Armstrong, Hamilton Fish

Armstrong, Hamilton Fish '16 (1893-1973), was a founder and for fifty years editor of the American quarterly review Foreign Affairs. He was born and lived all his life on West Tenth Street in New York; his book Those Days recounts the experience of growing up in Greenwich Village. In his undergraduate years he showed his editorial bent by earning places on the Nassau Lit and the Daily Princetonian. As editorial chairman of the Prince his senior year, when women's suffrage was being debated in New Jersey, he spoke out in favor of giving the vote to ``the other half'' of the human race. But his interest in international matters was a later development. At graduation he reported to the Nassau Herald that he was still undecided about his future occupation, and it w~as not until he became a military attach‚ in Belgrade at the end of the First World War that his life-long interest in foreign affairs was kindled.

During his half-century with Foreign Affairs, he traveled widely, studied closely the problems of many countries, and came to know the leading statesmen of the world. His knowledge and judgment in assessing international problems gave the quarterly a worldwide reputation and influence. Everyone who knew him was impressed by the rare personal qualities of ``the Gentleman from Tenth Street,'' as James Reston called him. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., said he treated everyone, ``old or young, famous or unknown, with the same generous courtesy and concern. It was more than manner. . . ; it was a genuine youthfulness of mind and openness of heart.''

In his eightieth year Armstrong summed up his thoughts about America's place in the world with these words:

``The direction is not backward in nostalgia, to the virtues of our forefathers. . . . The direction is forward, to recognize and accept the present ills of our society and to set about curing them -- by rehumanizing ourselves, by readopting civility as part of good behavior, by recognizing that history can inform the future . . . by welcoming diversity of opinion as an essential element of strength in a democracy.

From Alexander Leitch, A Princeton Companion, copyright Princeton University Press (1978).

Go to Search A Princeton Companion