William Vincent Astor was a businessman, philanthropist, and member of the prominent Astor family.
Background
William Vincent Astor was born on November 15, 1891 in Manhattan, New York, United States. He was the son of John Jacob Astor IV and Ava Willing and the great-great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, the first of the name in the United States.
In 1910 his parents were divorced; his father then married Madeleine Talmadge Force.
Education
Astor was educated at the Westminster School, Simsbury, Connecticut, and at St. George's School, Newport.
After tutoring by the young newspaperman H. V. Kaltenborn, Astor entered Harvard College in the fall of 1911 but remained there for only seven months.
Career
Astor left Harvard College in April 1912, shortly after his father, with whom Vincent had a very close relationship, went down on the Titanic.
At twenty years of age Vincent was thrust into the business of managing the Astor estate and the family's various other interests. Astor, nevertheless, found time for sports. He raced automobiles and lent his support to aviation; he was a pilot and Early Bird, who joined the Aero Club of America back in 1913.
He was an enthusiastic yachtsman, cruising the seas in the Noma or in his later yacht, the Nourmahal. He was accompanied on his oceanic trips by friends and scientists who studied marine life. For the Bronx Zoo he brought back rare specimens from many climes. With his knowledge of seamanship and navigation, it was only natural that he should volunteer for naval service in World War I.
He gave Noma to the government, and it joined the U. S. mosquito fleet as a submarine chaser, on which Astor served. He also saw some service on the Nourmahal, another gift of his to the navy.
He was stationed in France as a naval port officer, was transferred to the Aphrodite, and became its executive officer. Finally, he returned home in command of the captured German submarine U-117, a sabotaged U-boat filled with gas that made most of the American crew ill and injured Astor's lungs. It was a hazardous assignment in an unfamiliar craft.
During World War II, Astor rose to the rank of naval reserve captain, serving in naval intelligence and the eastern sea frontier. Again, there was an Astor Nourmahal in governmental service. He saw active duty in command of large convoys, crossing to England in 1944. John Jacob Astor IV had left a $5 million trust fund for Ava Alice, Vincent's sister, and a similar fund of $3 million for his unborn child. The remainder of his vast estate, about $87 million, was bequeathed to Vincent. Approximately $63 million, the largest of the family investments, was in New York City real estate.
The properties included the St. Regis and the Waldorf-Astoria hotels as well as many apartment and office buildings. Astor's business method was to develop or improve the properties, always taking an active interest in the operations. Many of his inherited slum tenements, called "Astor Flats, " he caused to be razed. Others he sold to New York's Municipal Housing Authority for little cash and long-term mortgages. Squalor was once a hallmark of Astor realty holdings. To offset this image, a new heading for his advertisements was devised--the smart "Vincent Astor Offers. "
During the 1920's Astor sold about $40 million worth of his New York holdings. He reinvested $15 million of that sum in improvements and the erection of new buildings. "Every dollar is a soldier to do your bidding" was one of his rare quotations. He was interested in offshore oil development, was an investor in southwestern oil, and built the Illuminating Building in Cleveland. He made a profit of $371, 000 on his share of the motion picture Ben Hur.
In February 1933, Astor and Roosevelt took an eleven-day cruise on the Nourmahal, going ashore in Miami, Fla. , for a triumphal parade. It was there that an assassin's bullet, aimed at president-elect Roosevelt, killed Chicago's Mayor Anton J. Cermak.
Through politics, Astor became involved in the publishing business. In 1933, with brain truster Raymond Moley as editor, he became a partner in the creation of the magazine Today, an outlet for Moley's political theories. After Moley broke with Roosevelt, he became a vigorous critic of the president via Today.
In 1937 the publication merged with News Week (later Newsweek) magazine; Astor remained its owner and chairman of the board until his death. As time passed, Astor disposed of more and more of his properties, until he owned no real estate except the St. Regis, the New York Times annex, and his residences.
The Captain, as he was known, had one notable failure--his projected $75 million Astor Plaza died in 1957 for lack of adequate financing. In 1958 the First National City Bank of New York took the project off Astor's hands and put up its own building on the location at Park Avenue and 53rd Street.
Astor was a member of twenty-nine clubs and a director of many corporations, including United States Trust, Great Northern Railroad, Chase National Bank, Western Union Telegraph, International Mercantile Marine, and the United States Lines.
He was a trustee of the New York Public Library (which grew largely out of a $400, 000 bequest made by the first John Jacob Astor), a governor of New York Hospital, and a director of the New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital. His varied philanthropies included the establishment of a $1 million playground in Harlem; the Astor Home in Rhinebeck (for disturbed children), given to the Catholic Church and run by the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul; and a clubhouse for nurses.
In 1948 Astor established the Vincent Astor Foundation, with its slogan "the alleviation of human misery. " The foundation has sought "to lift the sights, broaden the opportunities, and enrich the lives of the urban population. " The organization has supported medical and surgical research, child care, as well as cultural and educational programs. It has clung to its two major principles of being "people-oriented" and spending its funds entirely in New York City.
In 1973 the foundation allotted more than $55 million to some 280 grantees.
During much of his life, Astor broke with family tradition by keeping close personal watch over his holdings, investing part of his capital in fields other than real estate, having little enthusiasm for the kind of social life his ancestors enjoyed and taking an active part in social reform. He believed that the masses would be served best by an enlightened capitalism.
Achievements
Religion
Astor was an Episcopalian; he served as senior warden of the Church of the Messiah in Rhinebeck.
Politics
An independent in politics, Astor backed Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential campaign and strongly supported the New Deal in its early stages. Then, disenchantment came, although Astor remained personally friendly with Roosevelt.
Personality
Astor was a man of strong character and decided views, but he was nevertheless modest and retiring. He never sought public acclaim or positions of prominence.
Connections
He married Helen Dinsmore Huntington on April 30, 1914; they were divorced in 1940. He then married Mary Benedict Cushing on September 27, 1940; they were divorced in 1953. In Bar Harbor, Maine, on October 8, 1953, Astor married Roberta Brooke Russel. There were no children from any of the marriages.