Charles R. Crane is best known as the co-chair of the 1919 King-Crane Commission. While much of the writing about Crane has centered on the question of his anti-Semitism, scholars have generally ignored the important and complex role he played as a patron of both Orientalism and Arab nationalism. Crane was one of the wealthiest men in America during the World War I era, and was one of the five largest financial contributors to the Presidential campaigns of Woodrow Wilson. Crane fancied himself a world traveler and at an early age became fixated on the threat posed by a unified Islam and the Caliphate. Crane used his vast fortune to support several American Orientalists, including Richard Gottheil at Columbia University. However, he was infatuated with the work of the Dutch scholar Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje. Hurgronje and Crane corresponded regularly and Crane found solace in Hurgronje’s “insights” into Islam. Crane in turn funded a number of Hurgronje’s projects and sponsored a 1914 lecture tour of the United States. Crane’s dabbling in Orientalism fundamentally shaped his response to Arab nationalism. A careful study of his papers reveals that Crane was close to a number of Syrian nationalists during the period of the French Mandate, and that he probably provided financial support to one of the leaders of the 1925 nationalist revolt against the French. In addition, Crane forged a relationship with Ibn Saud, almost immediately after Ibn Saud consolidated power over Nejd and the Hejaz. However, Crane never actually understood the nationalism he supported. He believed that Muslims seeking to expand the power of Islam dominated Arab nationalist movements. Crane argued that Western support for Arab nationalism would appease the “Muslim world” and avoid a disastrous religious conflict. Based on the extensive use of the Crane Papers at Columbia University as well as other archival sources including the William Yale Papers at Yale and the Ameen Rihani Papers at the Library of Congress, this paper will examine the strange and misunderstood career of Charles Crane, as well as his role in shaping the American understanding of Islam and Arab nationalism.