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Title details for An Unlikely Trust by Gerard Helferich - Available

An Unlikely Trust

Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Improbable Partnership That Remade American Business

by Gerard Helferich
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At the dawn of the twentieth century, Theodore Roosevelt and J. Pierpont Morgan were the two most powerful men in America, perhaps the world. As the nation's preeminent financier, Morgan presided over an elemental shift in American business, away from family-owned companies and toward modern corporations of unparalleled size and influence. As president, Theodore Roosevelt expanded the power of that office to an unprecedented degree, seeking to rein in those corporations and to rebalance their interests with those of workers, consumers, and society at large.
Overpowering figures and titanic personalities, Roosevelt and Morgan could easily have become sworn enemies. And when they have been considered together (never before at book length), they have generally been portrayed as battling colossi, the great trust builder versus the original trustbuster. But their long association was far more complex than that, and even mutually beneficial.
Despite their many differences in temperament and philosophy, Roosevelt and Morgan had much in common—social class, an unstinting Victorian moralism, a drive for power, a need for order, and a genuine (though not purely altruistic) concern for the welfare of the nation. Working this common ground, the premier progressive and the quintessential capitalist were able to accomplish what neither could have achieved alone—including, more than once, averting national disaster. In the process they also changed forever the way that government and business worked together.
An Unlikely Trust is the story of the uneasy but fruitful collaboration between Theodore Roosevelt and Pierpont Morgan. It is also the story of how government and business evolved from a relationship of laissez-faire to the active regulation that we know today. And it is an account of how, despite all that has changed in America over the past century, so much remains the same, including the growing divide between rich and poor; the tangled bonds uniting politicians and business leaders; and the pervasive feeling that government is working for the special interests rather than for the people. Not least of all, it is the story of how citizens with vastly disparate outlooks and interests managed to come together for the good of their common country.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 1, 2018

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781493025787
      • File size: 6764 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781493025787
      • File size: 6764 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 18, 2017
      A hostile commander-in-chief and a titan of American finance make a far-reaching peace in this colorful study of government-business relations in the Progressive Era. Helferich (Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin) revisits the early-20th-century ferment of American capitalism, when the rise of giant corporate trusts that monopolized whole industries sparked explosive growth, populist outrage, and labor unrest. He explores these tensions in the figures of President Theodore Roosevelt, the boisterous Republican reformer who attacked trusts, and J.P. Morgan, the financier who built such trusts as the leviathan U.S. Steel in order (he claimed) to prevent ruinous competition and stabilize the economy. Despite their rhetorical antagonism, Helferich argues, the two tacitly cooperated on economic issues, settling a catastrophic coal-mining strike, snuffing out the Panic of 1907, and forging a modern regulatory system that let Morgan’s trusts flourish benignly. The onetime trust-buster Roosevelt eventually came under fire from political opponents who saw him as a Morgan puppet. Roosevelt delivers the thunder here, but the canny and understated Morgan becomes a fascinating protagonist as he conjures up money and strong-arms bankers to save Wall Street from destruction. Helferich’s narrative has a lucid, light touch on the period’s economics and foregrounds the human element in white-knuckle crises and negotiations. Photos.

    • Library Journal

      January 1, 2018

      This illuminating work about the partnership between President Theodore Roosevelt and John Pierpont Morgan Sr. is long overdue. Roosevelt, often referred to as the "trust-buster," was an astute politician, who was known for reforms and the implementation of regulations, especially antitrust legislation. Morgan, an important financier and banker of his era, was considered a preeminent figure in the evolution of modern corporations. Because Morgan was involved in many company consolidations, he was often referred to as the "trust-builder." The unlikely association between trust-buster and trust-builder yields author Helferich's (Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin) well-crafted title. Their alliances during the Coal Strike of 1902, the financial Panic of 1907, the creation of the Federal Reserve System, and the building of the Panama Canal are detailed. Based on extensive research, this book fills a niche in the understanding of the complex relationship between Roosevelt and Morgan, especially in their common commitment to protecting the United States. VERDICT Recommended for all who have an interest in business history or Roosevelt.--Caroline Geck, Somerset, NJ

      Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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