Whitney, C. V. (Cornelius Vanderbilt), 1899-1992

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (February 20, 1899 – December 13, 1992), commonly known as C. V. Whitney or Sonny to friends, was an American businessman, film producer, government official, writer and philanthropist. He was also a polo player and the owner of a significant stable of Thoroughbred racehorses.

Whitney was scion of two of America’s most prominent families. He was a descendant of Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. His mother was Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, a sculptor who founded the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who amassed a fortune in steamships and railroads. His father was Harry Payne Whitney, son of William Collins Whitney, who was secretary of Navy under President Grover Cleveland and who founded the Whitney horse racing dynasty.

When he was eighteen years old, C. V. Whitney joined the United States Army and served as an aviation cadet in the Signal Corps, rising to the rank of second lieutenant and becoming a military pilot. During the first World War, he was a flight instructor in Texas. With the onset of American involvement in World War II, Whitney volunteered again for service, rising to the rank of colonel with the United States Army Air Forces. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit.

At the end of the war, Whitney served under U.S. President Harry S. Truman as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force from 1947 to 1949, and United States Under Secretary of Commerce from 1949 to 1950. He was also appointed President Truman's special envoy to the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy in 1950.

Whitney was an astute businessman in many industries. He co-founded the airline that became Pan American Airways, which he chaired until 1941. When Whitney sold some of his stock in Pan Am, he used it to found the Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co., of which he was chairman until 1964. He also founded Marineland, the country’s first oceanarium, near St. Augustine, Fla. With his cousin John Hay Whitney, Whitney helped finance the development of Technicolor and Cinerama and they co-produced half a dozen David O. Selznick pictures, including “Gone With The Wind,” the 1937 version of “A Star is Born” and “Rebecca.” Whitney bred horses and won 176 stakes races. Five times he led the nation’s owners in earnings. With Phalanx in 1947 and Counterpoint in 1951 he won the Belmont Stakes.

Whitney also wrote four books: “Lone and Level Sands,” a 1951 account of his World War II experiences; “Live a Year with a Millionaire,” “High Peaks” (his autobiography) and “The Owl Hoots Again.”