Robert Worth Bingham (November 8, 1871 – December 18, 1937) was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and the
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom (known formally as the ambassador of the United States to the Court of St James's) is the official representative of the president of the United States and the Federal government of the United S ...
from 1933 to 1937.
Background
Bingham attended the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
and
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
but did not graduate. He moved to Louisville in the 1890s and received a
law degree
A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...
from the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
in 1897. He formed his own practice with W.W. Davies.
Bingham married into a wealthy family in 1896. He became involved in Louisville politics as a registered Democrat, and was appointed interim mayor of the city in 1907 after election fraud invalidated the 1905 election.
His corruption-busting tactics in his 6-month term alienated him from the local
political machine
In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
and the Democratic Party in general, and he chose not to run in the general election.
He ran unsuccessfully for the
Kentucky Court of Appeals
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky.
The ...
in 1910 as a Republican, and as a Democrat for Fiscal Court in 1917. He was appointed to the Jefferson
Circuit Court in 1911,
and was known as "Judge Bingham" for the rest of his life.
Controversial inheritance
Bingham's first wife Eleanor Miller died in 1913. She was a passenger with her children in a car driven by her brother. Accounts vary, but either the car was crossing railroad tracks and was hit by a speeding commuter train
[Marie Brenner, ''House of Dreams: The Bingham Family of Louisville''. Random House, 1988.] or Eleanor jumped out of the car as it crossed the tracks. Her father Samuel Miller had committed suicide in this manner nineteen years earlier.
Her son Barry later said he could remember Eleanor pushing him out of her lap and jumping from the car.
[Sallie Bingham, ''Passion and Prejudice''. Knopf, 1989.] She was survived by three children: Robert Norwood Bingham (his middle name was later changed to Worth, making him Robert Worth Bingham Jr),
George Barry Bingham, and
Henrietta Worth Bingham
Henrietta Bingham (January 3, 1901 – June 17, 1968) was a wealthy American journalist, newspaper executive and horse breeder. When she was twelve, she was present when her mother was killed in a road accident which traumatized the whole famil ...
.
In 1916 Bingham married Mary Lily Flagler, reputedly the wealthiest woman in America at the time and widow of
Henry Morrison Flagler
Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...
. She died within a year, and although there was never any evidence of it, Bingham's enemies and some of his relatives would long claim he was somehow to blame for her death. As the family business crumbled publicly in the 1980s, several biographers, most notably
David Leon Chandler David Leon Chandler (May 26, 1937 – January 23, 1994) was an American journalist who wrote several historical and biographical books during the 1970s and 1980s. He was associated with early coverage of the Kennedy Assassination and was mentioned i ...
and Mary Lily's step-granddaughter
Sallie Bingham
Sallie Bingham (born January 22, 1937) is an American author, playwright, poet, teacher, feminist activist, and philanthropist. She is the eldest daughter of Barry Bingham, Sr., patriarch of the Bingham family of Louisville, Kentucky.
Sallie ...
claimed Bingham had killed his wife for the money, either by overdose or withholding medical care. Immediately before falling ill, Mary Lily had added a codicil to her will, giving Bingham five million dollars outright (rather than the investment fund for him she had originally planned).
Allegations of murder haunted Bingham for many years. While acknowledging these theories were at least plausible, more mainstream sources, from the
Filson Club
The Filson Historical Society, founded in 1884, is a privately supported historical society located at 1310 South 3rd Street in Louisville, Kentucky. The Filson is an organization dedicated to providing continuing adult education in the form of qua ...
's respected quarterly publication to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', dismissed the allegations as impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
Nevertheless, as Bingham inherited $5 million after her death, enabling him to purchase ''
The Courier-Journal
''The Courier-Journal'',
also known as the
''Louisville Courier Journal''
(and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''),
is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Ne ...
'' and ''
The Louisville Times
''The Louisville Times'' was a newspaper that was published in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1884 by Walter N. Haldeman, as the afternoon counterpart to ''The Courier-Journal'', the dominant morning newspaper in Louisville and the common ...
'', which became critical in establishing his later national prominence, it made an attractive conspiracy theory. Bingham's son,
Barry Bingham, Sr.
George Barry Bingham Sr. (February 10, 1906 – August 15, 1988) was the patriarch of a family that dominated local media in Louisville for several decades in the 20th century.
Family and career
George Barry Bingham Sr. was born on February 10 ...
, argued that Flagler was an alcoholic who drank herself to death, a theory supported by an affidavit from her family doctor given in 1933.
Later career
Using the bequest from Flagler, Bingham purchased the ''Courier-Journal'' and ''Times'' in 1918. He immediately clashed with long-time editor
Henry Watterson
Henry Watterson (February 16, 1840 – December 22, 1921), the son of a U.S. Congressman from Tennessee, became a prominent journalist in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a Confederate soldier, author and partial term U.S. Congressman. A Democr ...
, who soon retired. In the 1920s Bingham used the paper to push for farm cooperatives, improve education and support of the rural poor, and to challenge the state's Democratic Party bosses. In the latter endeavor he became an ally of U.S. Sen.
J. C. W. Beckham
John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham (August 5, 1869 – January 9, 1940) was an American attorney serving as the List of governors of Kentucky, 35th Governor of Kentucky and a United States Senate, United States Senator from Kentucky. He was the s ...
, who had been governor in 1900-07. Bingham himself was, earlier in his career, discouraged from running for mayor due to the likelihood of heavy opposition from the likes of Democratic party boss
John Whallen, and had bitterly described the unfairness of machine tactics he witnessed used against other candidates. He was among reform-minded Democrats who successfully backed Republican
Augustus E. Willson
Augustus Everett Willson (October 13, 1846 – August 24, 1931) was an American politician and the 36th Governor of Kentucky. Orphaned at the age of twelve, Willson went to live with relatives in New England. This move exposed him to such a ...
of Louisville for governor in 1907.
Bingham married his third wife, Aleen Lithgow Hilliard, in 1924. A strong financial backer of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, Bingham was awarded with
ambassadorship to Great Britain in 1933, and took up his post in May. As ambassador, Bingham pushed for stronger ties between the United States and Great Britain, and vocally opposed the rise of
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
and
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in the 1930s,
a time when Roosevelt would not because of political concerns at home. On 7 November 1933 the Saudi-American Treaty was signed by Bingham on behalf of the United States and
Hafiz Wahba
Hafiz Wahba (15 July 1889 – 1967) was an Egyptian diplomat who was then naturalised in Saudi Arabia. Fuad Hamza and he were the first ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, the former in France and the latter in the United Kingdom. In addition, they were ...
on behalf of
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. Bingham was succeeded in the post by
Joseph P. Kennedy
Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...
.
He was a member of the
Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...
,
Society of Colonial Wars
The Society of Colonial Wars is a hereditary society composed of men who trace their descents from forebears who, in military, naval, or civil positions of high trust and responsibility, by acts or counsel, assisted in the establishment, defense, ...
and the
Sons of the American Revolution
The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. A non-prof ...
.
His daughter
Henrietta Bingham
Henrietta Bingham (January 3, 1901 – June 17, 1968) was a wealthy American journalist, newspaper executive and horse breeder. When she was twelve, she was present when her mother was killed in a road accident which traumatized the whole famil ...
was involved with the
Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strac ...
, having affairs with the painter
Dora Carrington
Dora de Houghton Carrington (29 March 1893 – 11 March 1932), known generally as Carrington, was an English painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytton ...
and later with the sculptor
Stephen Tomlin
Stephen Tomlin (2 March 1901 – 5 January 1937) was a British artist associated with the Bloomsbury Group, Bloomsbury Set. He was the youngest son of the judge and law lord Thomas, Thomas Tomlin, Baron Tomlin, Lord Tomlin of Ash.
Life
Toml ...
, who went on to marry
Julia Strachey
Julia Strachey (14 August 1901 – 1979) was an English writer, born in Allahabad, India, where her father, Oliver Strachey, the elder brother of Lytton Strachey, was a civil servant. Her mother, Ruby Mayer (1881-1959), was of Swiss-German ori ...
, niece of
Lytton Strachey
Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...
, the love of Carrington's life.
Seriously ill, Bingham sailed back to the United States on November 19, 1937.
He died a month later, on December 18, 1937, from
Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...
, at
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...
, where he had been operated on a few days before his death;
and was buried in
Cave Hill Cemetery
Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buria ...
.
His family continued to dominate Louisville media for another half-century, mostly through his son,
Barry Bingham, Sr.
George Barry Bingham Sr. (February 10, 1906 – August 15, 1988) was the patriarch of a family that dominated local media in Louisville for several decades in the 20th century.
Family and career
George Barry Bingham Sr. was born on February 10 ...
The
SS ''Robert W. Bingham'', a cargo ship in service from 1944 to 1959, was named for him.
See also
*
St Mary's Church, Wilton
St Mary's Church in the Market Place of Wilton, Wiltshire, England, was built in the 15th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is now a redundant church in the ...
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, Robert Worth
1871 births
1937 deaths
American newspaper chain founders
Robert Worth
Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery
Kentucky Democrats
Kentucky lawyers
Kentucky Republicans
Kentucky state court judges
Mayors of Louisville, Kentucky
Politicians from Baltimore
Ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom
University of Louisville School of Law alumni
Lawyers from Baltimore
The Courier-Journal people
University of Virginia alumni
20th-century American diplomats
20th-century American politicians