 From 1876 to 1877 Beale was secretary to his father the US Ambassador to Austria-Hungary in Vienna.Instead of practicing law, he became manager of his father's Tejon Ranch in California, where he remained for 13 years.In 1891 he was appointed by President Harrison United States Minister to Persia, and a year later, Minister (afterward Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary) to Greece, Romania, and Serbia, making him ambassador to three countries at once.