Transcript
Introduction
"One thing is clear: Carnegie and Frick represent the American ethos of limitless possibility. Both men were born to poverty and both became wealthy and powerful beyond imagining. The impact of their steelmaking enterprise on the economy at the end of the 19th century was as profound as the impact of the American Revolution had been on this country's politics and philosophy, a century before, and the rupture of their once 'perfect partnership' illuminates the contradictions embodied in those two hallowed pillars of our thinking, capitalism and the protestant ethic.
Carnegie and Frick were not the first to wrestle with those contradictions, and they were most assertedly not the last, but the making and unraveling of their relationship became an often-troubling exploration of America's promise to us all. A reminder that monumental achievement comes at a monumental cost. Their story offers a vivid illustration of a young nation's steadfast belief in progress and in man's ability to affect his own destiny. As the ancients observed, such thinking may be fine for the gods, but when mortals attempt to operate on the same plane, even mortals of heroic proportions, tragedy ensues."