Robert Lamont
5th United States Secretary of Commerce
In office
March 5, 1929 – August 7, 1932
PresidentHerbert Hoover
Preceded byWilliam F. Whiting
Succeeded byRoy D. Chapin
Personal details
Born
Robert Patterson Lamont

(1867-12-01)December 1, 1867
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedFebruary 20, 1948(1948-02-20) (aged 80)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseHelen Trotter
RelationsRobert L. Belknap (grandson)
Children3
EducationUniversity of Michigan (BS)

Robert Patterson Lamont (December 1, 1867 – February 20, 1948) was United States secretary of commerce March 5, 1929 to August 7, 1932, during the administration of Herbert Hoover. He was commerce secretary during difficult times for commerce, as a result of the Great Depression.

Life

West View Farms, Lamont's estate in Lake Forest, Illinois from 1925 to 1934, was designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw.

Lamont was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 1, 1867, to Isabella (née Patterson) and Robert Lamont. He was educated at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1891 with a degree in civil engineering. He worked as an engineer at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Lamont married Helen Gertrude Trotter on October 24, 1894. They had three children: (Robert Patterson II, Gertrude and Dorothy Lamont). In 1897, he was hired by the Simplex Railway Appliance Company as first vice president. In 1905, the company was bought out by American Steel Foundries and Lamont remained a vice president. In 1912, he was appointed company president, a position he held until his Hoover administration appointment in 1929. Lamont was Secretary of Commerce from 1929 until 1932, when he resigned in order to become president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, where he stayed until 1934. Lamont died in Chicago, Illinois, in 1948.[1][2][3] His grandson, Robert L. Belknap, was a professor of Russian literature at Columbia University.[4][5][6]

References

  1. ^ Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Lamb-hale to Lanbach". Politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  2. ^ Press Reference Library (Western edition). Notables of the West (1915), Being the Portraits and Biographies of the Progressive Men of the West ..., Internat. News Service, pp. 442–
  3. ^ Hoover, Herbert (3 August 1932). "Statement on the Resignation of Robert P. Lamont as Secretary of Commerce". The American Presidency Project. U of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Robert L. Belknap '51". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
  5. ^ "DOROTHY LAMONT TO WED C. BELKNAP; Daughter of Head of American Steel Foundries Co. of Chicago to Marry New York Lawyer. FIANCE BACK FROM EGYPT Represented Rockefeller Interests in Gift of $10,000,000 for an Archaeological Institute". The New York Times. 1926-04-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
  6. ^ Margolick, David (1984-01-26). "CHAUNCEY BELKNAP, LAWYER, DIES; LED ONE OF LARGEST FIRMS IN CITY". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
Political offices Preceded byWilliam F. Whiting U.S. Secretary of CommerceServed under: Herbert Hoover March 5, 1929 – August 7, 1932 Succeeded byRoy D. Chapin


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