From as early as 1879 and continuing through most of the first four decades of the 1900s the influential Japanese statesmen, Prince Iyesato Tokugawa (1863-1940) and Baron Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931) led a major Japanese domestic and international movement advocating goodwill and mutual respect with the United States. Their friendship with the U.S. included allying with seven U.S. presidents, Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Hoover, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was only after the passing of these two Japanese diplomats and humanitarians that Japanese militants were able to pressure Japan into joining with the Axis Powers in WWII.