For Educators | For Kids | For Researchers

Resources: Kids

Lew Wallace, Ambassador.
Ambassador | Artist | Author | General | Inventor | Musician | Back To Start

Lew Wallace was the Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1881-1885. An ambassador is someone who represents one country to another country.

Here’s one way to think about it. Imagine that your class and Mr. Smith’s class want to use the playground. Your class would pick one person to go to Mr. Smith’s class and explain what your class would like to do. This one person is like an ambassador.

As the Ambassador, it was Lew Wallace’s job to tell the government of the Ottoman Empire about the values and desires of the Unites States. For example, some men were put in prison for making fun of the Army. They were so sick that they were about to die. Lew Wallace thought that dying in prison was not a fair punishment for their crime, so he asked for them to be released. The United States believes that there should be no “cruel or unusual punishment.” Lew Wallace was expressing this American value to the Ottoman Empire when he asked for the prisoners to be released.

To be the ambassador, Lew Wallace had to move to Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire included the country of Turkey and several other countries in the Middle East. The Ottoman Empire was ruled by a sultan, which is another name for a king. Lew Wallace became good friends with Sultan Abdul Hamid II. They were such good friends that the Sultan gave Lew Wallace a painting of his daughter called "The Turkish Princess." Which is now on display in the museum. Many visitors say her eyes follow you around the room.