Thomas W. Lamont: From a Journalist to a Banker

Thomas W. Lamont Jr. was an American banker. He was born in Claverack, New York on September 30, 1870. His father, Thomas, was a Methodist minister. The demands of his father’s ministry caused the Lamont family to move around upstate New York a lot. The Lamont’s were not very wealthy.
Lamont studied high school in Phillips Exeter Academy where he was the editor of The Exonian, the school paper. He graduated from the Academy as the editor of the school yearbook and the school’s literary magazine.

Lamont went to college at Harvard College. He became The Harvard Crimson’s first freshman editor. This helped Lamont pay off his tuition fees. In 1892, Lamont finished his Bachelor of Arts degree. He graduated cum laude. Two days after his college graduation, Lamont landed his first job at New York Tribune where he worked under the city editor.

At the New York Tribune, Lamont has had a number of promotions. He became a night editor and helped the financial editor in many ways. These assignments exposed Lamont in the financial world. Because the journalism was not a good paying job, he left the Tribune and went into business.

Lamont joined Cushman Bros., an import and marketing company. Cushman Bros. was an advertising agency working among food corporations. Financial difficulties placed the company in an unstable condition. Lamont helped fix the problem. Cushman Bros. was renamed Lamont, Corliss and Company, where his brother-in-law Corliss joined him as a partner.

These events caught the attention of the famous banker Henry P. Davison. Davison invited Lamont to join the newly established Banker’s trust. Lamont heeded the invitation and became the bank’s secretary and treasurer. Slowly, Lamont climbed up to become the Vice President, then later as director. Later, Lamont became the Vice President of First National Bank.

Lamont became a partner of J.P. Morgan & Co. in January 1911. He was the US financial advisor abroad from the 1920s to the 1930s. He represented the Department of Treasury in the Treaty of Versailles. Lamont also worked alongside US Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt as unofficial mentor.