ILLUSTRATIONS
| Oscar S. Straus | [Frontispiece] |
| Photograph by the Campbell Studios, New York | |
| Mother and Father of Oscar S. Straus | [2] |
| Birthplace of Oscar S. Straus, Otterberg, Rhenish Bavaria | [8] |
| Chapel and Schoolhouse, Collinsworth Institute, Talbotton, Georgia | [8] |
| Oscar S. Straus at Six | [12] |
| Oscar S. Straus at the Time of his Graduation | [28] |
| Letter of Henry Ward Beecher to President Cleveland | [46] |
| Mrs. Straus in Turkey | [62] |
| Testimonial given to Mr. Straus in Jerusalem in Appreciation of the Release of Several Hundred Prisoners | [84] |
| Oscar S. Straus, Constantinople, 1888 | [96] |
| President McKinley sending the Author to Turkey on his Second Mission, 1898 | [124] |
| Members of the Railway Board of Administration | [200] |
| The Roosevelt Cabinet | [216] |
| Mrs. Oscar S. Straus | [246] |
| Nathan, Oscar, and Isidor Straus | [312] |
| Photograph by Pirie MacDonald, New York, 1912 | |
| Roger W. Straus | [392] |
Under Four Administrations
CHAPTER I
ANCESTRY AND EARLY YEARS
Napoleonic Era: the Sanhedrin—A forefather in Napoleon's councils—My father and the German Revolution of 1848—My father emigrates to America —My father starts business in Talbotton, Georgia—My mother and her children arrive, 1854—We attend the Baptist Church—My early schooling —Deacons duel with knives—Household slaves—Life in a small Southern town—Frugal and ingenious housekeeping—Outbreak of the Civil War—Our family moves to Columbus, Georgia—First lessons in oratory—General Wilson's capture of the city—The town is looted—Our family moves North —My father surprises Northern creditor by insisting upon paying his debts in full—I attend Columbia Grammar School in New York City—My accidental schoolroom glory before Morse, the inventor—I enter Columbia College in 1867 with Brander Matthews, Stuyvesant Fish, and other distinguished classmates —My classroom début in diplomacy—Poetic ambitions—Military aspirations and an interview with President Grant—Choosing law as a career.