Amory Houghton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Ambassador toFrance | |
| In office April 17, 1957 – January 19, 1961 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | C. Douglas Dillon |
| Succeeded by | James M. Gavin |
| President of the Boy Scouts of America | |
| In office 1946–1951 | |
| Preceded by | Walter W. Head |
| Succeeded by | John M. Schiff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1899-07-27)July 27, 1899 |
| Died | February 21, 1981(1981-02-21) (aged 81) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | SeeHoughton family |
| Children | 5, includingAmory Jr.,James |
| Parent(s) | Alanson B. Houghton Adelaide Louise Wellington |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Awards | Legion of Honour |
Amory Houghton (July 27, 1899 – February 21, 1981)[1] served asUnited States ambassador to France from 1957 to 1961[2] and as national president of theBoy Scouts of America. He was chairman of the board ofCorning Glass Works (1941–1961).[3] In 1959 he was elected as an honorary member of the New YorkSociety of the Cincinnati.
Houghton was born on July 27, 1899, inCorning, New York. He was the only son of four children born to Adelaide Louise (née Wellington) Houghton andAlanson B. Houghton, who served as aUnited States representative fromNew York, as well as theU.S. ambassador to Germany andGreat Britain. His second cousin was actressKatharine Hepburn.
He was educated atSt. Paul's School inConcord, New Hampshire, and graduated fromHarvard University in 1921.[4]
After graduating from Harvard, Houghton began work in the blowing room of B Factory at Corning Glass Works (nowCorning Incorporated) in 1921. In 1926, he became assistant to the president and two years later was elected executive vice-president.[4]
In 1930, he became president and at the death of his father in 1941 chairman of the board. After leaving this position in 1961 he went on to serve as chairman of the executive committee from 1961 to 1964. He was then named chairman of the board again from 1964 to 1971.[4]
Houghton served as a director of theNational City Bank of New York (nowCitibank), theMetropolitan Life Insurance Company (nowMetLife), and theErie Railroad.[4] He was also on theHarvard Board of Overseers, was a trustee of theInstitute for Advanced Study atPrinceton, New Jersey, and was a trustee ofEisenhower College inSeneca Falls, New York.[1]
Houghton began his career in government as adollar-a-year man in 1941 when he was appointed assistant deputy director of the materials division in theOffice of Production Management.[5] An account cited that it was businessmanPhilip D. Reed who recruited him to the OPM.[6] In this position, Houghton served as the liaison between the government and American manufacturers. It was reported that he was responsible for surmounting almost half the burden of the then production crisis.[5]
In January 1942, PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt replaced the Office andSupply Priorities and Allocations Board with theWar Production Board and Houghton was appointed deputy chief of the bureau of industry branches.[1] By August of the same year, he resigned and did not serve any government position after a Hartford-Empire, subsidiary of Corning, faced an antitrust suit.[5] He was also accused of monopolistic behavior and this particular case reached theSupreme Court.[7]
From 1943 to 1944, he was appointed as the chief mission officer for theLend-Lease Administration,[1] a program by which the United States supplied the Allied nations with food, oil, warships, warplanes, and with other weaponry duringWorld War II.[4] He was forced to resign in 1943 due to antitrust problems with a Corning subsidiary.[4]
On March 14, 1957, he was appointed theUnited States ambassador to France by PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower. He presented his credentials on April 17, 1957, and served until he left his post on January 19, 1961, shortly beforePresident Kennedy took office.[8]
Houghton received theSilver Buffalo Award in 1945 and served as the national president of the Boy Scouts of America from 1946 to 1951. He served on theWorld Scout Committee of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement from 1949 to 1955. He was awarded theBronze Wolf, the only distinction of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting, in 1955.[9]
In 1921, Houghton was married to Laura DeKay Richardson (d. 2003), the daughter of James Richardson ofProvidence, Rhode Island.[10] During his time as ambassador, his wife was referred toL'Ambassadrice Souriante (the Smiling Ambassadress) by theHerald Tribune.[10] Together, they were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters, including:[11]
Houghton died at the Medical University Hospital inCharleston, South Carolina, on February 21, 1981.[1]
Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was the grandfather of Elizabeth Livingston Weinberg,[15][18] Sydney Houghton Weinberg,Peter Amory Weinberg (born 1957), the co-founder ofPerella Weinberg Partners with merger specialist,Joseph Perella in 2006.[19]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. ambassador to France 1957–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Boy Scouts of America | ||
| Preceded by | National president 1946–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Envoys to France (1776–1779) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Ministers Plenipotentiary to France (1778–1815) | ||
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1816–1893) | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France (1893–present) | ||
