Whitney, John Hay

Whitney, John Hay, 1904–82, American public official and newspaper publisher, b. Ellsworth, Maine. After an active career in business and in various government posts, Whitney served (1957–61) as ambassador to Great Britain. In 1958 his company acquired control of the New York Herald Tribune, and in 1961 he became publisher of the newspaper, which ceased publication in 1966. The company continued to publish its Paris edition, which became the International Herald Tribune (now owned by the New York Times).

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Whitney, John Hay

(born Aug. 17, 1904, Ellsworth, Maine, U.S.—died Feb. 8, 1982, Manhasset, N.Y.) U.S. multimillionaire and sportsman. The son of Harry Payne Whitney and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, “Jock” Whitney attended Yale University and later the University of Oxford, which he left to manage the family fortune on his father's death. He became an internationally ranked polo player, his stables produced notable racehorses, he invested in successful films and Broadway plays, and he boasted one of the finest art collections in the U.S. As a combat-intelligence captain in World War II, he was captured in France but escaped; he was later awarded the Legion of Merit. He served as ambassador to Britain (1956–61). As publisher and (from 1961) editor in chief of the New York Herald Tribune, he tried to revitalize the paper, but it folded in 1966. He founded the John Hay Whitney Foundation in 1946.

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Whitney, John Hay (“Jock”) (1904–82) financier, publisher; born in Ellsworth, Maine. Member of a patrician family and a Yale graduate (1926), he had a varied career in motion pictures, publishing, and finance. He was chairman of Selznick International Pictures from 1936–40, during which the company produced one of the most popular movies of all time, Gone with the Wind. A senior partner in J. H. Whitney & Co., investment bankers, he was publisher of The New York Herald Tribune from 1957–66 and served as U.S. ambassador to Great Britain from 1956–61.