When Herbert Claiborne Pell was born on February 16, 1884, his father, Herbert, was 31 and his mother, Catherine, was 24. He married Matilda Bigelow and they had two children together. He then married Mildred Olive Bigelow on June 20, 1928, in Paris, France.

He was a US Congressman and an Ambassador. An heir to the Lorillard tobacco fortune, he attended Harvard and Columbia Universities. He resided in Tuxedo Park, New York, became active in politics in 1912 as a member of the Progressive Party, and joined the Democrats when the Progressive Party became inactive in 1916. In 1918 he ran successfully for the US House of Representatives and served one term, 1919 to 1921. After running unsuccessfully for reelection in 1920, Pell became Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, serving from 1921 to 1926, and he was a Delegate to the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Pell managed several campaigns and was Vice Chairman of the national Democratic Party's 1936 effort. In 1937 he was named Ambassador to Portugal, where he served from 1937 to 1941. He was then appointed Ambassador to Hungary, where he served until 1942, when Hungary entered World War II on the side of Nazi Germany. From 1943 to 1945 he served on the United Nations War Crimes Commission, which investigated atrocities committed during the 1930s and World War II and prosecuted them during the post-war the Nuremberg trials. Pell died (at the age of 77) while walking with his grandson Herbert C. Pell III during a visit to Germany. He was cremated but the location of his ashes is unknown.

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