Political and Diplomatic Career
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 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.
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 was just the second U.S. representative to Germany after diplomatic relations were restored between the two countries in December 1921, following Germany’s defeat in World War I.
Houghton, having studied in prewar Germany during the fall of Otto von Bismarck, had a strong familiarity with both German culture and German politics. His appointment was approved by the U.S. Senate and well received by the Weimar Republic.
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. Although Houghton lost, the election was decided by just over one percentage point, making it the closest Copeland ever faced.
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