One of the major focuses of Gordon A. Craig's work in diplomatic history has been the changing role of ambassadors as interpreters of national goals and ambitions.1 During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the influence and independence of diplomats have declined significantly because of technological innovations, such as the introduction of the telegraph and telephone, economic changes, and the influence of parliamentary control and public opinion on foreign affairs. These developments could not fail to modify the diplomatic service as well. Embassies were enlarged to incorporate economic and financial specialists. Cultural and press attaches sought information for their own governments and established special connections with persons and organizations abroad. In general, the ambassador became increasingly dependent on the staff of his embassy. Moreover, travelling journalists, businessmen, and politicians could provide the foreign office with information that differed from reports of normal diplomatic sources. Although these developments began in the nineteenth century, they gained full momentum only after the First World War. By this time, foreign relations had become a field in which political, economic, financial, and commercial problems overlapped to determine the conduct of diplomatic missions. These were the conditions under which Alanson B. Houghton was appointed American Ambassador to Germany in 1922. Considering his education, business acumen, and congressional experience, he certainly seemed well equipped for the difficult tasks awaiting him in Berlin. Born in 1863, the son of the founder of the Corning Glass Works, he studied at Harvard and, in 1886, went to Europe to attend universities in Gottingen, Berlin, and Paris. After returning to the United States he abandoned his