In 1911 , he became a member of the law firm of Beekman , Menken , and Griscom , New York City , and was thereafter active in local Republican politics . He contributed numerous articles to the Philadelphia '' Sunday Press '' on travel in Central America . In 1917 , he was appointed a major in the department of the Adjutant-General of the United States Army and afterwards became Assistant Adjutant-General . During the war , she served as liaison officer to General John J. Pershing , commander of the American Expeditionary Forces of the U.S. Army . He was a close friend of Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr . Griscom 's primary significance was as an advocate for globalized free trade as a means to promote peaceful development in accordance with his Quaker faith . In the Middle East he worked for better relations between Muslims and Christians , and he played a major role in the relief effort in Italy after the 1908 Messina earthquake took 50,000 lives . Prior to the death of Secretary of State John Hay in 1905 , Griscom was offered the post of First Assistant Secretary of State . The appointment of Elihu Root to succeed Hay nullified Griscom 's appointment to the State Department position
1908 Messina earthquake
1908 Messina earthquake
Lloyd Carpenter Griscom