Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.: Difference between revisions
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}}}}</ref> Due to and in spite of his upbringing, Chernow traces John's longstanding Christian faith as well as his [[Frugality|frugal]] nature to the influence of his parents.<ref name=Beatty/> |
}}}}</ref> Due to and in spite of his upbringing, Chernow traces John's longstanding Christian faith as well as his [[Frugality|frugal]] nature to the influence of his parents.<ref name=Beatty/> |
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Chernow continues tracking Rockefeller through the formation of what became [[Standard Oil]], and describes how a Cleveland merchant with no great education or contacts came to control nearly all of the nation's oil refining industry.<ref name=Klein/> Rockefeller, like [[ |
Chernow continues tracking Rockefeller through the formation of what became [[Standard Oil]], and describes how a Cleveland merchant with no great education or contacts came to control nearly all of the nation's oil refining industry.<ref name=Klein/> Rockefeller, like [[Karl Marx]] before him, recognized the "[[anarchy of production]]" that plagued unfettered [[capitalism]].<ref name=Beatty/> His fellow oil refiners waged vicious price wars and refused to taper production even when new oil discoveries glutted the market with product.<ref name=Beatty/> Chernow writes, "At times, when he railed against cutthroat competition and the vagaries of the business cycle, Rockefeller sounded more like Karl Marx than our classical image of the capitalist."<ref name=Time>{{cite magazine |last=Morrow |first=Lance |date=June 15, 1998 |title=Oil in the family |magazine=Time Magazine |volume=151 |issue=23}}</ref> Chernow reveals that Rockefeller's most significant successes came in both buying out other refiners and thus curtailing competition, as well as convincing the major [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] railroads to give his company [[sweetheart deal]]s on the shipment of his product.<ref name=Berman/> |
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[[File:Ida M. Tarbell crop.jpg|thumb|left|Ida Tarbell|238x238px]] |
[[File:Ida M. Tarbell crop.jpg|thumb|left|Ida Tarbell|238x238px]] |
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The author goes on to recount the subsequent scrutiny such business practices incurred. [[Muckrakers]] in the press {{endash}} most notably [[Ida Tarbell]] {{endash}} published scathing multi-part [[exposé (journalism)|exposé]]s revealing the underhanded tactics regularly used by the oil trust.<ref name=Tribune/> Rockefeller was vilified in these pieces, despite by that time having largely (though not publicly) retired from his company's operations.<ref name=Berman/> He opted not to respond to Tarbell's widely popular series, which ultimately harmed his reputation even further.<ref name=Tribune/><ref name=Corner>{{cite news |last=Lehmann-Haupt |first=Christopher |date=July 20, 1998 |title=A man who saw around the corner |newspaper=The New York Times |page=7|id={{ProQuest|431005650}}}}</ref> Tarbell's series and [[The History of the Standard Oil Company|subsequent book]] raised public awareness of the oil trust; less than a decade later, it was broken up by the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]].<ref name=Tribune/><ref name=Dimes/> |
The author goes on to recount the subsequent scrutiny such business practices incurred. [[Muckrakers]] in the press {{endash}} most notably [[Ida Tarbell]] {{endash}} published scathing multi-part [[exposé (journalism)|exposé]]s revealing the underhanded tactics regularly used by the oil trust.<ref name=Tribune/> Rockefeller was vilified in these pieces, despite by that time having largely (though not publicly) retired from his company's operations.<ref name=Berman/> He opted not to respond to Tarbell's widely popular series, which ultimately harmed his reputation even further.<ref name=Tribune/><ref name=Corner>{{cite news |last=Lehmann-Haupt |first=Christopher |date=July 20, 1998 |title=A man who saw around the corner |newspaper=The New York Times |page=7|id={{ProQuest|431005650}}}}</ref> Tarbell's series and [[The History of the Standard Oil Company|subsequent book]] raised public awareness of the oil trust; less than a decade later, it was broken up by the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]].<ref name=Tribune/><ref name=Dimes/> |
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Following his retirement, Rockefeller devoted much of his time to massive [[ |
Following his retirement, Rockefeller devoted much of his time to massive [[Philanthropy|philanthropic]] efforts. Chernow argues that while this charity was not entirely altruistic (a [[public relations]] firm was hired and gifts were made primarily to uncontroversial recipients), the donations were still made with Rockefeller's unwavering belief that he had received the money from God and God expected him to give it back.<ref name=Beatty/><ref name=Berman/><ref name=America>{{cite magazine |last=Bannister |first=Robert C. |date=November 28, 1998 |title=Titan (book review) |magazine=America |volume=179 |issue=17}}</ref> By the early 1920s, Rockefeller had donated $475 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|475000000|1922}}}} in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}) to various causes, including towards the founding of the [[University of Chicago]] and the establishment of the [[Rockefeller Foundation]].<ref name=Klein/> |
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==Reception== |
==Reception== |
Revision as of 14:41, 12 July 2024
![]() Front cover | |
Author | Ron Chernow |
---|---|
Language | English |
Subject | John D. Rockefeller |
Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 1998 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print, e-book |
Pages | 774 pages |
ISBN | 0679438084 |
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. is a 1998 non-fiction book by American author Ron Chernow. The book covers the life of the American business magnate John D. Rockefeller from his early days as the son of an itinerant snake-oil salesman, into his founding of Standard Oil and its massive success and eventual dissolution, and through the large-scale philanthropy that consumed much of his later life. At the time of its writing, the book was unique in its balanced view of Rockefeller's career, bucking the trend of his biographers portraying him and his business practices as either good or evil. The book was well-received by critics, who praised Chernow's meticulous research and neutral approach to describing the life of a polarizing figure. It was called "a triumph of the art of biography" by The New York Times Book Review[1] and became a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.
Background
As the 1990s began, no significant biography on the life of John D. Rockefeller had appeared since 1940, when Allan Nevins published a two-volume study that was revised and published in 1953 as the single-volume Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist. Nevins, who sought to burnish Rockefeller's reputation after its battering by Progressive and New Deal-era critics, painted his business ethics in a favorable light, .[2]
After Chernow published his second book, The Warburgs, his publisher Random House suggested he pursue a biography of Rockefeller. Chernow was initially resistant, saying that Rockefeller's notorious secrecy around his private life would make it difficult for a biographer to learn about the man's inner thoughts and feelings.[3] Chernow said this inability to "hear the music of his mind" made the prospect of multiple years of research unpalatable.[3]
Chernow's editor at Random House convinced him to visit the Rockefeller Archive Center in New York, home of the papers and records of Rockefeller University and the Rockefeller family. Chernow discovered a 1,700-page transcript of private interviews conducted over three years late in the tycoon's life.[3] The interviews, which showed an articulate, funny, and analytic side of Rockefeller, had yet to be used in a biography of the man, and Chernow decided to pursue the project.[3]
The writing and publication of Titan, a book largely about the creation of one of the largest and most powerful monopolies in America's history, coincided with the Justice Department's investigation of Microsoft and its competition-swallowing business practices.[1] A month before Titan's release, Chernow wrote a column in The New York Times comparing and contrasting the two business giants and their respective situations.[4]
Synopsis
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/John_D._Rockefeller-22_years.jpg)
Titan begins during Rockefeller's childhood and describes his formative years living with two very different parents: a devout Baptist mother and a traveling salesman father.[5] William Avery Rockefeller was a grifter and peddler of snake oil health cures.[5] A neighbor remarked, "They had a big jug full of medicine, and they treated all diseases from the same jug."[1] William practiced bigamy as well.[6] He abandoned the family for long stretches of time, much of it spent with an entirely separate family in Philadelphia.[5][6] He also moved a mistress into the Rockefeller household and bore children with both her and John's mother.[1][7] Due to and in spite of his upbringing, Chernow traces John's longstanding Christian faith as well as his frugal nature to the influence of his parents.[1]
Chernow continues tracking Rockefeller through the formation of what became Standard Oil, and describes how a Cleveland merchant with no great education or contacts came to control nearly all of the nation's oil refining industry.[5] Rockefeller, like Karl Marx before him, recognized the "anarchy of production" that plagued unfettered capitalism.[1] His fellow oil refiners waged vicious price wars and refused to taper production even when new oil discoveries glutted the market with product.[1] Chernow writes, "At times, when he railed against cutthroat competition and the vagaries of the business cycle, Rockefeller sounded more like Karl Marx than our classical image of the capitalist."[8] Chernow reveals that Rockefeller's most significant successes came in both buying out other refiners and thus curtailing competition, as well as convincing the major East Coast railroads to give his company sweetheart deals on the shipment of his product.[2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Ida_M._Tarbell_crop.jpg/200px-Ida_M._Tarbell_crop.jpg)
The author goes on to recount the subsequent scrutiny such business practices incurred. Muckrakers in the press – most notably Ida Tarbell – published scathing multi-part exposés revealing the underhanded tactics regularly used by the oil trust.[6] Rockefeller was vilified in these pieces, despite by that time having largely (though not publicly) retired from his company's operations.[2] He opted not to respond to Tarbell's widely popular series, which ultimately harmed his reputation even further.[6][9] Tarbell's series and subsequent book raised public awareness of the oil trust; less than a decade later, it was broken up by the U.S. government.[6][7]
Following his retirement, Rockefeller devoted much of his time to massive philanthropic efforts. Chernow argues that while this charity was not entirely altruistic (a public relations firm was hired and gifts were made primarily to uncontroversial recipients), the donations were still made with Rockefeller's unwavering belief that he had received the money from God and God expected him to give it back.[1][2][10] By the early 1920s, Rockefeller had donated $475 million (equivalent to $6.8 billion in 2023) to various causes, including towards the founding of the University of Chicago and the establishment of the Rockefeller Foundation.[5]
Reception
Titan was met with mostly positive reviews. Jack Beatty of The New York Times called it "unflaggingly interesting" and praised Chernow's depiction of Rockefeller's familial connections.[1] Maury Klein of The Wall Street Journal was impressed with Chernow's well-rounded approach to a complex figure, saying, "Rockefeller's career is a minefield of controversies and complexities through which Mr. Chernow makes his way with admirable balance and judgment."[5] Time Magazine's Lance Morrow said the book was "one of the great American biographies".[8] The economist Richard Parker wrote in the Los Angeles Times of Chernow's talent for providing "an immense, almost baroque detailing of a complex human life", but believed Chernow did not devote enough scrutiny to why Rockefeller was considered such a villain in his time, and that Chernow wrote "passingly" about the many corrupt and illegal acts practiced by Standard Oil while Rockefeller was at the helm.[11] Steve Weinberg of the Chicago Tribune called the book a "flawed gem", citing Chernow's "unforgettable portraits" of various members of Rockefeller's family and inner circle, while conceding that the author occasionally "cannot refrain from telling readers what to think."[6]
Titan was a finalist for the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Beatty, Jack (May 17, 1998). "A Capital Life". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Berman, Milton (June 1999). "Titan". Magill's Literary Annual. 1999: 1–3.
- ^ a b c d Frumkes, Lewis Burke (January 1999). "A conversation with...Ron Chernow". The Writer. 112 (1): 16.
- ^ Chernow, Ron (April 19, 1998). "How to stay a titan". The New York Times. ProQuest 430961222.
- ^ a b c d e f Klein, Maury (May 8, 1998). "A ruthless robber baron, John D. Rockefeller was also a 'Titan' of charity". The Wall Street Journal. p. W1. ProQuest 398623325.
- ^ a b c d e f Weinberg, Steve (May 24, 1998). "Mr. Magnate: Ron Chernow's sprawling, enthralling biography of John D. Rockefeller Sr". Chicago Tribune. p. 1. ProQuest 418609893.
- ^ a b Smith, Dinitia (July 13, 1998). "From dimes to millions and mystery". The New York Times. ProQuest 431012432.
- ^ a b Morrow, Lance (June 15, 1998). "Oil in the family". Time Magazine. Vol. 151, no. 23.
- ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (July 20, 1998). "A man who saw around the corner". The New York Times. p. 7. ProQuest 431005650.
- ^ Bannister, Robert C. (November 28, 1998). "Titan (book review)". America. Vol. 179, no. 17.
- ^ Parker, Richard (May 31, 1998). "Mr. Big". Los Angeles Times. p. 12. ProQuest 421445856.
- ^ "1998 National Book Critics Circle Award - Biography/Autobiography Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. March 28, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2022.