The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (Vintage) Feature
- ISBN13: 9781400031740
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The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (Vintage) Overview
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDIn this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. Meticulously researched and elegantly written,
The First Tycoon describes an improbable life, from Vanderbilt’s humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history. In between we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. Epic in its scope and success, the life of Vanderbilt is also the story of the rise of America itself.
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (Vintage) Specifications
Book Description A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.
Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt is an American icon. Humbly born on Staten Island during George Washington’s presidency, he rose from boatman to builder of the nation’s largest fleet of steamships to lord of a railroad empire. Lincoln consulted him on steamship strategy during the Civil War; Jay Gould was first his uneasy ally and then sworn enemy; and Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for president of the United States, was his spiritual counselor. We see Vanderbilt help to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation—in fact, as T. J. Stiles elegantly argues, Vanderbilt did more than perhaps any other individual to create the economic world we live in today.
In The First Tycoon, Stiles offers the first complete, authoritative biography of this titan, and the first comprehensive account of the Commodore’s personal life. It is a sweeping, fast-moving epic, and a complex portrait of the great man. Vanderbilt, Stiles shows, embraced the philosophy of the Jacksonian Democrats and withstood attacks by his conservative enemies for being too competitive. He was a visionary who pioneered business models. He was an unschooled fistfighter who came to command the respect of New York’s social elite. And he was a father who struggled with a gambling-addicted son, a husband who was loving yet abusive, and, finally, an old man who was obsessed with contacting the dead.
The First Tycoon is the exhilarating story of a man and a nation maturing together: the powerful account of a man whose life was as epic and complex as American history itself.
Excerpts from an Interview with T.J. Stiles
Question: Your last book was a biography of Jesse James. What drew you to Cornelius Vanderbilt as your next subject?
T.J. Stiles: I was drawn by who he was as a person, the lack of writing about him, and the historical themes that defined his life.
Like Jesse James, Vanderbilt was man of action--decisive, dramatic, and always interesting. He courted physical danger, fought high-stakes financial battles, and always set the terms of his existence. Like Jesse James, Vanderbilt has not been the subject of much serious research. And like Jesse James, Vanderbilt opened a window on the making of modern America. Vanderbilt was central to the rise of the corporation, the emergence of Wall Street, and the birth of big business. His was a dramatic life played out on an enormous stage.
Q:How long have you been working on this book and what kind of research went into it?
TJS: I worked on it for more than six years. My research was challenging because Vanderbilt kept no diary, preserved no letters, and left behind no collection of papers. Second, the last serious biography about him was written in 1942. The increasing digitization of newspapers and Congressional documents helped, but I did most of my work the old-fashioned way, digging through archives and sitting in front of microfilm readers. My biggest discovery came when I stumbled upon the Old Records Division of the New York County Clerk’s Office; I spent months there going through original lawsuit papers from as early as 1816. I uncovered entire episodes of Vanderbilt’s life that no one ever suspected--fistfights, steamboats ramming each other, inside trading and noncompetition agreements, details about his physical office and epic tales of betrayal. I also focused on Vanderbilt’s associates and rivals, and found priceless letters about him in their papers. Of course, I spent months more going through the papers of his various railroad corporations at the New York Public Library. I found so much new material that I decided to include a lengthy bibliographical essay.
Q:Throughout the book, you highlight Vanderbilt's role in the making of the modern idea of economic regulation. You also write, "The Commodore’s life left its mark on Americans’ most basic beliefs about equality and opportunity." Where in our modern institutions do you think his legacy is most apparent?
TJS: Vanderbilt early on voiced a political philosophy rooted in radical Jacksonianism. He believed in individual equality, in the right to compete freely. He denounced monopolies and corporations. This strain of thought remains a key part of American values. Yet he ended his life at the pinnacle of an incredibly unequal society, the master of a giant corporation that overshadowed almost every other business in America. That late-life transformation strongly influenced the new acceptance of government regulation that arose after the Civil War. I don’t think so much that Vanderbilt’s legacy can be seen in our institutions as much as our economic culture--the rise of the modern idea that government should intervene to regulate large businesses, and redress the balance of wealth and power in society.
Q: What do you think Vanderbilt would have to say about our current economic climate; its root causes as well as the ever increasing bail-outs of giant corporations?
TJS: When the Panic of 1873 hit, Vanderbilt gave an immediate analysis to a newspaper reporter that virtually describes the current situation. The problem was asset inflation: a speculative bubble (in his case, railroads, in our case, real estate) that tamped down skepticism about the value of securities issued by overvalued companies (or, in our case, mortgage-backed securities based on shaky home loans). Eager to ride the rising wave, banks in New York marketed the securities abroad, giving a stamp of approval, much as they have done with mortgage-backed securities today. In other words, Vanderbilt would have understood the root causes of our crisis, despite the great differences in the economy between then and now. And, though he usually looked askance at government intervention, the seriousness of the situation might have led him to approve of strong action. It’s hard to say, because he denounced subsidies, yet after the Panic of 1873 he also urged the federal government to pump new money into the economy. In any case, he would have had a sophisticated grasp of our conundrum.
Q:Your own family history recently made national news when it was discovered, at The Smithsonian in Washington, DC, that one of President Lincoln's watches contained a secret inscription from your great-great grandfather. That must have been pretty exciting for you, not only as a family member but as a historian who has written extensively about the Civil War. How do you feel about this news and what do you make of all the attention it received?
TJS:The news accounts floored me. I never expected this favorite family story, one I never quite believed, to enter national mythology. My great-great-grandfather, Jonathan Dillon, was an Irish immigrant who was working in a Washington, D.C., watch repair shop when Fort Sumter was fired on. He happened to be holding Lincoln's watch in his hand. He made an inscription on the back of the dial, closed it up, and said nothing to Lincoln about it. My second cousin, Douglas Stiles, tracked the watch to the Smithsonian's Museum of American History, and convinced the director to open the watch up and check. The message was there--a little different from my great-great-grandfather's memory, but it was there.
I think it struck a chord with the nation at the moment of Lincoln's bicentennial. Here was a plucky, immigrant watchmaker who left a silent message of encouragement in Lincoln's pocket. No fanfare, nothing attention grabbing, just a patriotic, very human little act. I grew up with this story, and named my own son Dillon, in a kind of chain tribute to Jonathan Dillon, the watchmaker. (My father's middle name is Dillon, and of course it was my great-grandmother Isabella Dillon's maiden name.) When he was born in 2007, I often told the story about Lincoln's watch. If I had my doubts about it, I figured that no one would dare tear open Lincoln's watch to check. Glad they did.
As a historian, I found it particularly startling to be brought so close to perhaps the most important American of any era. I wrote about Lincoln in The First Tycoon. Now I know that, as he held an urgent conference with Cornelius Vanderbilt over how best to deal with the Confederate ironclad Merrimack, he might have had in his pocket a secret message from my great-great-grandfather. The story adds an immediacy to the past, showing how close any one of us is to great historical events.
(Photo © Joanne Chan)
Customer Reviews
Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) was a force of nature! He died worth over $ 100 million in 1877, has made its way through the corporate tycoonship American genius, cunning and hard work. If ever a Horatio Alger Vanderbilt activity fits the bill then!
Cornelius was born to English parents Vandebilt Duthc-Staten Island. From an early age has taken the ferry to Staten Iceland business passengers in New York. Later he bought a sailing boatSteamships and railways across the continent in the era of Manifest Destiny, the birth of big business and the transformation of America into a land of big corporations. Stles is incredible in the discussion of all transactions and mergers Vanderbilt made detailed.
TJ Stiles Law won the National Book Award 2009 for "The First Tycoon." There is a strong volume of 571 pages written over 100 dense pages of notes and references. Stiles worked onThis biographical and economic history for many years. The main points of style, because Vanderbilt is an important but often overlooked figure in American economic history are:
It was the first Supreme Court decision by Chief Justice John Marshall in the landmark "Gibbons vs. Ogden fact" case was that barriers to trade in government were against the law. The case shook the culture of the 18th Century, said against the nobility. Gibbons was aBusiness Mentor, Vanderbilt Jacksonian individualistic rights against monopolies favored.
According to competition between companies has been considered by the Vanderbilts as a prerequisite for the personal, political and economic virtue in the new United States.
3.Through Superman helped her work on the transport of Vanderbilt in the trade and textile industry in New England Mills, and this has led the economy moving, highly industrialized United States.
Fourth Vanderbilt Nicarauga steam and railLine in the Central American nation has led to the growth of California, San Francisco during the gold rush of 1849. Because of Vanderbilt titans like the United States was united from sea to shining sea. Vanderbilt had in the fight against the evil dictator filibuster William Walker in Nicaragua and ruthless battle partners in risk, such as the infamous Joseph White.
Fifth Vanderbilt has been very instrumental in making New York City is the center of the stock market andEconomics in America. Its construction and the work will significantly advance the transport of the 1850s economic boom in New York City. His company built and owned the Grand Central Station New York Central and Hudson Railway and several trunk lines throughout the nation. Contributed to economic recovery in panic of 1873 by supporting the lack of railways owned by its employees.
Sixth During the civil war gave his ship "The Vanderbilts" the U.S. government. HeGold also moved from California to the east, despite the incursions of trade in the Confederate captain Raphael Semmes and his Raider Raiders as "The Alabama did." Vanderbilt married a Southern Belle, and was a good friend of Confederate General Braxton Bragg
Seventh Vanderbilt was the first and most important corporate titan in American life. When he started his career, most Americans lived on farms and in rural areas. When he died, the nation was united by the performance increasingly urbanizedTie rail.
8th Vanderbilt believed in reconciliation between North and South after the Civil War. Gave almost a million dollars to finance the Vanderbilt University in Nashville to help. The great University was inaugurated the 1875th
Vanderbilt may be irritable and grumpy. He had problems with Cornelius Jr., who was a player. His son, George Washington visited West Point and died young. Son William succeeded his father to die in power is worth at least 200 millionU.S. dollars at the time of his death Vanderbilt enjoyed racing horses and spend their evenings playing skat with her friends at clubs in Manhattan and quiet evenings at home. Vanderbilt never learned to give, and it was often profane contempt of aristocrats.
Vanderbilt was an illiterate man, who was a genius. It 'was often rude and ruthless in his business. It 'been married twice and love the young Sophie and Frank Crawford, who married late in life.
Hadmany children, but spent most of his time in his office. He ate and drank very sparingly to keep a strong physical condition. He had little interest in organized religion.
Vanderbilt was not a saint, and there is much to be done in the ruthless world of unregulated activities criticizing
Nineteenth century. The reader has his own opinion on what he learned from his career as Vanderbilt's incredible!
This book is a difficult read for people like this reviewer, who is aNewcomer to the world of finance. I'm still glad I stuck with it. Not everyone cup of tea, but worth it!
Read on to see Dave Barry's questions for Jen Lancaster, or turn the tables to see what he asked her. 
My career as a writer has been longer than some and shorter than others, but it happens to span the internet era more or less exactly. My first book, Killing Floor, came out in 1997. It probably sold some copies on Amazon, but not many, because the company was in its infancy then, barely two years old. In that book I even referred to “an e-mail,” thinking I was showing two of the characters to be amazingly cutting-edge and modern.
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