| Horace G. Knowles | |
| Order: | United States Ambassador to Romania |
| Term Start: | May 7, 1907 |
| Term End: | February 4, 1909 |
| Predecessor: | John W. Riddle |
| Successor: | Huntington Wilson |
| President: | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Order2: | United States Ambassador to Bulgaria |
| Term Start2: | August 21, 1907 |
| Term End2: | February 4, 1909 |
| Predecessor2: | John Brinkerhoff Jackson |
| Successor2: | Spencer F. Eddy |
| President2: | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Order3: | United States Ambassador to Serbia |
| Term Start3: | January 16, 1907 |
| Term End3: | February 4, 1909 |
| Predecessor3: | John W. Riddle |
| Successor3: | John R. Carter |
| President3: | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Order4: | United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic |
| Term Start4: | March 7, 1910 |
| Term End4: | August 2, 1910 |
| Predecessor4: | Fenton R. McCreery |
| Successor4: | William W. Russell |
| President4: | William Howard Taft |
| Order5: | United States Ambassador to Bolivia |
| Term Start5: | December 28, 1910 |
| Term End5: | August 23, 1913 |
| Predecessor5: | James F. Stutesman |
| Successor5: | John D. O'Rear |
| President5: | William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson |
| Birth Name: | Horace Greeley Knowles |
| Birth Date: | 20 October 1863 |
| Birth Place: | Seaford, Delaware, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Arlington Cemetery Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Party: | Republican |
| Alma Mater: | University of Delaware |
| Occupation: | Attorney and diplomat |
| Signature: | Signature of Horace Greeley Knowles.png |
Horace Greeley Knowles (October 20, 1863 – November 2, 1937) was an American attorney and diplomat, who served as an ambassador under three U.S. presidents between 1907 and 1913.
Knowles was born on October 20, 1863, in Seaford, Delaware, the son of Dr. Isaac H. D. Knowles and Sarah Lavinia Short.[1] He attended the University of Delaware and became an attorney in his home state. He married Edith E. Wallace on April 20, 1897, and they had two children.[1]
Knowles became friends with Theodore Roosevelt, who convinced him to enter into the diplomatic corps.
Knowles served as U.S. Ambassador to Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia in the final years of Roosevelt's presidency. He was appointed by Roosevelt's successor, William Howard Taft, as the U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic and later as the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia a post he held through the early months of the Woodrow Wilson's administration.[2]
For a period, Knowles remained active in Republican politics: during the 1928 presidential election he campaigned actively for Herbert Hoover, warning that if Democratic nominee Al Smith were victorious, the nation would experience high unemployment and widespread depression.[3]
After leaving the foreign service, Knowles returned to practicing law, and appeared often before the United States Court of Claims.
In the 1920s, Knowles became "a consistent critic of the policy of the United States in Central America, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti".[4] He was also a critic of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, and became treasurer of the "Committee for Ethiopia", conducting a fundraising drive that collected over $1 million for medical aid to the Ethiopians.[5]
Knowles spent his final years in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, living at 145 East 46th Street. He died there in his sleep on the night of November 2, 1937, of a heart ailment.[6] He was interred at Arlington Cemetery, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.