After serving from 1931 until 1946 as a United States Senator from Vermont, this Republican politician held office as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. As a UN Ambassador, he played a key role in both the formation of Israel and in early Cold War-era negotiations.
After graduating from the University of Vermont in the late Nineteenth Century and subsequently earning a degree in law, he held office as the State Attorney of Franklin County, Vermont.
His brother, Roswell Austin, also had a career in politics, serving during the mid 1920s as Speaker of Vermont's House of Representatives.
He married Mildred Lucas in 1901. Their union produced several children, including U.S. Army officer Edward Austin and attorney Warren Austin, Jr.
He was nominated by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to the position of Ambassador to the U.N.