Quotes from Ron Chernow

Rockefeller knew the name and face of each employee

After Hamilton and his family left Philadelphia in mid-February 1795, they rented lodgings in New York City for several days before proceeding to the Schuyler residence in Albany for a long-overdue rest.

Instead of floating bond issues alone, the banks pooled their capital to share the risk of underwriting.

said Morgan, who agreed to make up the church's deficits.

Waste neither time nor money" was his favorite motto.

One morning, James burst into his office and started swearing violently at Rockefeller, who put his feet up on the desk with imperturbable poise and showed no sign of upset; a fine actor, he always had masterful control of his facial muscles. When James finished, Rockefeller said evenly, "Now James, you can knock my head off but you might as well understand that you can't scare me.

While he had thought the Landis fine excessive, he had thought the trial itself fair.

Hamilton could not have been stupid enough to pay hush money for sex, Callender alleged, so the money paid to James Reynolds had to involve illicit speculation.

and Junius desperately bought them to prop up the price, nearly wiping himself out.

Rainsford also credited Pierpont with intense loyalty and forthright honesty:

This contradiction posed a central dilemma for John D. Rockefeller and his descendants, who would struggle tirelessly against the baneful effects of wealth.

A man who succeeds in life must sometimes go against the current.

The Federalist Papers ran to eighty-five essays, with fifty-one attributed to Hamilton, twenty-nine to Madison, and only five to Jay.

As he wrote of Rockefeller, "His deliberation was sometimes extreme; his reluctance to argue and speak out his thoughts fully, his skill in not exposing the slightest surface for attack, his long silences

perambulated about the office. He walked with a measured gait, steady as a metronome, always covering the same distance in the exact same time. He had the soundless movements and modulated voice of an undertaker. Gliding about with silent footfalls, he startled people by materializing at their desks and politely asking, in a mellow voice, to inspect their work.

he was betting the future of his firm on one roll of the dice.

Despite their similarities, Pratt was a timid executive who lacked Rockefeller's audacity and often felt slighted by him.

Standard Oil again benefited from hard times to extend its powerful reach.

Rockefeller never offered blame or praise and revealed his opinion of employees only by adding or subtracting to their duties.

After all, the devil's work was now sprinkled with holy water.

Morgan decided that it was hopelessly insolvent and had to be shut.

Many employees said he never lost his temper, raised his voice, uttered a profane or slang word, or acted discourteously.

George Clinton, his future political nemesis.

England refused to acknowledge the traditional doctrine "free ships make free goods"—i.e., that neutral vessels had a right to carry all cargo save munitions and enter the ports of belligerent countries. On November 6, 1793, William Pitt's ministry had decreed that British ships could intercept neutral vessels hauling produce to or from the French West Indies.