In 1906 he was elected governor of New York State, defeating William Randolph Hearst, and was reelected in 1908.
He was adopted by his godfather, Edward Hearst, and his wife, and was sent to Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1689, was demy of his college from 1689 to 1701 and fellow from 1701 to 1713.
She was the heiress of the Hearst publishing empire, the daughter of wealthy and powerful parents, a young woman of great privilege.
At the time of his death his family was inundated with tributes from even the likes of American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.
Hearst (1820-1891), U.S. senator from California (1886-91), a mining man of great wealth, he had the use of ample capital at the outset of his career.