Quotes from Ron Chernow

It was an extraordinary transference of power to a private banker and further proof of Teddy Roosevelt's high regard for Morgan.

At this point, Bill decided that John should contribute to the family upkeep and pay him the same rent he had given to Mrs. Woodin.

Benson's solution suited Rockefeller just fine: Tidewater, instead of cutting rates to compete with the railroads, would collude with them to raise rates.

In his later years, William traded in his Baptist upbringing for a more epicurean life.

With a presidential election in the offing, Grant was drawn into a controversy over whether soldiers in the field should be allowed to cast ballots.

Jefferson took often commonplace ideas and endowed them with majestic form.

He was also wary of upsetting the existing social hierarchy.

The main thing was to prove that you were not taking your good fortune for granted.

In time, the government redefined the rules of the capitalist game to tame trusts and preserve competition, but as John D. Rockefeller set about building his fortune, the absence of clear-cut rules probably aided, at first, the creative vigor of the new industrial economy.

Yet the episode suggests that Fanny may have been aloof in the outside world and showed her emotions only in private.

The next day, Cortelyou put $25 million in government funds at Pierpont's disposal

The uproar didn't weaken Rockefeller's resolve, yet for all his bravado the boycott exacted a grave toll on his operations.

In the course of the panic, he provided almost $6 million to fifty-eight individuals and firms who were turned down by banks and desperately needed his intervention.

Had she stayed in business, she would have been bankrupt within a few years.

In mapping out his strategy, Rose adopted the GEB model of using Rockefeller money as a catalyst for government cooperation.

Since Coster's death the year before, Bacon knew he was in over his head and reeled under the responsibility. "My

To defuse tensions and spread economic benefits more widely, he argued that the rich should donate large sums to worthy causes during their lifetimes

To bail out these borrowers, Rockefeller had to borrow almost $4 million, and nearly $3 million of that came from Standard of New York.

To put Mr. Rockefeller's name prominently forward Ã¢â'¬Â¦ would impair the usefulness of the work.

On December 5, 1792, members of the electoral college assembled in their respective states. The outcome gratified Hamilton and corresponded with his expectations. Washington was chosen unanimously as president. Adams received seventy-seven votes, enough to return him as vice president

While reading the scene in Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy in which the tenderhearted Uncle Toby picks up a fly and delicately places it outside a window instead of killing it, Burr is said to have remarked, "Had I read Sterne more and Voltaire less, I should have known the world was wide enough for Hamilton and me.

He applauded a belated decision to evacuate Garfield from the White House in early September and bring him by train to Long Branch. "During the months of August and September the White House is one of the most unhealthy places in the world," Grant told the press. "He should have been taken from there long ago.

It was symptomatic of Jack's humility and his insecurity that when he made an exciting discovery in his laboratory, he chalked it off it to luck.

all looking up at the windows of J. P. Morgan & Co.