Robert Livingston Beeckman

Beeckman was also a prominent polo player and tennis player.[8] He played in the finals of the 1886 United States National Tennis Championships, which took place in Newport. He lost to defending champion Richard Sears with the score was 4–6, 6–1, 6–3, 6–4.[9]

Beeckman's first political office was a Rhode Island state Representative in the General Assembly from Newport, from 1908 to 1912.[10][11] At the time, Beeckman said "he was entering active politics because he believed it to be his duty. He felt the time had come for the step, which he had weighed carefully before accepting the responsibilities the office would incur."[12] He was a state Senator from 1912 to 1914,[13] until his election as the governor of Rhode Island in 1914.[14] He held the governor's office from January 5, 1915, to January 4, 1921.[15]

During his administration, Beeckman pushed for reforms in State institutions including hospitals, prisons, and insane asylums, established an inheritance tax, and established a state Parole Board.[6] He was the governor during the First World War. He visited Rhode Island troops on the battlefield in France and pushed for state appropriations to provide for dependent families of servicemen.[5] Beeckman advocated for removing the property qualification for Rhode Island voters.[5] A close friend of then Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding, he was mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate in 1920, but ultimately Calvin Coolidge was selected and became president upon Harding's death in 1923.[2]

Beeckman was governor during the Spanish flu pandemic, which struck the state in early September 1918.[16] Acting on the advice of superintendent of health Charles V. Chapin, Beeckman delayed issuing a closure order until October 6.[16] The peak of the pandemic occurred October 3–9, with over 6,700 cases reported.[16] Beeckman lifted the closure order on October 25.[16] A second, smaller wave hit Rhode Island schools in January, and the flu was declared eradicated in Rhode Island in February 1919.[16]

After Beeckman stepped down from the governorship after three terms, he unsuccessfully ran in 1922 to represent Rhode Island in the United States Senate,[6] losing to the incumbent Democratic senator, Peter Goelet Gerry.[17] During the campaign, it was alleged that Beeckman and his campaign manager, J. Henry Reuter, attempted to bribe Herve J. Lagage with $1,500.[18] Beeckman admitted to the payment, but "insist[ed] that it was their understanding that Lagace had agreed to work for Beeckman and that the money paid to him was to be used for legitimate expenses of the campaign."[19]

In 1903, Beeckman purchased the former home of Wallace C. Andrews at 854 Fifth Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets for $325,000.[24] He hired architects Warren & Wetmore to build him a six-story Beaux-Arts residence which was completed in 1905. They owned the home until 1912 when they decided to live full-time in Rhode Island and, after leasing it to Pittsburgh banker Benjamin Thaw Sr. for a number of years, the home was sold to George Grant Mason for $700,000.[lower-alpha 1][26] In 1911, while staying at the Ritz Hotel in Paris during a tour of France, "a drunken man" lurched in front of Beeckman and his wife's automobile. "The drunken man in the roadway was killed on the spot," Beeckman broke his arm and cut his head, and despite being thrown ten feet from the car, his wife was not injured.[27] In 1912, it was reported that "R. Livingston Beeckman, who has survived more railroad, polo, and yachting accidents than any other member of Newport society," was in a railroad accident in Sulphur Springs which he escaped without serious injury.[28]

The Beeckman's also owned a winter home in Providence, Rhode Island, which was damaged by a fire in January 1912.[29] Their Newport estate, known as Lands End, was also damaged by a fire in September 1912.[30] He later became a winter resident of Santa Barbara, California, where he rented the home of Arthur Meeker, although he was renting the Edward Ryerson house at the time of his death.[2]