. The main part of the

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

house was built in 1817 as a home for a Hamilton College professor. By the time Elihu Root purchased the house in 1893, there had been many additions and modifications to the structure. A long dormitory had been added during the house's stint as a college boardinghouse. Victorian porches and a staircase were added. The wing to the east was increased from one story to two. After Mr. Root acquired the house, he replaced the Victorian porches with ones more suited to the house. He also had built the portico on the east side of the house and servants quarters at the rear of the building. Mr. Root considered the house his home until his death in 1937. It was listed to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and declared a

in 1972, at which time it was still owned by Root's descendants. and The Elihu Root House is located on the campus of Hamilton College, an institution with which Root was affiliated throughout his life. The house was acquired by Hamilton College in 1979.Hamilton College Website, "Campus Tour"

Elihu Root

History

References

Further reading