Ambassador from Wall Street: The Story of Thomas W. Lamont, J.P. Morgan’s Chief Executive: Edward P. Lamont
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Lamont utilizes family papers and business records to fashion an involving biography of his grandfather. A minister’s son and graduate of Harvard, Thomas Lamont (1870-1948) was a journalist and marketing executive before he captured the attention of prominent business leaders and entered the banking industry. Working closely with J. P. Morgan senior, Lamont honed his financial skills handling knotty transactions in America, Mexico, Europe and Japan. He played a prominent role during the 1919 economic conference at Versailles and Allied bond drives in both world wars. The impressive roster of historical personages who figure on these pages testifies to Lamont’s wide influence. This comprehensive, well-documented work thoroughly explores the major economic, political and social events shaping the country during the first half of this century.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The story of Thomas W. Lamont (1870-1948), a banker with the Wall Street firm of J.P. Morgan for almost a half-century, is here told by his grandson. Lamont was a true gentleman who worked largely behind the scenes, whether raising money on Wall Street or negotiating peace in the diplomatic arena. It is to his credit that he was cultivated by U.S. presidents (Hoover and FDR); he enjoyed the good life, and knew “everyone worth knowing.” Despite his financial shrewdness, however, he did not anticipate the market crash of 1929. He was also an apologist for the early regime of Mussolini and imperial China prior to World War II. Given the author’s familial connection to his subject, one wonders whether Lamont gets off lightly; since most of the book’s research is anecdotal (no footnotes are provided), the question lingers. For a more comprehensive treatment of the same period, see Ron Chernow’s The House of Morgan ( LJ 2/1/90).
- Richard Drezen, Merrill Lynch Lib., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.