The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire

Gwenda Blair

Simon and Schuster, Dec 4, 2001 - Biography & Autobiography - 592 pages

The story of three generations of Trumps in a “copiously researched” (The New York Times) narrative and an account of the presidential candidate’s extraordinary path to success. “Rich, detailed, and informative, and not just for Trump loyalists or detractors” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

This richly detailed account of the Trump family reflects America’s transformation from a land of striving immigrants to a world in which the aura of wealth alone can guarantee a fortune. The Trumps begins with a portrait of Donald's immigrant grandfather Frederick Trump, a restaurant owner who amassed the first Trump fortune by providing miners with food, liquor, and easy access to women during the Klondike gold rush. His son, Fred, took advantage of New Deal policy, using government subsidies and loopholes to construct hugely successful housing developments in the 1940s and 1950s. The profits from those enterprises paved the way for Donald's roller-coaster ride into the new century.

With his talent for what he calls “truthful hyperbole,” Donald Trump turned the deal-making know-how of his forebears into an art form. By describing Donald’s much-publicized life in the context of his family, Gwenda Blair adds an important dimension to a glitzy, larger-than-life contradictory figure known around the world as The Donald.

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THE TRUMPS: Three Generations That Built an Empire

User Review  - Kirkus

The triple biography of the entrepreneurial Trumps: Friedrich, son Fred, and grandson Donald.In 1885, 16-year-old Friedrich Trump emigrated from Germany to the US. He found New York too limited a ...

Contents

• Past and Present: 9
• Friedrich Trump: 21
• The New World: 23
• Seattle Days and Nights: 41
• Tales of Monte Cristo 5 3: 72
• Klondike Fever: 81
• Here to Stay: 94
• Fred Trump: 103
• Born to Work: 105
• Savvy in a Brooklyn Courtroom: 125
• Washington to the Rescue: 135
• Home Buildings Henry Ford: 147
• Putting a Roof over GI Joes Head: 162
• The Perils of Success: 175
• Clashing Visions: 194
• Donald Trump: 221
• Born to Compete: 223
• From Brick Box to Glass Fantasy: 267
• The TwentyEightSided Building: 291
• Gambling on Atlantic City: 330
• The Tallest Building in the World: 362
• Spinning out of Control: 385
• Pulling Back from the Brink: 413
• Trump: 453
• Notes: 471
• Bibliography: 555
• Acknowledgments: 567
• Index: 573

About the author

Gwenda Blair is the author of the bestselling Almost Golden and has written for The New York Times, Esquire, Talk, Smart Money, Forbes ASAP, Yahoo Internet Life and other newspapers and magazines. She lives in New York City.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire
• Author: Gwenda Blair
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2001
• ISBN: 0743210794, 9780743210799
• Length: 592 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Business; Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography / Presidents & Heads of State; Biography & Autobiography / Rich & Famous; Business & Economics / Corporate & Business History; Business & Economics / General