Editing Cecil Spring Rice (section)

===Assessment of work===
In ''[[The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt]]'', [[Edmund Morris (writer)|Edmund Morris]] described Spring Rice as "a born diplomat [who] invariably picked out and cultivated the most important person in any place".<ref>{{cite book | title=The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | publisher=Modern Library | author=Morris, Edmund | year=2001 | location=7271 of 20280 (p. 357) | isbn=978-0-307-77782-9| edition=Kindle }}</ref> He was well respected in London's diplomatic circles, and had a wide network of influential friends in the United States and Britain. The diplomat [[Malcolm Robertson (diplomat)|Sir Malcolm Robertson]] described Spring Rice as "one of the two or three really brilliant ambassadors whom I have met in thirty years of diplomatic life."{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 213 (Volume II)}}

However, Spring Rice's success in turning the earlier close links to the US administration to a relationship of use to his government is debatable. By the end of his appointment, Spring Rice had earned the enmity of his government after becoming paranoid about the threat posed by German spies, and also because of his immense dislike of the many British delegations to Washington that were not under the control of his embassy. Furthermore, Spring Rice's personal connections to many notable [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] politicians was well known, so some members of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] administration of [[Woodrow Wilson]] were dubious about trusting him. He was damaged by his association with Roosevelt following the former President's attacks on Wilson for his policy of neutrality and for a lack of military preparedness.<ref name="theodorerooseveltcenter.org"/> Spring Rice found [[William Jennings Bryan]], the Secretary of State, hard to take seriously and disliked having to deal with [[Edward M. House]], Wilson's confidential adviser, who held no official post in the US government. Even so, after his death the British government publicly recognised Spring Rice's extraordinary contribution to the war effort. His untiring attempts to get the United States to join the [[Allies (World War I)|Allies]] were evident as well as his success in frustrating the work of the German ambassador, von Bernstorff.{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 352 (Volume II)}}

In a speech in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in 1919, [[Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood|Lord Robert Cecil]] said:{{Sfn | Gwynn | 1929 | p = 436 (Volume II)}}

{{blockquote|"No ambassador has ever had to discharge duties of greater delicacy or of more far reaching importance than fell to his lot. Nor has any ambassador ever fulfilled his task with more unwearied vigilance, conspicuous ability and ultimate success."}}