John Watson Foster

John Watson Foster (March 2, 1836 – November 15, 1917) was an American diplomat, military officer, lawyer and journalist who was U.S. Secretary of State from 1892 to 1893, under President Benjamin Harrison. He was influential as a lawyer in technically private practice in the international relations sphere.

Early life

Foster was born on March 2, 1836, in Petersburg, Indiana, and raised in Evansville, Indiana. He was the son of Matthew Watson Foster, an Indiana farmer, merchant, and judge, and the former Eleanor Johnson. He graduated from the fledgling Indiana University Bloomington in 1855, but decided not to become a preacher as his parents hoped. Instead, Foster attended Harvard Law School, then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to begin his legal career.

In 1861, Foster volunteered in the Union Army in the American Civil War. Initially commissioned as a major, he rose to the rank of colonel, serving with the 25th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, the 65th Indiana Volunteer Mounted Infantry and the 136th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Foster's troops became the first to enter Knoxville, Tennessee, after the successful campaign by General Ambrose Burnside.

Foster was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States - a military society of officers who had served in the Union armed forces during the Civil War.

After the war, Foster returned to Indiana and (in addition to his legal practice) edited the Evansville Daily Journal. He used the paper to promote the Republican Party from 1865 to 1869.