About the author: Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) journalist, politician, diplomat. Together with former Secretary of State William R. Day, and Senators William P. Frye, Cushman Kellogg Davis, and George Gray, he was made a member of the Peace Commission representing the United States in negotations with the Spanish government to conclude the treaty ending the Spanish-American War.
About the diary: Published as Reid, Whitelaw. and Morgan, H. Wayne. Making peace with Spain; the diary of Whitelaw Reid, September-December, 1898. Edited by H. Wayne Morgan University of Texas Press Austin 1965. Only the penultimate portion, “Taking the Philippines,” is used.