Henry Lane Wilson

Henry Lane Wilson
Wilson c. 1890
United States Ambassador to Mexico
In office
December 21, 1909 (1909-12-21) – July 17, 1913 (1913-07-17)[1]
PresidentWilliam Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Preceded byDavid Eugene Thompson
Succeeded byHenry P. Fletcher
United States Minister to Belgium
In office
May 5, 1905 – December 25, 1909[1]
PresidentTheodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Preceded byLawrence Townsend
Succeeded byCharles Page Bryan
United States Minister to Chile
In office
September 14, 1897 – July 18, 1904[1]
PresidentWilliam McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded byEdward H. Strobel
Succeeded byJohn Hicks
Personal details
Born(1857-11-03)November 3, 1857
Crawfordsville, Indiana, U.S.
DiedDecember 22, 1932(1932-12-22) (aged 75)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Resting placeCrown Hill Cemetery
Spouse
Alice Vajen
(m. 1885)
RelationsJohn L. Wilson (brother)
Parent
Alma materWabash College
Occupation
  • Attorney
  • journalist
Known forInvolvement in the assassination of Francisco I. Madero

Henry Lane Wilson (November 3, 1857 – December 22, 1932) was an American attorney, journalist, and diplomat who served successively as United States Minister to Chile (1897–1904), Minister to Belgium (1905–09), and Ambassador to Mexico (1909–13). He is best known to history for his involvement in the February 1913 coup d'etat which deposed and assassinated President of Mexico Francisco I. Madero, for which he remains controversial and "perhaps the most vilified United States official of [the 20th] century" in Mexico.[2][3]

Wilson was appointed by President William Howard Taft to the post of United States Ambassador to Mexico in 1910. He brought together opponents of Mexico's democratically-elected President Francisco I. Madero in the Pact of the Embassy, colluding with them to stage a coup d'etat in February 1913.[4][5] Soon after President Woodrow Wilson took office in March 1913, he was appalled to learn that the American ambassador was involved in the plot in which the president and vice president of Mexico were murdered. President Wilson recalled him from his post as ambassador.[6]

  1. ^ a b c "Henry Lane Wilson - People - Department History - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian of the United States State Department. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ Grieb, Kenneth. "Henry Lane Wilson". Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, v. 5, 460
  3. ^ Zolov, Eric. "Henry Lane Wilson". Encyclopedia of Mexico, 1607.
  4. ^ Holden, Robert H. and Eric Zolov, eds. Latin America and the United States: A Documentary History. Document No. 38. 1913. "Pact of the Embassy". New York: Oxford University Press 2010,2011, 101-103.
  5. ^ Katz, Friedrich. The Secret War in Mexico: Europe, the United States, and the Mexican Revolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1981, 100-12
  6. ^ Schoultz, Lars. Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy toward Latin America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1998, 240