VI People in Portrait, 56 Henry Wheaton (1785–1848)

Henry Wheaton emerged as an authoritative figure in international law with the publication of Elements of International Law in 1836. Within a couple of decades after the first edition, this book began to eclipse major competing works and was adopted as the foremost modern text of international law in the diplomatic establishments of the United States, Britain, France, and other European countries. Wheaton's impact on the 19th century is often said to be comparable to that of Emer de Vattel in the 18th century or that of Hugo Grotius in the 17th century. Indeed,...