Original: Henry Morgenthau ( , with a / t / ; April 26 , 1856 -- November 25 , 1946 ) was a businessman and United States ambassador , most famous as the American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the First World War .
Simplified: Henry Morgenthau , Sr. ( April 26 , 1856 -- November 25 , 1946 ) was a German-born American businessman and United States ambassador .