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{{Short description|American publisher (1841–1918)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = James Gordon Bennett Jr.
| image              = Portrait of James Gordon Bennett, Jr..jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1841|5|10}}
| birth_place        = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1918|5|14|1841|5|10}}
| death_place        = [[Beaulieu-sur-Mer]], [[Alpes-Maritimes]], France
| education          = [[École polytechnique]]
| occupation         = Publisher
| spouse             = {{marriage|Baroness de Reuter<br>|1914|1918<!--Omission per Template:Marriage instructions-->}}
| parents            = [[James Gordon Bennett Sr.]]<br>Henrietta Agnes Crean
| children           = 
| relations          = [[Isaac Bell Jr.]] (brother-in-law)
}}

'''James Gordon Bennett Jr.''' (May 10, 1841{{spaced ndash}}May 14, 1918) was an American publisher. He was the publisher of the ''[[New York Herald]]'', founded by his father, [[James Gordon Bennett Sr.]] (1795–1872), who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father. Among his many sports-related accomplishments he organized both the first polo match and the first tennis match in the United States, and he won the first trans-oceanic [[yacht race]]. He sponsored explorers including [[Henry Morton Stanley]]'s trip to Africa to find [[David Livingstone]], and the ill-fated [[USS Jeannette (1878)|USS ''Jeannette'']] attempt on the North Pole.

Bennett's controversial reputation is thought to be the inspiration behind the phrase "[[Gordon Bennett (phrase)|Gordon Bennett]]!", used as an expression of incredulity.<ref name="worldwidewords">[http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/gordon.htm "Gordon Bennett: A puzzling British exclamation"] ''World Wide Words''</ref><ref name="peevish">{{Citation
| title      = Gordon Bennett!
| url        = http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/articles/gordon-bennett.htm
| access-date = 8 September 2017
}}</ref><ref name="phrases">{{Citation
| title      = Gordon Bennett! - the meaning and origin of this phrase
| url        = http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/gordon-bennett.html
| access-date = 8 September 2017
}}</ref>

==Early life==
Bennett was born on May 10, 1841, in [[New York City]] to [[James Gordon Bennett Sr.]] (1795–1872), the founder, editor and publisher of the ''[[New York Herald]]''. He was the only son in the family. He grew up mostly in France, and attended the [[École polytechnique]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/95-bennettbuilding.pdf|title=Landmark Preservation Analysis – Bennett Building – James Gordon Bennett, Jr. and The Daily Herald|publisher=NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission|page=2|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174118/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/95-bennettbuilding.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="worldwidewords"/>

==Career==
In 1861, he moved to the United States, and enlisted in the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] Navy. In 1867, under his father's tutelage, he founded ''[[New York Evening Telegram|The Evening Telegram]]'', an entertainment and gossip paper<ref name=":0" /> that later became the ''[[New York World-Telegram]]''. On January 1, 1867, the elder Bennett turned control of the ''Herald'' over to him.<ref name=":0" /> Bennett raised the paper's profile on the world stage when he provided the financial backing for the 1869 expedition by [[Henry Morton Stanley]] into Africa to find [[David Livingstone]] in exchange for the ''Herald'' having the [[exclusive right|exclusive]] account of Stanley's progress.

In 1872, he commissioned a Manhattan building design from [[Arthur D. Gilman]], who popularized [[Second Empire architecture in the United States and Canada|Second Empire]] and [[Cast-iron architecture|cast-iron facades]]. The building still exists, on Nassau Street. Though he sold it in 1889 and it was greatly expanded over the following five years, it continues to be known as the [[Bennett Building (New York City)|Bennett Building]].<ref name=":0" /> It was built on a site previously occupied by the Herald's offices and printing plant, and the ''Herald'' later moved back into it. In 1890, he commissioned a new Herald building at Sixth and Broadway, completed in 1895.<ref name=":0" />

In 1880, Bennett established international editions of his newspaper in Paris and London; their successor is the ''New York Times International Edition'', previously known as the ''[[International Herald Tribune]]''.<ref name=":0" /> In 1883, he partnered with John W. Mackay to found the Commercial Cable Company. It was a successful business and provided an additional large income to Bennett.<ref name=":0" />

==Lifestyle==
Bennett, like many of his social class, indulged in the "good life":  yachts, opulent [[private railroad car]]s, and lavish mansions. He was the youngest [[Yacht club#Organization|Commodore]] ever of the [[New York Yacht Club]]. Bennett became Commodore of the N.Y.Y.C in 1870 after [[Henry G. Stebbins]]'s term, which was from 1863 to 1870.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79709452/honey/ |title=The Yacht Phantom. |work=Boston Post 
|place=Boston, Massachusetts|date=13 May 1879|page=2|access-date=2021-06-16}}</ref>

===Yachts===
[[File:Currier & Ives-Schooner Henrietta.jpg|right|thumb|255px|The yacht [[Henrietta (ship, 1861)|''Henrietta'']]]]

In 1861, Bennett volunteered his newly built schooner yacht, [[Henrietta (ship, 1861)|''Henrietta'']], for the [[United States Revenue Cutter Service#The Civil War|U.S. Revenue Marine Service]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].   At the same time, Bennett was commissioned as a third lieutenant in the Revenue Marine Service (equivalent to an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] in the U.S. Navy) and assigned to the U.S. Marine Revenue schooner ''Henrietta'' (the yacht he had loaned to the U.S. Government) beginning in June 1861.  She patrolled [[Long Island]] until February 1862 when she was sent to [[Port Royal, South Carolina]].  On March 3, 1862, Bennett commanded the ''Henrietta'' as part of the fleet which captured [[Fernandina, Florida#Confederate flag|Fernandina, Florida]].  Bennett and the ''Henrietta'' returned to civilian life in New York in May 1862.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-b/jg-bennt.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040214065457/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-b/jg-bennt.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 14, 2004|title=Department of the Navy, Navy Historical Center, "James Gordon Bennett Jr. (1841–1918)"}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040219031942/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-civil/civsh-h/henrieta.htm "Schooner Yacht ''Henrietta'' (1861)"], Department of the Navy, [[Naval Historical Center]],</ref>

[[File:Harvard Theatre Collection - James Gordon Bennett standing cropped.jpg|thumb|James Gordon Bennett Jr.]]

In 1866, on a bet, he won the first trans-oceanic [[yacht race]]. The race was between three American yachts, the ''Vesta'' (owned by [[Pierre Lorillard IV]]), the ''Fleetwing'' (owned by George and Frank Osgood) and the ''Henrietta''. Each yachtsman put up $30,000 in the winner-take-all wager. They started off in [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey|Sandy Hook]], [[New Jersey]], on 11 December 1866 amid high [[Westerlies|westerly wind]]s and raced to [[The Needles]], the furthest westerly point on the [[Isle of Wight]], famous for its lighthouse.  Bennett's ''Henrietta'' won with a time of 13 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes.<ref>[[Greeley, Horace]] (1895) ''The Tribune Almanac and Political Register'' Tribune Association, New York, 7(1): [https://books.google.com/books?id=J-4WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT252 p. 252], {{OCLC|2559580}}</ref><ref>Thompson, Winfield M. and [[Thomas W. Lawson (businessman)|Lawson, Thomas William]] (1902) ''The Lawson History of the America's Cup'', Boston, Massachusetts [https://books.google.com/books?id=w1Z3GFPbbEQC&pg=PA46 p. 46], {{OCLC|911964}}</ref>

In April 1867, Bennett purchased the yacht ''L'Hirondelle'' for $75,000 from Bradford.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79464415/purchased/ |title= Literary And Personal. |work=The Buffalo Commercial |place=Buffalo, New York |date=14 Apr 1867 |page=1 |access-date=2021-06-12}}</ref> In May 1867, Bennett refitted the ''L'Hirondelle'' and changed her name to the [[Dauntless (ship, 1866)|''Dauntless'']].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79465008/dauntless/ |title=Topics of To-Day. |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |place=Brooklyn, New York |date=1 May 1867 |page=2 |access-date=2021-06-12}}</ref> She was rebuilt and rigged as a schooner. Bennett added 23 feet to her length. Her new dimensions changed to 121 feet; 25-foot beam and 299-tons.<ref name="Shipbuilding">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ljcDwAAQBAJ |title= Connecticut River Shipbuilding |date= 5 October 2020 |page=143|publisher= Arcadia |isbn= 9781439670491 |access-date=2021-06-11}}</ref>

He entertained guests aboard his steam-yacht "Namouna". American expatriate artist [[Julius LeBlanc Stewart]] painted several works set on the yacht.

On May 11, 1870, the pilot boat [[James Gordon Bennett (pilot boat)|''James Gordon Bennett'']], No. 6, was launched from the [[Lawrence & Foulks]] shipyard at [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn| Williamsburg]]. At the launch and [[naming ceremony]], Katie Chapman, daughter of Captain Daniel C. Chapman, gave the boat the name ''James Gordon Bennett''.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73617881/launch/ |title=The New Pilot Boat. Launch of the James Gordon Bennett, No. 6, Her Dimensions, Fittings, Spars and Crew. |work=New York Herald |place=New York, New York |date=12 May 1870|page=2|access-date=2020-12-24}}</ref>

Bennett presented the cup and prizes at the October 14, 1873, New York Yacht Club, Cape May Challenge Cup {{convert|140|mi|km|adj=on}} [[regatta]], which was a race from [[Owls Head, Maine|Owl's Head Point]] around to [[Cape May Lighthouse]] in New Jersey, and back to [[Sandy Hook Light]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/yachtsmansscrapb00loubrich/page/268/mode/2up?q=Robert+Fish|title=A yachtsman's scrap book: or, The ups and downs of yacht racing|date=1887|last=Loubat|first=Joseph Florimond|place=New York|publisher=Brentano Brothers|page=268}}</ref>

===Scandal===
Bennett often scandalized society with his flamboyant and sometimes erratic behavior. In 1877, he left New York for Europe after an incident that ended his engagement to socialite Caroline May. According to various accounts, he arrived late and drunk to a party at the May family mansion, then urinated into a fireplace (some say grand piano) in full view of his hosts.<ref name="worldwidewords"/><ref>Homberger, Eric (2002) ''Mrs. Astor's New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age'' Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, [https://books.google.com/books?id=13jwkUPvYGcC&pg=PA13 page 13], {{ISBN|0-300-10515-0}}</ref><ref name="autorace">[http://forix.autosport.com/8w/gbt03.html "Britain's first international motor race"] ''Who? What? Where? When? Why? on the World Wide Web''</ref><ref>Wallace, David Rains (1999) ''The Bonehunters' Revenge: Dinosaurs, Greed, and the Greatest Scientific Feud of the Gilded Age'' Houghton Mifflin, Boston, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8Tj2HvfHRwC&pg=PA5 page 5], {{ISBN|0-395-85089-4}}</ref>

Bennett's controversial reputation is thought to have inspired, in Britain, the phrase "Gordon Bennett!" as an expression of incredulity.<ref name="worldwidewords"/><ref name="peevish"/><ref name="phrases"/>

===Move to Paris===
Settling in Paris, he launched the Paris edition of the ''New York Herald'', named the ''[[Paris Herald]]'', the forerunner of the ''[[International Herald Tribune]]''. He backed [[George W. De Long]]'s voyage to the North Pole on the [[USS Jeannette (1878)|USS ''Jeannette'']] via the [[Bering Strait]].

The ill-fated expedition led to the deaths from starvation of DeLong and 19 of his crew, a tragedy that increased the paper's circulation.  He was a co-founder of the [[Commercial Cable Company]], a venture to break the Transatlantic cable monopoly held by [[Jay Gould]]. The 2014 nonfiction book ''[[In The Kingdom of Ice]]'' written by  historian [[Hampton Sides]] recounts the voyage and Bennett's role as a financier of the expedition.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/3062894/review-in-the-kingdom-of-ice-brings-cold-comfort|title=In the Kingdom of Ice Brings Cold Comfort|author=Grossman, Lev|magazine=Time|date=July 31, 2014}}</ref>

===Return to the US===
Bennett returned to the United States{{when|date=July 2018}} and organized the first [[polo]] match in the United States at Dickel's Riding Academy at 39th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York. He helped found the [[Westchester Polo Club]] in 1876, the first polo club in America. He established the ''[[James Gordon Bennett Cup for schooners|Gordon Bennett Cup]]'' for international yachting and the [[Gordon Bennett Cup in Auto Racing|Gordon Bennett Cup]] for automobile races.<ref name="autorace"/> In 1906, he funded the [[Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning]] (''Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett''), which continues to this day. In 1909, Bennett offered a trophy for the fastest speed on a closed circuit for airplanes. The 1909 race in [[Reims]], France was won by [[Glenn Curtiss]] for two circuits of a 10&nbsp;km rectangular course at an average speed of 46.5 miles per hour (74.8&nbsp;km/h). From 1896 to 1914, the champion of Paris, [[Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques|USFSA]] [[Association football|football (soccer)]], received a trophy offered by Gordon Bennett.

==Personal life and death==
Bennett did not marry until he was 73. His wife was Maud Potter, widow of George de Reuter, son of [[Paul Reuter|Julius Paul Reuter]], founder of [[Reuters|Reuters news agency]]. 

Bennett spent the winter of 1917 in his villa in [[Beaulieu-sur-Mer]], [[France]]. He contracted [[influenza]] while visiting a hospital in [[Paris]] and travelled to southern France. He died the morning of May 14, 1918 of [[pneumonia]] in [[Beaulieu-sur-Mer]] after having been in a coma for 2 days. <ref>https://www.newspapers.com/image/469153787/?match=1&terms=james%20gordon%20bennett {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2025}}</ref>Bennett is buried at the [[Cimetière de Passy]] in Paris.<ref>[http://www.pariscemeteries.com/passy-1 "Cimetière de Passy"], Paris Cemeteries. Retrieved 5 June 2020</ref>

[[James Stillman]] was an intimate friend of [[James O. Bloss]] and [[John William Sterling]]. After the death of Bennett it was learned by the administrators of his estate that he had appointed Stillman one of the administrators and trustees. Stillman had little or no opportunity to act under the authority of Bennett's will, as he died a few weeks after Bennett's death. Stillman named Sterling one of his executors. Sterling could hardly have begun his duties under Stillman's will when he too died suddenly. The Bennett estate, the Stillman estate and the Sterling estate totaled about $76,000,000. After Sterling's death it was learned that he had appointed his long time intimate companion, Bloss, one of the executors. A few weeks after Sterling's death, Bloss died.<ref name="The Wall Street Journal 1918">{{cite journal|title=Three Strange Coincidences – 21 Dec 1918, Sat • Page 2|journal=The Wall Street Journal|date=1918|page=2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16221590/the_wall_street_journal/|access-date=3 January 2018}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>

==Honors==
[[Asteroid]] [[305 Gordonia]] is named after him. He also has a street named for him near [[Chopin Airport]] in [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]].<ref>[http://www.um.warszawa.pl/o-warszawie/kompendium-wiedzy/ulica-jamesa-gordona-bennetta Ulica Jamesa Gordona Bennetta] ''Warszawa - oficjalny portal stolicy Polski''</ref> The ''Avenue Gordon Bennett'' in Paris, where the [[French Open]]'s [[Stade de Roland Garros]] is sited is named after his father.<ref>[http://parisisinvisible.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/gordon-bennett-what-strange-address.html Invisible Paris]: see street sign</ref>[[File:Avenue Gordon Bennett - 16e Arrondissement - b.jpg|thumb|Avenue Gordon Bennett near the Stade Roland Garros in Paris]] [[Bennett, British Columbia]], now a [[ghost town]], as well as nearby [[Bennett Lake]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yukoninfo.com/lake-bennett-yukon/|title=Bennett Lake &#124; Yukon Territory Alaska Northern British Columbia|date=25 May 2020 }}</ref> and [[Bennett Peak (British Columbia)|Bennett Peak]] are named for him, as is [[Bennett Island]], discovered during the [[Jeannette expedition|''Jeannette'' expedition]].

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Julius LeBlanc Stewart - On the Yacht„Namouna“, Venice.jpg|''On the Yacht "Namouna", Venice'', by Stewart. Bennett is center left, in the white suit. [[Lillie Langtry]] is the woman seated, right (1890).
File:Stewart yachting.jpg|''Yachting on the Mediterranean'', by Stewart (1896)
File:James Gordon Bennett Jr. (1904 painting).jpg|Bennett as painted by [[Julian Story]] (1904)
Image:CoupeGordonBennet1906.jpg|The 1906 Gordon Bennett Cup in Ballooning (1906)
File:Bennet 5285332007 5a1b05f599 o.jpg|Bennett (c. 1910–1915)
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Crockett, Albert Stevens (1926) ''When James Gordon Bennett was Caliph of Bagdad'' Funk & Wagnalls, New York, {{OCLC|1373863}}
* Seitz, Don Carlos (1928) ''The James Gordon Bennetts, Father and Son, Proprietors of the New York Herald'' Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, {{OCLC|619637}}; reissued in 1974 by Beekman Publishers
* O'Connor, Richard (1962) ''The Scandalous Mr. Bennett'' Doubleday, Garden City, New York, {{OCLC|332764}}
* Cane, André (1981) ''James Gordon Bennett: Hôte Prestigieux et Fantasque de la Côte d'Azur'' (''James Gordon Bennett: Prestigious and Eccentric Host of the [[French Riviera|Riviera]]'') B. de Gourcez, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, {{OCLC|9465414}}, in French
*{{cite book |title=In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the U.S.S. Jeannette |publisher=Doubleday |author=Hampton Sides |author-link=Hampton Sides |year=2014}}
* Jefferson, Sam (2016) 'Gordon Bennett and the First Yacht Race Across the Atlantic'. Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
*Roethof, Guikje (2018) ''[http://www.jamesgordonbennett.nl/eng/ Gordon Bennett!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925223117/http://www.jamesgordonbennett.nl/eng/ |date=September 25, 2019 }}'' Uitgeverij Aspekt, Soesterberg, [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1026502787 OCLC 1026502787], in Dutch.

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.gbennett.force9.co.uk/gb-timeline.htm Bennett family history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304221325/http://www.gbennett.force9.co.uk/gb-timeline.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/001467}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, James Gordon Jr.}}
[[Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)]]
[[Category:1841 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:American expatriates in France]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:American male sailors (sport)]]
[[Category:American people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:American polo players]]
[[Category:Burials at Passy Cemetery]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from New York City]]
[[Category:Jeannette expedition]]
[[Category:Members of the New York Yacht Club]]
[[Category:People of New York (state) in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Union Navy officers]]
[[Category:Bennett family|James Gordon Jr.]]