Childhood, family's position in business, early influence of missionaries, experiences in politics, the Boxer Rebellion; education in China and United States, return to China; early association with Kuomintang and rise within Nationalist government; trip to Europe 1937 and meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Neville Chamberlain, Eduard Benes, Hitler, and Mussolini; view of many government policies, role in currency stabilization, information about the Sian Incident and increasing Japanese pressure; friendship with various Chinese and foreign leaders.