Paxton HibbenPaxton Pattison Hibben, soldier, diplomat, and journalist, born December 5, 1880, grew to become an important voice in shaping American foreign policy during World War I . Using his experience as a soldier, his skills as a journalist, and his position as an American diplomat, he helped make the voices of foreign powers and peoples heard by the American people and government. Devoting much of his time and resources to humanitarian aid, he helped rebuild war-ravaged nations and free Japanese prisoners of war. Beyond just governmental influence, Hibben worked to also change the hearts and minds of the American people toward foreign nations. Hibben's outspoken nature and inability to let injustice go silently got him into trouble repeatedly with the government he worked for, leading to a turbulent life of political and social influence. As a Harvard graduate with a law degree, Hibben decided to pursue the life of an American diplomat. He was not far from the path when he received an invitation to join the United States government as a diplomat by President Roosevelt himself. Serving the United States, Hibben found himself in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he worked hard to learn the language and witnessed firsthand the effects of the war in the Soviet nation. It was here that Hibben gained his first national recognitions in the field of humanitarian work. Through his service in the Russo-Japanese War with Japanese prisoners of war in Russia, Hibben was awarded the Fourth Class of the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Emperor of Japan. Hibben worked providing immediate physical assistance and assisting in their eventual release and return. Top...... middle of paper ......versity Press, 1906. Passos, John, 1919: Volume Two of the American Trilogy. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1946. Patenaude, Bertrand, “Food as a Weapon.” Stanford University Hoover Digest No. 1, January 30, 2007. http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/6135 (accessed April 2, 2014). Roosevelt, Franklin, “Executive Order 9417 establishing the Commission war refugees. The American Presidency Project by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley (January 22, 1944). Available at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=16540 (accessed April 9, 2014). Stutter, Robert, “US-China Relations: Perilous Past, Pragmatic Present.” Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, June 6, 2010. 100 Years of the Federal Reserve System, “Henry Morgenthau, Jr.” 100 Years of the Federal Reserve System, http://www.federalreservehistory.org/People/DetailView/247 (accessed April 9, 2014).