The Men Who Built America Chapter 4 Summary

Episode 4 of The Men Who Built America shifts focus. Much of the change that occurred during the early twentieth century was basically an accident. The populist reformer William Jennings Bryan won the Democratic nomination for president in 1896 and promised to break up the trusts (as well as expand the money supply, a fact that was not mentioned on this episode). The captains of industry banded together to finance William McKinley, who won. It seemed as all was going according to plan, and the wealthiest Americans talked McKinley into adding Theodore Roosevelt as his vice president in 1900. Roosevelt was against trusts and as governor of New York had advocated regulation. Since VP was considered inconsequential, it seemed the perfect way to cut down on Roosevelt's popularity.

This worked well until a disgruntled laborer who had lost his job in the process of monopolization, Leon Czolgosz, shot McKinley. The president died eight days later, and the worst fears of men like Morgan and Rockefeller was realized as Roosevelt became a trust-busting president. Andrew Carnegie had already sold out to Morgan, but the oil and finance barons saw their empires broken up during the Progressive Era.

At the same time, Henry Ford pioneered a new form of manufacturing that made automobiles affordable for

Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan rose from obscurity and in the process built modern America. Their names hang on street signs, are etched into buildings and are a part of the fabric of history. These men created the American Dream and were the engine of capitalism as they transformed everything they touched in building the oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobile and finance industries. Their paths crossed repeatedly as they elected presidents, set economic policies and influenced major events of the 50 most formative years this country has ever known. From the Civil War to the Great Depression and World War I, they led the