Perry Belmont (December 28, 1851 – May 25, 1947) was an American politician and diplomat.[1] He served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1881 to 1888.
Elected as a Democrat to the 47th Congress and reelected to the next three Congresses, Belmont served as the U.S. representative for the first district of New York from March 4, 1881, until his resignation on December 1, 1888.[3] During his first term, he was a member of the committee on foreign affairs; noted for his cross-examination of James G. Blaine, the former secretary of state. The cross-examination concerned Blaine's relations with a syndicate of American capitalists interested in the development of certain guano deposits in Peru. An attempt was made to show that Blaine's efforts toward mediation between Chile and Peru were from interested motives.[4] Belmont served from 1885 to 1887 as chairman of the committee on foreign affairs.
On October 6, 1890, Belmont was invested as a Commander of the French Legion of Honor.
In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Belmont served for six weeks in the Army as an Inspector General of the First Division, Second Army Corps, United States Volunteers, with the rank of major.
Belmont with his wife, the former Jessie Ann Robbins c. 1910–1915
In 1899, after 17 years of marriage, Jessie Ann Robbins (1858–1935) divorced Henry T. Sloane (son of William Sloane, the founder of W. & J. Sloane) to marry Perry Belmont. The marriage occurred only five hours after the divorce was decreed and, at the time, was considered scandalous.[1]