Background
He was born in Claverack, New York, United States, September 30, 1870.
He was born in Claverack, New York, United States, September 30, 1870.
He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1888. At Harvard College, he became first freshman editor of The Harvard Crimson, which helped him pay off some of his tuition. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1892.
He was a reporter on the New York Tribune for two years. In 1903 he entered banking as secretary and treasurer of the Bankers' Trust Company, becoming vice-president in 1905. In 1909 he became vice-president of the First National Bank of New York and two years later entered the firm of J. P. Morgan and Company, of which he became chairman in March 1943. From 1918 until 1922 he was the owner of the New York Evening Post. As representative of the United States Treasury he was a member of the American delegation to the peace conference in Paris in 1919. Lamont was chairman of the American committee which distributed aid to the starving Chinese in 1920, and was a trustee of several cultural and philanthropical institutions.
In 1926, Lamont, self-described as "something like a missionary" for Italian fascism.
He was a member of the Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, Georgia.
He married Florence Haskell (Corliss) Lamont on October 31, 1895 in Englewood, New Jersey.