James Gordon Bennett, Jr.

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James Gordon Bennett, Jr.

James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (May 10, 1841 in – May 14, 1918 in Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Beaulieu-sur-Mer is a seaside resort Commune in France in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France on the French Riviera, located 6 miles apart east from Nice and west of Monaco....
, Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes is a departments of France in the extreme southeast corner of France....
, France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
), was publisher of the New York Herald
New York Herald

The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835 and 1924....
, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr.

James Gordon Bennett, Sr.

James Gordon Bennett , was the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald and a major figure in the history of American newspapers....
.

Bennett was educated primarily in France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. In 1866, the elder Bennett turned control of the Herald over to him. Bennett raised the paper's profile on the world stage when he provided the financial backing for the 1869 expedition by Henry Morton Stanley

Henry Morton Stanley

Sir Henry Morton Stanley , Order of the Bath, born John Rowlands , was a Wales journalist and List of explorers famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone....
into Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
to find David Livingstone

David Livingstone

Doctor David Livingstone was a Scotland Congregational church pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and List of explorers in Central Africa Africa....
in exchange for the Herald having the exclusive account of Stanley's progress.

Bennett, as did many of his class, indulged in the "good life": yachts, opulent private railcars, and lavish mansions.

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James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (May 10, 1841 in – May 14, 1918 in Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes is a departments of France in the extreme southeast corner of France....
, France

France

James Gordon Bennett, Sr.

James Gordon Bennett , was the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald and a major figure in the history of American newspapers....
.

Bennett was educated primarily in France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. In 1866, the elder Bennett turned control of the Herald over to him. Bennett raised the paper's profile on the world stage when he provided the financial backing for the 1869 expedition by Henry Morton Stanley

Henry Morton Stanley

Africa

David Livingstone

New York Yacht Club

The New York Yacht Club is a private yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. Founded in 1844, it is one of the world's most distinguished and influential yachting institutions....
. He served in the Navy during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
, and in 1866, won the first trans-oceanic boat race.

However, he often scandalized society with his flamboyant and sometimes erratic behavior. In 1877, he left New York after an incident that ended his engagement to socialite Caroline May. According to various accounts, he arrived late and drunk to a party at the May family mansion, then urinated into a fireplace in full view of his hosts.

Bennett's controversial reputation has been thought to have inspired the phrase "Gordon Bennett

Gordon Bennett (expression)

Gordon Bennett! is an expression or exclamation common in some parts of the United Kingdom that connotes surprise, annoyance or shock....
" as an expression of incredulous disbelief, common in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
.

Settling in Paris

Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, he launched the Paris edition of the New York Herald, titled The Paris Herald, the forerunner of the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune

The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 33 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 180 countries....
. He backed George W. DeLong

George W. DeLong

George Washington DeLong was a United States Navy officer and explorer....
's voyage to the North Pole

North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets the Earth's surface....
via the Bering Strait

Bering Strait

The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65? 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle....
. The ill-fated expedition led to the starvation deaths of DeLong and 19 of his crew, a tragedy that only increased the paper's circulation.

He was a co-founder of the Commercial Cable Company

Commercial Cable Company

The Commercial Cable Company was founded in the United States in 1884 by John William Mackay and James Gordon Bennett, Jr.. Their motivation was to break the then virtual monopoly of Jay Gould on transatlantic telegraphy and bring down prices ....
, a venture to break the Transatlantic cable monopoly held by Jay Gould

Jay Gould

Jason "Jay" Gould was an American financier who became a leading American railroad developer and speculator. Although he was long vilified as an archetypal Robber baron , modern historians have discounted various myths about him and evaluated his career more positively....
.

Bennett returned to the United States and organized the first polo

Polo

Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score Goal s against an opposing team. Riders score by driving a small white plastic or wooden Ball game into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet....
match in the United States at Dickel's Riding Academy at 39th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City

New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
. He would help found the Westchester Polo Club in 1876, the first polo club in America. He established the Gordon Bennett Cup for international yachting and the Gordon Bennett Cup

Gordon Bennett Cup in auto racing

As one of three Gordon Bennett Cups established by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., millionaire owner of the New York Herald, the automobile racing award was first given in 1900 in France....
for automobile races. In 1906, he funded a trophy for the Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett

Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning

The Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning is the world's oldest and most respected gas balloon race first run on September 30, 1906 in Paris, France....
, which continues to this day. Bennett also offered a trophy for airplane racing.

In 1880, Bennett commissioned McKim, Mead, and White

McKim, Mead, and White

McKim, Mead, and White was a prominent architect in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century. The firm consisted of Charles Follen McKim, William Mead, and Stanford White....
to design the Newport Casino

Newport Casino

The Newport Casino is located at 186-202 Bellevue Avenue Historic District, Newport, Rhode Island, Rhode Island, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987....
in Newport, RI.

He did not marry until 73 to the Baroness de Reuter, daughter of Paul Reuter

Paul Reuter

Paul Julius Freiherr von Reuter was a Germans entrepreneur and later naturalized United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland citizen. The pioneer of telegraphy and news reporting was journalist and media owner, the founder of Reuters news agency....
, founder of Reuters news agency

Reuters

Reuters Group Limited is a United_Kingdom-based, Canadian controlled news agency and former financial market data provider that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters....
. He died on May 14, 1918 in Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes is a departments of France in the extreme southeast corner of France....
, France

France

Stade de Roland Garros

The Stade de Roland Garros is located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris of Paris, France, and is home of the French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, played every year in May and June....
, site of the French Open

French Open (tennis)

The French Open is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between mid-May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the second of the Grand Slam title tournaments on the annual tennis calendar and the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world....
, is in the Avenue Gordon Bennett. After his death, the Herald was merged with its bitter rival, the New York Tribune
New York Tribune

The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States....
.

James Gordon Bennett, Jr.

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