American Disruptor: The Scandalous Life of Leland StanfordThe rags to riches story of the tumultuous tycoon who built Silicon Valley. American Disruptor is the untold story of Leland Stanford – from his birth in a backwoods bar to the founding of the world-class university that became and remains the nucleus of Silicon Valley. The life of this robber baron, politician, and historic influencer is the astonishing tale of how one supremely ambitious man became this country's original "disruptor" – reshaping industry and engineering one of the greatest raids on the public treasury for America’s transcontinental railroad, all while living more opulently than maharajas, kings, and emperors. It is also the saga of how Stanford, once a serial failure, overcame all obstacles to become one of America’s most powerful and wealthiest men, using his high elective office to enrich himself before losing the one thing that mattered most to him – his only child and son. Scandal and intrigue would follow Stanford through his life, and even after his death, when his widow was murdered in a Honolulu hotel – a crime quickly covered up by the almost stillborn university she had saved. Richly detailed and deeply researched, American Disruptor restores Leland Stanford’s rightful place as a revolutionary force and architect of modern America. |
Contents
StartUp 2 Everything Ventured 1 | 1 |
Crossing | 24 |
The Gold under the Mountain | 36 |
Ditching and Hitching | 49 |
The Road Must Be Built | 61 |
Egyptian Kings and Dynasties Shall Be Forgotten | 73 |
Dungeons and Depredations | 85 |
Living Up to the Landscape | 97 |
Ingeniously Contrived Devices | 158 |
Deposed | 170 |
The Fundamental Standard | 183 |
Sex and Socialism | 194 |
God Forgive Me My Sins Am I Prepared to Meet My Dear Ones? | 202 |
American Disruptor | 217 |
Notes | 231 |
Bibliographical Note | 265 |
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Albany American Angeles became began Berkeley Berner Big Four brother California called Canal Central Pacific Railroad Charles Crocker Collis Huntington Collis Potter Huntington Colton Contract and Finance court David Starr Jordan Department of Special early East gold rush Governor Stanford historian hundred Ibid Indians Jane Lathrop Stanford Jane Stanford Jennie Stanford Jennie's Josiah Josiah Stanford Judah labor later Lathrop Stanford Papers Leland and Jennie Leland Stanford letter Mark Hopkins miles million mountains nation Nob Hill noted outgoing correspondence Palo Alto party political Port Washington Potter Huntington Papers president Promontory Summit railroad companies rails Railway reported Republican River road Sacramento Daily Union San Francisco ships Silicon Valley soon Southern Pacific Special Collections Stan Stanford and company Stanford University strychnine Theodore Judah took town transcontinental railroad U.S. senator Union Pacific Vina West wrote York young