William Phillips (Phillips, William)

1878 - Born in Beverly, Massachusetts on the 30th of May.

1900-1903 - He attended Harvard College and graduated from Harvard Law School.

1908 - He was assigned to set up the State Department's Division of Far Eastern Affairs and was made its first chief.

1909 - He returned to work in London.

1917 - He was appointed as Assistant Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson.

1920 - He was made the Minister Plenipotentiary to Netherlands and Luxembourg.

1922 - He was made Under Secretary of State. 1924 - He was appointed as Ambassador to Belgium.

1927 - He became the first Minister to Canada.

1936 - He was appointed as the Ambassador to Italy, under Benito Mussolini, to smooth over relations after that country's invasion of Ethiopia.

1941 - He resigned on the 6th of December, five days before Italy declared war on the United States.

1942 - On October, he was appointed as a personal Ambassador to Franklin D. Roosevelt, serving in India.

1943 - He was made as a Special Advisor on European political matters to then-General Dwight D. Eisenhower, with the rank of Ambassador.

1944 - He retired officially, but returned briefly to diplomatic life in 1945 when he was made a special assistant to Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius.

1947 - He was unsuccessful in mediating a border dispute between Siam and French Indo-China.

1968 - Died on the 23rd of February.