Astor family | Wealth, Influence & Legacy

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His son, <span id="ref287482"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Backhouse-Astor" class="md-crosslink ">William Backhouse Astor</a> (1792–1875), who <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="inherited" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/inherited" data-type="EB">inherited</a> the major portion of the estate, continued his father’s program of investing in Manhattan real estate and greatly expanded the Astor Library. Stung by accusations that he was a slum landlord, he attempted to renovate some of the older tenements owned by the Astors. At the same time, he more than doubled the family fortune, leaving an estate valued at nearly $50 million.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><span id="ref287483"></span>John Jacob Astor (1822–90), son of William Backhouse Astor, increased the fortune to between $75 million and $100 million. He was a more active philanthropist than his predecessors, making substantial gifts to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Trinity Church as well as to the Astor Library.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">His son, <span id="ref287484"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Waldorf-Astor-1st-Viscount-Astor-of-Hever-Castle" class="md-crosslink ">William Waldorf Astor</a> (1848–1919), was politically ambitious, but, after a stint in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New York</a> state legislature and three years as U.S. minister to Italy, he moved permanently to England in 1890. He became a British subject in 1899, and in 1917 he became 1st Viscount Astor of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Hever-Castle" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Hever Castle</a>. He used much of his wealth—aside from that spent building the Waldorf section of what eventually became the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel—restoring Hever Castle and funding <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conservative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservative" data-type="MW">conservative</a> political causes in England.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies multiple medialist slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100" data-type="other"><div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex"><div class="rw-track d-flex align-items-center"><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="163723" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/97/153197-050-5CE67406/John-Jacob-Astor.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/39869/163723"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/97/153197-050-5CE67406/John-Jacob-Astor.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/97/153197-050-5CE67406/John-Jacob-Astor.jpg?w=300" alt="John Jacob Astor" data-width="985" data-height="1161" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">1 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/97/153197-050-5CE67406/John-Jacob-Astor.jpg" data-href="/media/1/39869/163723">John Jacob Astor</a><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div><div class="position-relative rw-slide col-100 px-20 "><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="163726" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/03/153203-050-935FA081/John-Jacob-Astor-Madeleine.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/39869/163726"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/03/153203-050-935FA081/John-Jacob-Astor-Madeleine.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/03/153203-050-935FA081/John-Jacob-Astor-Madeleine.jpg?w=300" alt="Astor, John Jacob; Astor, Madeleine" data-width="1271" data-height="876" loading="eager"></picture><div class="position-absolute top-10 left-10 assembly-slide-tag rounded-lg">2 of 2</div><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/03/153203-050-935FA081/John-Jacob-Astor-Madeleine.jpg" data-href="/media/1/39869/163726">Astor, John Jacob; Astor, Madeleine</a><span>John Jacob Astor and his second wife, Madeleine.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><button disabled="true" class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_left"></span></button><button disabled="true" class="next-button js-next-button position-absolute btn btn-circle shadow btn-lg btn-blue-dark m-20"><span class="material-icons" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></span></button></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><span id="ref287485"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Jacob-Astor-American-businessman-1864-1912" class="md-crosslink ">John Jacob Astor</a> (1864–1912) was a cousin of William Waldorf Astor and a great-grandson of the fur trader who had founded the family fortune. An inventor and a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/science-fiction" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">science fiction</a> novelist, he was also responsible for building several great New York City hotels: the Astoria (later combined with the Waldorf), the Knickerbocker, and the St. Regis. He served as a director on the boards of several major U.S. corporations, but his career was cut short when he perished in the mid-Atlantic after the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Titanic" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"><em>Titanic</em></a> sank in 1912. His pregnant second wife, Madeleine, was also aboard the passenger liner, but she survived.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="120001" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/13330-004-38D400FD/Nancy-Witcher-Astor.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/39869/120001"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/13330-004-38D400FD/Nancy-Witcher-Astor.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/13330-004-38D400FD/Nancy-Witcher-Astor.jpg?w=300" alt="Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor" data-width="238" data-height="300" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/30/13330-004-38D400FD/Nancy-Witcher-Astor.jpg" data-href="/media/1/39869/120001">Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor</a><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph"><span id="ref287486"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Waldorf-Astor-2nd-Viscount-Astor-of-Hever-Castle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"></a><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Waldorf-Astor-2nd-Viscount-Astor-of-Hever-Castle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Waldorf Astor</a> (1879–1952) served in the British Parliament (1910–19), and his Cliveden home was a meeting place during the late 1930s for Prime Minister <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Neville-Chamberlain" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Neville Chamberlain</a> and supporters of his policy of “appeasement” toward <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Adolf Hitler</a>. Astor’s wife, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nancy-Witcher-Astor-Viscountess-Astor" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nancy</a> (1879–1964), was the first woman to sit in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Commons-British-government" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">House of Commons</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><span id="ref287487"></span>Vincent Astor (1891–1959), son of the John Jacob Astor who built the well-known hotels, departed markedly from Astor family <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conservatism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservatism" data-type="MW">conservatism</a>. He sold some Astor-owned properties to New York City under generous terms so that they might be converted into housing projects. In addition, he backed the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Deal" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New Deal</a>, though temporarily, and supported other social reforms. He took an active role in managing the family real estate holdings, and during the last two decades of his life he headed the corporation that published <em>Newsweek</em> magazine.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; 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Astor family | Wealth, Influence & Legacy | Britannica