John Hay Whitney
Encyclopedia
John Hay Whitney colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune
, and a member of the Whitney family
.
, Maine
, Whitney was a descendant of John Whitney, a Puritan
who settled in Massachusetts
in 1635, as well as of William Bradford
, who came over on the Mayflower
. His father was Payne Whitney, and his grandfathers were William C. Whitney
and John Hay
, both presidential cabinet members. His mother was Helen Hay Whitney
.
The Payne Whitneys lived around the corner from James B. Duke, and his wife and daughter Doris
. Whitney's uncle, Oliver Hazard Payne
, a business partner of John D. Rockefeller
, arranged the buyout of Duke's competitors to create the American Tobacco Co.
"Jock" Whitney attended Yale College
. He joined Delta Kappa Epsilon
fraternity (Phi chapter), as his father had. Whitney, his father, grandfather, and great-uncle were oarsmen at Yale, and his father was captain of the crew in 1898. He was a member of Scroll and Key
. While at Yale, he allegedly coined the term "crew cut
" for the haircut that now bears the name.
After graduating in 1926, Whitney went to Oxford University, but the death of his father necessitated his returning home. He inherited a trust fund of $20 million (approximately $210 million in 2005 dollars), and later inherited four times that amount from his mother.
. Jock and his sister ran Greentree Stables in the U.S., owned by their mother. In 1928, he became the youngest member ever elected to The Jockey Club
.
Whitney and his first wife "Liz" raced horses both in the United States and in Europe. He owned Easter Hero who won the 1929 and 1930 editions of the Cheltenham Gold Cup
. In the 1929 Grand National
, his horse twisted a plate and was beaten by a nose at the finish. Although Whitney entered the Grand National annually, he never again came close to winning.
The Whitneys entered four horses in the Kentucky Derby
in the 1930s, "Stepenfetchit," which finished 3rd in 1932, "Overtime," which finished 5th in 1933, "Singing Wood," which finished 8th in 1934, and "Heather Broom," which finished 3rd in 1939.
Jock Whitney was also an outstanding polo
player, with a four-goal handicap, and it was as a sportsman that he made the cover of the March 27, 1933 issue of TIME
magazine.
, the son of the founder of Freeport Texas Co.
, a sulfur
mining company. Williams enlisted his aid in ousting the chairman of his family's company by buying shares of the company. Whitney soon was Freeport's biggest shareholder, enabling Williams to sack the chairman and his management team. Williams became Freeport's president in 1933 and Whitney was appointed Chairman of the Board.
shows, including Peter Arno
's 1931 revue Here Goes the Bride, a failure that cost him $100,000, but was more successful
as one of the backers of Life with Father
.
An October 1934 Fortune
article on the Technicolor Corporation noted Whitney's interest in pictures. He had met Technicolor head Herbert Kalmus
at the Saratoga Race Course
. In 1932, Technicolor achieved a breakthrough with its three-strip process. Merian C. Cooper
of RKO Radio Pictures approached Whitney with the idea of investing in Technicolor. They joined forces and founded Pioneer Pictures
in 1933, with a distribution deal with RKO to distribute Pioneer's films. Whitney and his cousin Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
bought a 15% stake in Technicolor.
Whitney was also the major investor in David O. Selznick
's production company, putting up $870,000 and serving as Chairman of the Board. He put up half the money to option Margaret Mitchell
's Gone with the Wind
for the Selznick film version
, in which he then invested, and later in Rebecca (1940).
is the oldest venture capital firm in the U.S. (Whitney's business partner, Benno C. Schmidt, Sr.
, in fact, coined the term "venture capital.")
In 1958, while he was still ambassador to the United Kingdom, his company Whitney Communications Corp. bought the New York Herald Tribune
, and was its publisher from 1961 to its closure in 1966. Whitney Communications also owned and operated other newspapers, plus magazines and broadcasting stations.
in 1930 as a bridal gift for his fiancée, the Pennsylvania
socialite Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Altemus
. It was a 2200 acre (890.3 ha) historic equestrian
farm just outside Middleburg, Virginia
. The couple divorced in 1940, but Liz Whitney remained there for the rest of her life, becoming an internationally renowned horse breeder and a member of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association Hall of Fame.
Although married to Altemus, Jock Whitney was romantically linked to Tallulah Bankhead
, Joan Bennett
, Paulette Goddard
and Joan Crawford
. Clark Gable
and Carole Lombard
met at one of Whitney's parties. In the early 1930s Jock Whitney began an affair with Nina Gore Vidal; at the same time Mary Altemus Whitney had an affair with Nina Vidal's husband Eugene Vidal. Whitney and Liz divorced in 1940 and in 1942 he married Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney
, ex-wife of James Roosevelt
, son of Franklin D. Roosevelt
, and adopted her two daughters, Kate and Sara
Whitney.
Whitney met Fred Astaire
in New York
while the former was a student at Yale University
and they became lifelong friends, sharing a passion for horse racing. Whitney became a major investor in two of Astaire's Broadway
stage vehicles, The Band Wagon
(1930) and Gay Divorce
(1932), and played a crucial role in securing for Astaire a contract with RKO Pictures
in 1933, using his contacts with Merion C. Cooper - both men were board members of Pan American Airways whose planes were prominently featured in Astaire's breakthrough film with Ginger Rogers
: Flying Down to Rio
(1933).
During the 1970s, Jock Whitney was listed as one of the ten wealthiest men in the world. The residences at his disposal over the years included an estate on Long Island
; a plantation
in Georgia; a townhouse and an elegant apartment in Manhattan
; a large summer house on Fishers Island
, near New London, Connecticut
; a 12-room house in Saratoga Springs, which the Whitneys used when they attended horse races; a golfing cottage in Augusta, Georgia
, where he was a member of the Augusta National Golf Club
; and a spacious house in Surrey, England, near the Ascot Racecourse
. Mr. Whitney also owned an estate in Aiken, South Carolina
, which he considered his 'retirement' home and where he hoped to spend his final days.
painted in 1876 by the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir
. In 1990, his widow put the painting up for auction with Sotheby's
, New York
and it sold for US$78 million to Japan
ese businessman, Ryoei Saito
.
as an intelligence
officer during World War II
, assigned to the Office of Strategic Services
. He was taken prisoner by the Germans in southern France, but escaped when the train transporting him to a POW camp came under Allied
fire.
. President Eisenhower appointed him United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
, a post held sixty years earlier by Whitney's grandfather John Hay
. Whitney played a major role in improving Anglo-American relations, which had been severely strained during the 1956 Suez Crisis
, when Eisenhower demanded that the British, French and Israelis terminate their invasion of Egypt
.
. After his father's death, the family built the Payne Whitney Gymnasium
at Yale in his honor. The family also financed Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic
at New York Presbyterian Hospital in 1932.
Whitney created the John Hay Whitney Foundation for educational projects in 1946. The Foundation provided fellowships to the racially and culturally deprived. He became a major contributor to Yale University, where he served as a Fellow of the Corporation.
In 1951, he and his wife Betsey Cushing Whitney donated land from their "Greentree
" estate in Manhasset, New York
toward the building of North Shore Hospital. Currently called North Shore University Hospital
, it is the flagship hospital of the 3rd largest not-for-profit secular healthcare system in the United States, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.
In 1953, Whitney received The Hundred Year Association of New York
's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
, and a member of the Whitney family
Whitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...
.
Family
Born on August 17, 1904, in EllsworthEllsworth, Maine
Ellsworth is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Maine, United States. The 2010 Census determined it had a population of 7,741. Ellsworth was Maine's fastest growing city from 2000-2010 with a growth rate of nearly 20 percent...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Whitney was a descendant of John Whitney, a Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
who settled in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in 1635, as well as of William Bradford
William Bradford (1590-1657)
William Bradford was an English leader of the settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, and served as governor for over 30 years after John Carver died. His journal was published as Of Plymouth Plantation...
, who came over on the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
. His father was Payne Whitney, and his grandfathers were William C. Whitney
William C. Whitney
William Collins Whitney was an American political leader and financier and founder of the prominent Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland administration from 1885 through 1889. A conservative reformer, he was considered a Bourbon Democrat.-Early life:William...
and John Hay
John Hay
John Milton Hay was an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.-Early life:...
, both presidential cabinet members. His mother was Helen Hay Whitney
Helen Hay Whitney
Helen Julia Hay Whitney was an American poet, writer, racehorse owner/breeder, socialite, and philanthropist. She was a member by marriage of the prominent Whitney family of New York.-Biography:...
.
The Payne Whitneys lived around the corner from James B. Duke, and his wife and daughter Doris
Doris Duke
Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...
. Whitney's uncle, Oliver Hazard Payne
Oliver Hazard Payne
Oliver Hazard Payne was an American businessman, organizer of the American Tobacco trust, and assisted with the formation of U.S. Steel, and was affiliated with Standard Oil. He is considered one of the 100 wealthiest Americans, having left an enormous fortune. His estate at Esopus, New York,...
, a business partner of John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
, arranged the buyout of Duke's competitors to create the American Tobacco Co.
"Jock" Whitney attended Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
. He joined Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity (Phi chapter), as his father had. Whitney, his father, grandfather, and great-uncle were oarsmen at Yale, and his father was captain of the crew in 1898. He was a member of Scroll and Key
Scroll and Key
The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the wealthiest and second oldest Yale secret society...
. While at Yale, he allegedly coined the term "crew cut
Crew cut
A crew cut is a type of haircut in which the hair on the top of the head is cut relatively short, graduated in length from the longest hair at the front hairline to the shortest at the back of the crown. The hair on the sides and back of the head is usually tapered short, semi-short or medium. A...
" for the haircut that now bears the name.
After graduating in 1926, Whitney went to Oxford University, but the death of his father necessitated his returning home. He inherited a trust fund of $20 million (approximately $210 million in 2005 dollars), and later inherited four times that amount from his mother.
Thoroughbred horse racing
Whitney inherited his family's love of horses, a predilection he shared with his sister, Joan Whitney PaysonJoan Whitney Payson
Joan Whitney Payson was an American heiress, businesswoman, philanthropist, patron of the arts and art collector, and a member of the prominent Whitney family...
. Jock and his sister ran Greentree Stables in the U.S., owned by their mother. In 1928, he became the youngest member ever elected to The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club, formed on February 9, 1894, is the keeper of The American Stud Book. It came into existence after James R. Keene spearheaded a drive in support of racehorse trainers who had complained about the Board of Control that governed racing in New York State.-History:On its formation, The...
.
Whitney and his first wife "Liz" raced horses both in the United States and in Europe. He owned Easter Hero who won the 1929 and 1930 editions of the Cheltenham Gold Cup
Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...
. In the 1929 Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
, his horse twisted a plate and was beaten by a nose at the finish. Although Whitney entered the Grand National annually, he never again came close to winning.
The Whitneys entered four horses in the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
in the 1930s, "Stepenfetchit," which finished 3rd in 1932, "Overtime," which finished 5th in 1933, "Singing Wood," which finished 8th in 1934, and "Heather Broom," which finished 3rd in 1939.
Jock Whitney was also an outstanding polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
player, with a four-goal handicap, and it was as a sportsman that he made the cover of the March 27, 1933 issue of TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine.
Freeport Texas Co.
In 1929, Whitney was hired as a clerk at the firm of Lee, Higginson, where he met Langbourne Meade Williams, Jr.Langbourne Meade Williams, Jr.
Langbourne Meade Williams, Jr. was an American businessman. Williams was one of eight children born to Langbourne Meade Williams and Susanne Catherine Nolting of Richmond Virginia...
, the son of the founder of Freeport Texas Co.
Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., often called simply Freeport, is the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of gold...
, a sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
mining company. Williams enlisted his aid in ousting the chairman of his family's company by buying shares of the company. Whitney soon was Freeport's biggest shareholder, enabling Williams to sack the chairman and his management team. Williams became Freeport's president in 1933 and Whitney was appointed Chairman of the Board.
Technicolor
Whitney invested in several BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows, including Peter Arno
Peter Arno
Peter Arno was a U.S. cartoonist.-Biography:Born Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr. in New York, New York, and educated at the Hotchkiss School and Yale University, his cartoons were published in The New Yorker from 1925–1968. They often depicted a cross-section of New York society from the 1920s through...
's 1931 revue Here Goes the Bride, a failure that cost him $100,000, but was more successful
as one of the backers of Life with Father
Life with Father
Life with Father is the title of a humorous autobiographical book of stories compiled in 1935 by Clarence Day, Jr., which was adapted in 1939 into a long-running Broadway play by Lindsay and Crouse, which was, in turn, made into a 1947 movie and a television series.-The book:Clarence Day wrote...
.
An October 1934 Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
article on the Technicolor Corporation noted Whitney's interest in pictures. He had met Technicolor head Herbert Kalmus
Herbert Kalmus
Herbert Thomas Kalmus was an American scientist and engineer who played a key role in developing color motion picture film...
at the Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...
. In 1932, Technicolor achieved a breakthrough with its three-strip process. Merian C. Cooper
Merian C. Cooper
Merian Caldwell Cooper was an American aviator, United States Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, screenwriter, and film director and producer. His most famous film was the 1933 movie King Kong.-Early life:...
of RKO Radio Pictures approached Whitney with the idea of investing in Technicolor. They joined forces and founded Pioneer Pictures
Pioneer Pictures
Pioneer Pictures, Inc. was a Hollywood motion picture company, most noted for its early commitment to making color films. Pioneer was initially affiliated with RKO Pictures, whose production facilities in Culver City, California were used by Pioneer, and who distributed Pioneer's films...
in 1933, with a distribution deal with RKO to distribute Pioneer's films. Whitney and his cousin Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, writer, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses....
bought a 15% stake in Technicolor.
Whitney was also the major investor in David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
's production company, putting up $870,000 and serving as Chairman of the Board. He put up half the money to option Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
's Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
for the Selznick film version
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, in which he then invested, and later in Rebecca (1940).
J.H. Whitney & Co.
J.H. Whitney & CompanyJ.H. Whitney & Company
J.H. Whitney & Company is a venture capital firm in the U.S., founded in 1946 by John Hay Whitney and his partner Benno Schmidt. Today the firm focuses primarily on leveraged buyouts, turnarounds, acquisitions, and recapitalizations of more mature companies particularly those it considers to be in...
is the oldest venture capital firm in the U.S. (Whitney's business partner, Benno C. Schmidt, Sr.
Benno C. Schmidt, Sr.
Benno Charles Schmidt, Sr. was an American lawyer and venture capitalist who was active in New York City civic affairs and played an important role in the initiation of the War on Cancer....
, in fact, coined the term "venture capital.")
In 1958, while he was still ambassador to the United Kingdom, his company Whitney Communications Corp. bought the New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
, and was its publisher from 1961 to its closure in 1966. Whitney Communications also owned and operated other newspapers, plus magazines and broadcasting stations.
Personal life
Jock Whitney purchased the Llangollen estateLlangollen estate
Llangollen estate is an historic American horse and cattle farm located in western Loudoun County, Virginia on Trappe Rd. near Upperville at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Eight miles from the town of Middleburg, the area is home to a number of prominent Thoroughbred-breeding farms and...
in 1930 as a bridal gift for his fiancée, the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
socialite Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Altemus
Liz Whitney Tippett
Mary Elizabeth Whitney Person Tippett was a wealthy American socialite and philanthropist who was a champion horsewoman and for more than fifty years, a prominent owner/breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses.Born in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of Elizabeth Dobson and her husband...
. It was a 2200 acre (890.3 ha) historic equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
farm just outside Middleburg, Virginia
Middleburg, Virginia
Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States with a population of approximately 976 as of July 2010.-History:The town was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel and Virginia statesman, Levin Powell. He purchased the land for Middleburg at $2.50 per...
. The couple divorced in 1940, but Liz Whitney remained there for the rest of her life, becoming an internationally renowned horse breeder and a member of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association Hall of Fame.
Although married to Altemus, Jock Whitney was romantically linked to Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
, Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
, Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard was an American film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich...
and Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
. Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
and Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...
met at one of Whitney's parties. In the early 1930s Jock Whitney began an affair with Nina Gore Vidal; at the same time Mary Altemus Whitney had an affair with Nina Vidal's husband Eugene Vidal. Whitney and Liz divorced in 1940 and in 1942 he married Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney
Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney
Betsey Roosevelt Whitney , was an American philanthropist, the ex-wife of James Roosevelt , and later wife of American millionaire and U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St...
, ex-wife of James Roosevelt
James Roosevelt
James Roosevelt was the oldest son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was a United States Congressman, an officer in the United States Marine Corps, an aide to his father, the official Secretary to the President, a Democratic Party activist, and a businessman.-Early life:Roosevelt was...
, son of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, and adopted her two daughters, Kate and Sara
Sara Wilford
Sara Delano Roosevelt diBonaventura Wilford is the daughter of Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney, a prominent philanthropist in medicine and art, and James Roosevelt, the oldest son of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Anna Eleanor Roosevelt...
Whitney.
Whitney met Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
while the former was a student at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and they became lifelong friends, sharing a passion for horse racing. Whitney became a major investor in two of Astaire's Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage vehicles, The Band Wagon
The Band Wagon (musical)
For the film, see The Band WagonThe Band Wagon is a musical revue with book by George S. Kaufman and Howard Dietz, lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. It first played on Broadway in 1931, running for 260 performances...
(1930) and Gay Divorce
Gay Divorce
Gay Divorce is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song "Night and Day" in which Astaire danced with co-star Claire Luce.It was made into a musical...
(1932), and played a crucial role in securing for Astaire a contract with RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
in 1933, using his contacts with Merion C. Cooper - both men were board members of Pan American Airways whose planes were prominently featured in Astaire's breakthrough film with Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
: Flying Down to Rio
Flying Down to Rio
Flying Down to Rio is a 1933 RKO musical film noted for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Astaire and Rogers were not the stars of the film, however, Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond were top-billed. Among the featured players Franklin Pangborn and Eric Blore are...
(1933).
During the 1970s, Jock Whitney was listed as one of the ten wealthiest men in the world. The residences at his disposal over the years included an estate on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
; a plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in Georgia; a townhouse and an elegant apartment in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
; a large summer house on Fishers Island
Fishers Island
Fishers Island, approximately 9 miles long and 1 mile wide, is located at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, 2 miles off the southeastern coast of Connecticut across Fishers Island Sound...
, near New London, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
; a 12-room house in Saratoga Springs, which the Whitneys used when they attended horse races; a golfing cottage in Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, where he was a member of the Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club, located in Augusta, Georgia, is a famous men's golf club. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and designed by Alister MacKenzie on the site of a former indigo plantation, the club opened for play in January 1933. Since 1934, it has played host to the annual...
; and a spacious house in Surrey, England, near the Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races...
. Mr. Whitney also owned an estate in Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is a city in and the county seat of Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. With Augusta, Georgia, it is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area. Aiken is home to the University of South...
, which he considered his 'retirement' home and where he hoped to spend his final days.
Art collection
Among the paintings in his collection, Jock Whitney's prized possession was the Bal au moulin de la GaletteBal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre
Bal du moulin de la Galette is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and is one of Impressionism's most celebrated masterpieces. The painting depicts a typical Sunday afternoon at Moulin de la Galette in the district of Montmartre in...
painted in 1876 by the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
. In 1990, his widow put the painting up for auction with Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and it sold for US$78 million to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese businessman, Ryoei Saito
Ryoei Saito
Ryoei Saito was the honorary chairman of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing, Japan.He was noted for his purchase of expensive art like Portrait of Dr. Gachet amongst others....
.
Military career
Whitney served in the United States Army Air ForcesUnited States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
as an intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
officer during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, assigned to the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
. He was taken prisoner by the Germans in southern France, but escaped when the train transporting him to a POW camp came under Allied
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
fire.
Political life
Whitney was the major backer of Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
. President Eisenhower appointed him United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
, a post held sixty years earlier by Whitney's grandfather John Hay
John Hay
John Milton Hay was an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.-Early life:...
. Whitney played a major role in improving Anglo-American relations, which had been severely strained during the 1956 Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
, when Eisenhower demanded that the British, French and Israelis terminate their invasion of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
Philanthropy
Payne Whitney made substantial gifts to Yale, to the New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the New York Public LibraryNew York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
. After his father's death, the family built the Payne Whitney Gymnasium
Payne Whitney Gymnasium
The Payne Whitney Gymnasium is the gymnasium of Yale University. Built in the prevailing Gothic architecture style of the campus in 1932, it is a remarkable building, possessing a Gothic tower, a third-floor swimming pool, a polo practice room, and a rooftop running track. It is the second-largest...
at Yale in his honor. The family also financed Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic
Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic
At his death in 1927, Payne Whitney bestowed the funds to build and endow the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic on the Upper East Side of Manhattan...
at New York Presbyterian Hospital in 1932.
Whitney created the John Hay Whitney Foundation for educational projects in 1946. The Foundation provided fellowships to the racially and culturally deprived. He became a major contributor to Yale University, where he served as a Fellow of the Corporation.
In 1951, he and his wife Betsey Cushing Whitney donated land from their "Greentree
Greentree
Greentree is a estate in Manhasset, New York on Long Island. Payne Whitney purchased the estate for his bride, Helen Julia Hay, in 1904. Later, John Hay Whitney and his second wife, Betsey, occupied the main house, where Mrs...
" estate in Manhasset, New York
Manhasset, New York
Manhasset is a hamlet and neighborhood in Nassau County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 8,080....
toward the building of North Shore Hospital. Currently called North Shore University Hospital
North Shore University Hospital
North Shore University Hospital is one of the cornerstones of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, as well as an academic campus for the New York University School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine....
, it is the flagship hospital of the 3rd largest not-for-profit secular healthcare system in the United States, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.
In 1953, Whitney received The Hundred Year Association of New York
The Hundred Year Association of New York
The Hundred Year Association of New York, founded in 1927, is a non-profit organization in New York City aimed at recognizing and rewarding dedication and service to the City of New York by businesses and organizations that have been in operation in the city for a century or more and by individuals...
's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."