Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) was a force of nature! He died worth in excess of 100 million 1877 dollars having worked himself to tycoonship over corporate American through genius, guile and sheer hard work. If ever there was a Horatio Alger of business then Vanderbilt fits the bill!
Cornelius Vandebilt was born to Duthc-English parents on Staten Island. From an early age he engaged in the Staten Island ferry business taking passengers to New York. Later he would buy sailing vessels, steamboats and railroads which spanned the continent in the age of manifest destiny, the birth of big business and the transformation of America into a land of huge corporate giants. Stles is incredibly detailed in discussing all of the business deals and mergers made by Vanderbilt.
T.J. Stiles rightly won the 2009 National Book Award for "The First Tycoon." It is a hefty volume of 571 densely written pages with over 100 pages of footnotes and bibliographic entries. Stiles labored on this biographical and economic history for several years. The essential points made by Stiles as to why Vanderbilt is an important, but often neglected, figure in American economic history are:
1. He was involved in the Supreme Court decision rendered by Chief Justice John Marshall in the landmark "Gibbons vs. Ogden" case that state erected barriers to trade were against the law. This case shattered the 18th century culture of deference in which the aristocracy ruled. Gibbons was a business mentor of Vanderbilt who favored Jacksonian individualistic rights to oppose monopolies.
2. Business competition was viewed by Vanderbilt as essential to personal, economic and political virtue in the new United States.
3.Through his superman work in the transportation industry Vanderbilt helped in the trade and textile industry of New England mills and led to the present mobile and highly industrialized American economy.
4. Vanderbilt's Nicarauga steam and railroad line through that Central America nation led to the growth of California especially the city of San Francisco during the gold rush of 1849. Due to titans like Vanderbilt the United States was united from sea to shining sea. Vanderbilt had to fight off the evil dictator filibuster William Walker in Nicaragua and also fight unscrupulous partners in the venture such as the notorious Joseph White.
5. Vanderbilt was highly instrumental in making New York City the hub of the stock market and business community in America. His building and transportation work greatly abetted the economic boom in the 1850s in New York City. His company built Grand Central Station and he owned the New York Central and Hudson railroads as well as several trunk lines throughout the nation. He aided in the recovery of the national economy during the 1873 Panic by shoring up failing railroads owned by his associates.
6. During the Civil War he gave his ship "The Vanderbilt" to the US government. He also transported gold from California to the east despite the predations made on trade by Confederate raiders such as Captain Raphael Semmes and his raider "The Alabama." Vanderbilt married a southern belle and was a good friend of Confederate general Braxton Bragg,
7. Vanderbilt was the first and most important corporate titan in American life. When he began his career most Americans lived on farms and in rural areas. When he died the nation was increasingly urban united by the powerful tie of rail transportation.
8. Vanderbilt believed in reconciliation between the North and South following the Civil War. He gave almost one million dollars to help fund Vanderbilt University in Nashville. The great university was dedicated in 1875.
Vanderbilt could be cranky and irascible. He had trouble with Cornelius Jr. who was a gambler. His son George Washington attended West Point and died young. Son William succeeded his father in power dying worth at least 200 million dollars at the time of his death Vanderbilt enjoyed racing horses, playing euchre and spending evenings with his cronies at the Manhatten Club and in quiet evenings at home. Vanderbilt never learned to spell, was often profane and disdainful of aristocrats.
Vanderbilt was an uneducated man who was, nevertheless, a genius. He was often coarse and ruthless in his business dealings. He was wed twice loving both Sophie and the young Frank Crawford whom he wed in late old age.
He had many children but spent most of his time at his office. He ate sparingly and drank little keeping in strong physical condition. He also had little interest in organized religion.
Vanderbilt was no saint and there is much to criticize in the ruthless unregulated business world of the
nineteenth century. The reader must make up his/her mind as to what is to be learned from Vanderbilt's incredible career!
This book is a difficult read for folks like this reviewer who is a neophyte in the world of high finance. I am, nevertheless, glad I stuck with it. Not everyone's cup of tea but worth the effort!
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