Sir Michael Henry Herbert, appointed as the second British Ambassador to the United States on June 4, 1902, played a key role in Anglo-American diplomacy. Working alongside U.S. Secretary of State John Hay, Herbert helped form a joint commission to resolve border disputes between the U.S. district of Alaska and British interests in the Dominion of Canada, a crucial step in maintaining peaceful relations between the two nations.
The Klondike Gold Rush had caused tensions to soar over exactly where the Alaskan panhandle ended and Canadian territory began. Herbert’s quiet, steady diplomacy bypassed standard political posturing, establishing a fair tribunal that successfully averted a potentially volatile confrontation between close allies.
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