Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Alexander Hamilton: here is the essential, endlessly engrossing biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.—the Jekyll-and-Hyde of American capitalism. In the course of his nearly 98 years, Rockefeller was known as both a rapacious robber baron, whose Standard Oil Company rode roughshod over an industry, and a philanthropist who donated money lavishly to universities and medical centers. He was the terror of his competitors, the bogeyman of reformers, the delight of caricaturists—and an utter enigma. Drawing on unprecedented access to Rockefeller’s private papers, Chernow reconstructs his subjects’ troubled origins (his father was a swindler and a bigamist) and his single-minded pursuit of wealth. But he also uncovers the profound religiosity that drove him “to give all I could”; his devotion to his father; and the wry sense of humor that made him the country’s most colorful codger. Titan is a magnificent biography—balanced, revelatory, elegantly written. |
Contents
| 3 | |
| 15 | |
| 37 | |
Baptism in Business | 63 |
The Auction | 73 |
The Poetry of the Age | 97 |
Millionaires Row | 119 |
Conspirators | 129 |
The Enthusiast | 397 |
Avenging Angel | 425 |
Faith of Fools | 467 |
The Millionaires Special | 481 |
The Codger | 501 |
The Worlds Richest Fugitive | 519 |
Judgment Day | 537 |
Benevolent Trust | 561 |
The New Monarch | 157 |
Sphinx | 173 |
The Holy Family | 183 |
Insurrection in the Oil Fields | 197 |
Seat of Empire | 217 |
The Puppeteer | 243 |
Widows Funeral | 271 |
A Matter of Trust | 283 |
Captains of Erudition | 299 |
Nemesis | 331 |
The Dauphin | 347 |
The Standard Oil Crowd | 361 |
Massacre | 571 |
Introvert and Extrovert | 591 |
Confessional | 609 |
Dynastic Succession | 621 |
Past Present Future | 631 |
Heirs | 649 |
See You in Heaven | 663 |
Acknowledgments | 677 |
Notes | 681 |
| 737 | |
| 751 | |
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