Alanson Bigelow Houghton (October 10, 1863 – September 15, 1941) was an American businessman, politician, and diplomat who served as a Congressman and Ambassador. He was a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and business career

Alanson B. Houghton was born on October 10, 1863, in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Ellen Ann (Bigelow) and Amory Houghton Jr. (1837–1909), who would later be President of the Corning Glass Works, the company founded by Alanson's grandfather Amory Houghton Sr. in 1851. In 1868, his family moved to Corning, New York. He attended the Corning Free Academy in Corning and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. Houghton graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1886 and then pursued postgraduate courses in Europe. He attended graduate school in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, Berlin, and Paris until 1889. Upon his return to Corning in 1889, Houghton began work for his family's business, Corning Glass Works. He served as vice president of the company from 1902 to 1910, and as the company's president from 1910 to 1918. Under Houghton's leadership, the company tripled in size to become one of the largest producers of glass products in the United States. The company manufactured 40% of incandescent light bulbs and 75% of the railway signal glass used in the U.S. Houghton's interest in and promotion of education, particularly in western New York state, led to his being appointed a trustee of Hobart College in 1917. He was a member of the Jekyll Island Club (aka The Millionaires Club) on

Jekyll Island, Georgia Jekyll Island is an island located in Glynn County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-s ...

, along with J.P. Morgan and William Rockefeller among others.

Politics

Houghton was a presidential elector in the 1904 presidential election. He was also a presidential elector in 1916, voting for the Republican candidates

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and Charles W. Fairbanks. In 1918, Alanson B. Houghton defeated incumbent Congressman Harry H. Pratt in the Republican primary. He went on to win the general election and joined the Sixty-sixth Congress, representing New York's 37th Congressional District. In 1920, Houghton garnered 68% of the vote to win reelection over Democrat Charles R. Durham and

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Francis Toomey. Houghton took office on March 4, 1919. During his two terms in the House, Houghton served on the Foreign Affairs and Ways and Means committees.

Diplomacy

Houghton, having studied in prewar Germany, admired German culture and understood German politics. His appointment was approved by the U.S. Senate and well received by the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. On February 28, 1922, Houghton resigned his House seat to accept appointment from President Warren G. Harding as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. Houghton believed that world peace, European stability, and American prosperity depended upon a reconstruction of Europe's economy and political system. He saw his role as promoting American political engagement with Europe. He overcame domestic opposition, and disinterest in Washington. He quickly realized that the central issues of the day were all entangled in economics, especially war debts owed by the Allies to the United States, reparations owed by Germany to the Allies, worldwide inflation, and international trade and investment. Solutions, he believed, required new policies by Washington and close cooperation with Britain and Germany. He was a leading promoter of the Dawes Plan. On February 24, 1925, President Calvin Coolidge appointed Houghton as the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. Houghton assumed the post on April 6, 1925, and served until April 27, 1929. Houghton's service in both Germany and England gave him a unique ability to address the issue of the war reparations Germany owed to its World War I opponents, England being one of them. Houghton laid some of the groundwork for the Dawes Plan, named after then U.S. Vice President Charles G. Dawes, who would be Houghton's successor as Ambassador to Great Britain. In 1928, Houghton ran for the U.S. Senate from New York against first-term incumbent Royal S. Copeland, a Democrat. Houghton lost by just over one percentage point.

Death and legacy

After his loss in the 1928 Senate race, Houghton returned to managing the Corning Glass Works. He was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

, in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, serving as chairman until his death in 1941. He also was an original standing committee member of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles and served as vice president of the American Peace Society, which publishes '' World Affairs'', the oldest U.S. journal on international relations. Houghton died at his summer home in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, on September 15, 1941. He was interred at Hope Cemetery Annex in Corning, New York. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

was built in Panama City, Florida, and named in his honor. Houghton's son, Amory Houghton (1899–1981), served as the United States Ambassador to France (1957–1961) under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. His grandson, Amo Houghton, was a U.S. Congressman from New York from 1987 until 2005.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Alanson B. American business executives Corning Inc. 1863 births 1941 deaths Businesspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts Ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of the United States to Germany Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Harvard University alumni Politicians from Corning, New York 1904 United States presidential electors 1916 United States presidential electors People from Dartmouth, Massachusetts 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives