William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor

Astor, William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount, 1848-1919, American-British financier, b. New York City, educated in Germany and in Italy and at the Columbia law school; son of John Jacob Astor (1822-90). He served as a state assemblyman and senator, but his political career was halted by his failure to win an election to the U.S. Congress. He was then appointed minister to Italy (1881-85). In 1890 he moved to England, where he acquired control of a newspaper and several magazines. He also founded-mainly to forward the literary ambition he had shown in two mediocre novels-Pall Mall Magazine. His estates, Cliveden and Hever Castle, were magnificent, his entertainments extravagant, his contributions to public causes-especially in World War I-munificent. He was made a baron in 1916 and a viscount in 1917.

His elder son, Waldorf Astor, 1879-1952, succeeded him as viscount and was a leader of "Tory democracy." His wife was Nancy, Lady Astor. The younger son, John Jacob Astor, 1886-1971, bought a major share of The Times of London and was made 1st Baron Astor of Hever.