Alanson B. Houghton—American industrialist, politician, and diplomat—was the world's most influential diplomat during the "New Era" of the 1920s. Houghton, who served as ambassador to both Germany (1922–1925) and Great Britain (1925–1929), offers a unique window into the formation and implementation of American foreign policy. This fascinating new text by Jeffrey J. Matthews provides a clear and concise account of Houghton's diplomatic experience and consequently a fresh assessment of U.S. foreign policy during a pivotal decade in world history. As the leading ambassador in Europe, Houghton played a key role in the major diplomatic achievements of the era, including the Dawes Plan for reparations, the Locarno security treaties, and the Kellogg-Briand peace pact. While Hougton's significant contributions to these international accords is fully explored, the major theme of this book is his emergence as chief critic of U.S. foreign policy within the Harding and Coolidge administrations. Alanson B. Houhgton: Ambassador of the New Era offers students a concise historical narrative and a substantive reevaluation of 1920s American foreign policy. This text will help students understand why the United States failed to establish a stable world order during the New Era and additionally sheds light on the key historiographical themes of isolationism, new-imperialism, and corporations. For students taking courses on the Gilded Age, the interwar years, and U.S. foreign policy, this new volume will be an invaluable resource.

"Jeffrey Matthews' biography of Alanson B. Houghton fills a significant gap in the way most of us think about the history of the United States. It is important not only because it tells us about one of the most influential diplomats of the 20th century, it also elucidates in considerable detail a largely forgotten era in our history. The 1920s are mainly remembered for prohibition, jazz, flappers, gangsters, and a stock market irrationally exuberant. Not many Americans would consider the '20s the decade that established our subsequent role in the world. But it was, and Alanson B. Houghton, as Matthews brilliantly demonstrates, understood better than any of his contemporaries what that role had to be. . . . We can be grateful to Alanson B. Houghton for the way he helped America begin to deal with the reality of global leadership, and to Professor Matthews for telling us the story in fascinating and rewarding detail." - Arches

"This study is a welcome addition to our understanding of New Era diplomacy and Houghton's role as prescient critic of that policy." - Journal of American History