Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Rockefeller seizes economic opportunities wrought by the oil boom and the end of the Civil War. Describing his seemingly uncanny insight, Chernow calls Rockefeller “a finely tuned instrument of the zeitgeist, the purest embodiment of the dynamic, acquisitive spirit of the postwar era” (100). Already looking to the export market, Rockefeller sends his brother William to New York to establish Rockefeller and Company. With his new export firm located in close proximity to Wall Street, Rockefeller commences his lifelong relationship with the nation’s leading financiers. Back in Cleveland, Rockefeller joins forces with Henry Morrison Flagler, who shares Rockefeller’s increasing disdain for economic competition. The new refining partnership of Rockefeller, Andrews, and Flagler lays the foundation for Standard Oil. Significantly, Flagler oversees many negotiations with railroads, which will prove to be “the single most controversial aspect of Standard Oil history” (110). Rockefeller instantly perceives the importance of transportation networks to any firm hoping to dominate the refining business. In 1868, the Lake Shore railroad gives Rockefeller’s firm special rates in exchange for a guarantee of high volume. This is “a turning point for Rockefeller, the oil industry, and the entire American economy” (113). Cleveland now emerges as the oil-refining capital of the United States. Meanwhile, by making special deals with the railroads and winning rebates for his business, Rockefeller has opened the way for future critics to denounce his monopolistic practices.

In August 1868, 29-year-old Rockefeller and Cettie move to 424 Euclid Avenue, a street dubbed Cleveland’s “millionaires’ row” for all of its wealthy residents. Unlike other moguls of the age, Rockefeller prefers domesticity; a life of parties and yachts would have been nightmarish to him. Elizabeth (“Bessie”), the Rockefellers’ oldest child, is already two years old by the time her parents move to Euclid Avenue. Four other children—Alice (who dies in infancy), Alta, Edith, and John, Jr.—are born in the new home. Rockefeller enjoys the rhythms of home life and takes a direct role in raising the children. He and Cettie encourage them to cultivate their musical skills, to learn the value of time, and above all to pray to insulate themselves from worldly temptations. Cettie transforms from a one-time teacher with a promising career into a full-time Baptist mother.

Chapter 8, one of the book’s lengthiest, introduces and analyzes early developments that gave Rockefeller command of the oil industry and made his career so controversial. At the core of these developments lies Rockefeller’s growing disdain for free-market capitalism and its ruinous price wars. True to his character, he is determined to impose order on the nascent oil industry—and to dominate it as no businessman had ever dominated any industry. To keep prices and profits reliable, Rockefeller envisions nothing less than a giant oil cartel. On January 10, 1870—a momentous day in American business history—the Standard Oil Company (Ohio) is born. Incorporation allows Rockefeller’s new firm to sell shares of stock, which will become a crucial source of his fabulous wealth.

In late 1871, Standard Oil colludes with three major railroads in a brazen attempt to drive out competition. The corrupt Pennsylvania legislature votes to approve a special charter for something called the South Improvement Company, a “shell organization” (136) that lends legal and political cover to the collusion. The railroads agree to pay SIC-member refiners (i.e. Standard Oil) special rates for all barrels shipped by those refiners and their competitors. Under heavy political pressure and even threats of violence, the Pennsylvania legislature revokes the SIC charter, an “astonishing piece of knavery” (136).

However, the SIC sets a crucial pattern-setting precedent in Rockefeller’s business career. Likewise, the SIC charter—at least until it is repealed—gives Rockefeller the leverage he needs to achieve arguably the most crucial victory of his early career: the effective monopolization of Cleveland’s oil-refining business. In February and March 1872, under the implied threat that they must join Standard Oil or perish, the owners of all but four of Cleveland’s 26 oil refineries sell their businesses to the new titan. Chernow concludes the chapter with an analysis of this so-called “Cleveland Massacre,” why Rockefeller did it, and what it means.