Hamilton Fish Armstrong (April 7, 1893 – April 24, 1973) was an American diplomat and editor.

Biography

Armstrong attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, then began a career in journalism at ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

''. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was a military attaché in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, sparking a lifelong interest in American relations with foreign states. In 1922, at the request of editor Archibald Cary Coolidge, Armstrong became managing editor of '' Foreign Affairs'', the journal of the newly formed Council on Foreign Relations. After Coolidge's death in 1928, Armstrong became editor, retiring from the position only in 1972, the fiftieth year of publication of the journal. He died after a long illness on April 24, 1973, at the age of 80. Armstrong wrote many books, including the early ''Hitler's Reich: The First Phase'' (published in July, 1933, by The Macmillan Company).

Family

Armstrong was a member of the

Fish Family The Fish family is a prominent American family, members of which became influential in politics, diplomacy, and business. The family is of English origin and is descended from Jonathan Fish (1615–1663), who was born in East Farndon, Northamptons ...

of American politicians. Armstrong married three times. Helen MacGregor Byrne became his wife in 1918; their only child, Helen MacGregor (later Mrs. Edwin Gamble), was born on September 3, 1923. Armstrong and Byrne divorced in 1938. Later that year, she married

Walter Lippmann Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 – December 14, 1974) was an American writer, reporter and political commentator. With a career spanning 60 years, he is famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of Cold War, coining the te ...

, ending the friendship between the two men. Armstrong married author Carman Barnes in 1945, a marriage which ended in a 1951 divorce. In that same year, Armstrong married Christa von Tippelskirch.

Awards

Hamilton Fish Armstrong was decorated by

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

: * Order of the Serbian Red Cross (1918) * Order of St. Sava Fifth Class (1918) * Chevalier of Order of the White Eagle with Swords (1919) * Order of the Crown (Rumania) (1924) * Order of the White Lion of Czechoslovakia (1937) * Officer of the Legion of Honor of France (1937; commander, 1947) * Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1972) He received honorary degrees from Brown (1942), Yale (1957), Basel (1960), Princeton (1961), Columbia (1963), and Harvard (1963) universities.

Publications

Books

* ''The New Balkans'' (1926) * ''Where the East Begins'' (1929) * ''Hitler's Reich: The First Phase'' (1933) * ''Europe Between Wars?'' (1934) * ''Can We Be Neutral?'' (with Allen W. Dulles) (1936)
''"We or They": Two Worlds in Conflict''
(1936)"Some Recent Books on International Relations."
Review of ''"We or They": Two Worlds in Conflict'' by Hamilton Fish Armstrong. '' Foreign Affairs'', vol. 15, no. 2 (Jan. 1937), p. 386. Archived fro
the original.
. ::"The author describes the abyss both in ideology and practice existing between the democratic governments and the dictatorships, alike of the right and of the left; discusses the current foreign policies of the leading Powers as a result of this division, which he considers irreconcilable; and states the conditions in which he believes the democracies can defend themselves successfully." * ''When There Is No Peace''. New York: Macmillan (1939) * ''Can America Stay Neutral?'' (with Allen W. Dulles) (1939)
''Chronology of Failure: The Last Days of the French Republic''.
New York: Macmillan (1940) * ''The Calculated Risk'' (1947) * ''Tito and Goliath'' (1951) * ''Those Days'' (1963) * ''Peace and Counterpeace: From Wilson to Hitler: Memoirs of Hamilton Armstrong Fish''. New York:

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

(1971)

Contributions

Introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

to ''Refugees: Anarchy or Organization?'' by Dorothy Thompson. New York:

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

(1938), pp. ix-xi.

References

External links

Hamilton Fish Armstrong Papers
at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Hamilton Fish 1893 births 1973 deaths American diplomats Princeton University alumni Fish family American expatriates in the Kingdom of Serbia