US Congressman and Diplomat. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the US House of Representatives from New York's 1st district for eight years, from March 1881 until December 1888. Born into a prestigious and wealthy family, his father, August Belmont, was a financier who established the Belmont Park horse racing track on Long Island, New York and his maternal grandfather was the noted US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry. After graduating from Harvard College at Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1872, he attended law school at the Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany and then graduated from Columbia law School at New York City, New York in 1876. He was then admitted to the bar and began practicing law in New York City. In 1880 he ran for Congress and was elected, succeeding James W. Covert. While in Congress, he sat with the Committee on Foreign Affairs, serving as its chairman from 1885 until 1887. In December 1888 he resigned his seat to become US Minister to Spain and served in that position until May 1889. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, he served briefly as a major in the US Army as an Inspector General in the 1st Division, 2nd Army Corps, US Volunteers. After the US entered World War I in April 1917, he received a captain's commission in the US Army, despite his age at 65, and was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps in Washington DC, serving until May 1920. He died at the age of 95.
US Congressman and Diplomat. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the US House of Representatives from New York's 1st district for eight years, from March 1881 until December 1888. Born into a prestigious and wealthy family, his father, August Belmont, was a financier who established the Belmont Park horse racing track on Long Island, New York and his maternal grandfather was the noted US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry. After graduating from Harvard College at Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1872, he attended law school at the Humboldt University of Berlin in Germany and then graduated from Columbia law School at New York City, New York in 1876. He was then admitted to the bar and began practicing law in New York City. In 1880 he ran for Congress and was elected, succeeding James W. Covert. While in Congress, he sat with the Committee on Foreign Affairs, serving as its chairman from 1885 until 1887. In December 1888 he resigned his seat to become US Minister to Spain and served in that position until May 1889. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, he served briefly as a major in the US Army as an Inspector General in the 1st Division, 2nd Army Corps, US Volunteers. After the US entered World War I in April 1917, he received a captain's commission in the US Army, despite his age at 65, and was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps in Washington DC, serving until May 1920. He died at the age of 95.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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