Transcript
Introduction
To Rockefeller, business resembled a form of war. It seemed natural for him to open a letter with the words, "I'm in the midst of a hard battle today." He transmitted messages in code, and secrecy covered all of his operations. "That's all too true," he admitted. "But I wonder what general ever sends out a brass band in advance, with orders to notify the enemy that on a certain day he will begin an attack," he said. Rockefeller, the field marshal, laid down strategy and relied on his general staff to carry it out. When tactics for a battle had been set, orders went out to "fight it out on this line."
It surprised none who knew him well, that in old age, Rockefeller compared himself to Napoleon. The revelation came while vacationing in France, not far from a spot where Napoleon had won a great victory. A casual remark from a companion led to an extraordinary soliloquy, Rockefeller's longest on record. This is what he said. "It is hard to imagine Napoleon as a businessman, but I have thought that if he had applied himself to commerce, he would've been the greatest businessman the world has ever known. My, what a genius for organization. He also had, what I always regarded as a prime necessity for large success in any enterprise, that is, a thoughtful understanding of men, and ability to inspire in them confidence in him, and confidence in themselves. See the men he picked as marshals, and the heights to which they rose under his inspiration and leadership. It is by such traits as these that men get the work of the world done.
It is all a battlefield. Napoleon, without the able marshals that he had about him, would not have been the master of his age. He went into a battle with the knowledge that his marshals could be depended on. That, in a given situation, they could be relied upon to do the necessary thing. Their devotion to him, coupled with their enthusiasm, that's another great attribute, and the qualities with which his influence upon them brought out, won the fight. Another thing about Napoleon was his virility. He was virile because he came direct from the ranks of the people. There was none of that stagnant blood of nobility, or royalty, in his veins. That's where he had the advantage over the monarchs of Europe to begin with. He could think quicker, and along more individual and original lines, than any of them. The men whom he had to combat didn't understand either him or the people, and it is always hard to successfully control what you don't understand. Napoleon didn't play that game.
And then, coming direct from the people, he had their sympathy. He appealed to their imaginations. Europe had not yet been educated to the fact that it could get along without any kings at all. Leaders of their own kind were few, and that made it easier for Napoleon to rise to the heights with which he attained. A Napoleon would be impossible in our day. There are too many able and ambitious rivals to hold and check one who aimed too high."
That is an excerpt from the book I'm going to talk to you about today, which is John D. The Founding Father of the Rockefellers, and it was written by David Freeman Hawk. Okay. Before I jump into the book, I need to tell you how this fits into everything else that you and I have been talking about. About a month ago, I reread... I spent an insane amount of time rereading the most popular biography of Rockefeller that's ever been made. It was Episode 248. It was Titan. I found the book that I hold in my hand in the bibliography of Titan.