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Vahan Cardashian was born in Gesaria. He received his law degree from Yale University, New York and was a colleague of Armen Karo (Armenia’s Ambassador to the United States of America).

“Of all the Armenians active on the American scene, perhaps the most visible was an immigrant from Turkey, a prominent New York lawyer, Vahan Cardashian. From 1911 to 1915, Cardashian represented the Ottoman Embassy and its New York consulate. He resigned his post in 1915 when he learned that his mother and sister were among the victims of the 1915 Genocide; soon he became active in the American Committee for an Independent Armenia (ACIA).” James H. Tashjian, "Life and Papers of Vahan Cardashian, Armenian Review 10, no. 1 (Spring, 1957): 8.

In 1918 Vahan Cardashian was appointed director of the A.R.F. central committee media office. During this period he closed his private practice and allocated his time and wealth of $40,000 to the Armenian Cause.
In 1919, Vahan Cardashian established the (ACIA), the predecessor of the Armenian National Committee. Its membership included many prominent American and Allied leaders including James V. Gerard, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Charles Evans Hughes (later appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court), Elihu Root and others. Its goal, as implied by its title, was to seek the independence of Armenia along the lines recommended by President Wilson. The ACIA had its central offices in New York City with 23 regional offices in 13 states.

The ACIA president, James Gerard, has said the following: “Cardashian is a one man army with the ability to do more than groups of people.
Vahan Cardashian died in long island at the age of 51.