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The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty
The Father
The Son
The Brothers
The Cousins
Epilogue
Bibliographical Note
Notes
The Family
Acknowledgments
Index
Illustrations
The Son
The Brothers
The Cousins
Epilogue
Bibliographical Note
Notes
The Family
Acknowledgments
Index
Illustrations
Audio Cassette
First published January 1, 1976
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490 people want to read
About the author
Peter Collier
105 books22 followersFounder of Encounter Books in California, Collier was publisher from 1998-2005. He co-founded the Center for the Study of Popular Culture with David Horowitz. Collier wrote many books and articles with Horowitz. Collier worked on the website FrontpageMag. He was an organizer of Second Thoughts conferences for leftists who have moved right.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 25, 2013
This book covers the entire clan of the Rockefellers’ from the first John, born in 1839, to the publishing date of the book, 1976. It is quite an engrossing study of this family. Unlike other “celebrities”, the Rockefeller family is not marred by personal scandals (such as adulterous affairs). They are quite staid, and one could add, a repressive family. But they did have quite a pile of money – the family fortune was estimated by some at close to one billion prior to World War I (can you imagine – in terms of inflation that likely eclipses many of today’s billionaires!!).
John (the first) started out in the oil business at the time of the American Civil War. In that period oil was found in the American Northeast - Pennsylvania and Ohio. After that, the money just kept rolling in. The authors’ expose, to a degree, the hypocrisy of the Rockefeller philanthropies. The Ludlow incident in Colorado at the turn of the century did much to tarnish the image of the Rockefeller name. The Ludlow incident involved the exploitation of underpaid miners in Colorado who went on strike, and subsequently were threatened and finally killed by goons. All of this happened with the encouragement of the Rockefeller family, who took a very dim view of workers rights.
At this stage, the second John Rockefeller (the only son of the first John Rockefeller) became more humanitarian and liberal in outlook. He hired Mackenzie King (who later became a long-reigning Prime Minister of Canada) to commence a publicity campaign to enhance the perception of the many Rockefeller enterprises to a more benevolent image. Mackenzie King also advised John on how to deal more effectively with the Ludlow incident, pressuring him to be more forthright on the actual events.
This transition of the Rockefeller aura was accomplished during the 1920’s and 1930’s when huge donations were made. In some ways the authors overlook the tremendous impact and scope of this philanthropic work. Money went to renovate Chateau Versailles in France, and some endowments even found their way to the Kinsey Institute. Also the Spelman College in Atlanta, which Martin Luther King Jr. attended, received grants. Eventually over time, the Rockefeller’s became more cognisant of the rights of workers.
Also during the 1920’s and 1930’s the family moved from the management of corporations to finance and philanthropy. They needed a full time staff to manage and invest all their money. As the authors’ make evident those investments spread the tentacles of the Rockefeller’s ever further – making it multi-national in scope.
The foundations and money have become more diluted – John the second had five sons (a patriarchal family indeed!). Nelson’s political aspirations and his multiple terms as Governor of New York State were viewed with antipathy by his siblings and father. The clan, up to that point, had been very private and used their fortune to guard, conceal and protect. The family was not given to emotional displays – their behavior approached the Victorian era. Nelson’s bid for political power forced public disclosures of the family and their money.
The concluding chapters on the fourth generation are rather poignant. They truly did not know how to cope with their inheritance and didn’t even know the extent of it. Many spent years in therapy and/or some form of rebellion against their wealth.
John (the first) started out in the oil business at the time of the American Civil War. In that period oil was found in the American Northeast - Pennsylvania and Ohio. After that, the money just kept rolling in. The authors’ expose, to a degree, the hypocrisy of the Rockefeller philanthropies. The Ludlow incident in Colorado at the turn of the century did much to tarnish the image of the Rockefeller name. The Ludlow incident involved the exploitation of underpaid miners in Colorado who went on strike, and subsequently were threatened and finally killed by goons. All of this happened with the encouragement of the Rockefeller family, who took a very dim view of workers rights.
At this stage, the second John Rockefeller (the only son of the first John Rockefeller) became more humanitarian and liberal in outlook. He hired Mackenzie King (who later became a long-reigning Prime Minister of Canada) to commence a publicity campaign to enhance the perception of the many Rockefeller enterprises to a more benevolent image. Mackenzie King also advised John on how to deal more effectively with the Ludlow incident, pressuring him to be more forthright on the actual events.
This transition of the Rockefeller aura was accomplished during the 1920’s and 1930’s when huge donations were made. In some ways the authors overlook the tremendous impact and scope of this philanthropic work. Money went to renovate Chateau Versailles in France, and some endowments even found their way to the Kinsey Institute. Also the Spelman College in Atlanta, which Martin Luther King Jr. attended, received grants. Eventually over time, the Rockefeller’s became more cognisant of the rights of workers.
Also during the 1920’s and 1930’s the family moved from the management of corporations to finance and philanthropy. They needed a full time staff to manage and invest all their money. As the authors’ make evident those investments spread the tentacles of the Rockefeller’s ever further – making it multi-national in scope.
The foundations and money have become more diluted – John the second had five sons (a patriarchal family indeed!). Nelson’s political aspirations and his multiple terms as Governor of New York State were viewed with antipathy by his siblings and father. The clan, up to that point, had been very private and used their fortune to guard, conceal and protect. The family was not given to emotional displays – their behavior approached the Victorian era. Nelson’s bid for political power forced public disclosures of the family and their money.
The concluding chapters on the fourth generation are rather poignant. They truly did not know how to cope with their inheritance and didn’t even know the extent of it. Many spent years in therapy and/or some form of rebellion against their wealth.
November 18, 2020
My exposure to Collier and Horowitz began in high school with a subscription to their estimable 'Ramparts' magazine, continued into graduate school with a reading of their muckraking 'The Kennedys' and now steps back to their previous familial biography, 'The Rockefellers'.
My exposure to the Rockefellers goes back, of course, as far as I can remember, so pervasive are the institutions members of the family created. Indeed, my exposure to the Rockefellers is far greater than I knew prior to reading this book. Notably, this includes my having attended Union Theological Seminary in New York, all unknowing of the financial support it had received from the family and its foundations. I did, however, know of a more personal connection between at least one Rockefeller and the seminary, one of my floor neighbors in Hastings Hall being engaged to marry a member of the family.
It doesn't seem that Messrs. Collier and Horowitz had quite turned to the right when they published this book in 1976--a move which had been made by the time of the publication of the Kennedy book in 1984. It is, however, possible that the hundreds of hours they spent interviewing those they call "the cousins"--the grandchildren of John Davison Rockefeller Jr.--may have humanized the ruling class for them. In any case, this book has all the appearance of a balanced and honest family biography.
Personally, I found the last section, "The Cousins", to be far less interesting than the prior sections dealing with the family during its period of wealth accumulation under John D. Sr., philanthropic adjustments under John D. Jr. and diversification during the careers of his sons. My interest is much more with the history of the family in particular and with the sociology of the ruling class in general than it is with their fourth generational spin-offs.
Most revelatory for me was the discovery of the politics of Nelson Rockefeller, multi-term governor of the State of New York and, briefly, Vice-president of the United States. I had, when he was around, bought into his image as Republican realist, even a liberal, relatively speaking. I had known nothing of his involvement in promoting the nuclear industry and in advocating, under the tutelage of Edward Tellar and Henry Kissinger, preparations for "limited nuclear war." Nor had I known of his various, opportunistic moves to the extreme right of the Republican Party in pursuit of his presidential aspirations. What respect I had held for the Governor has been pretty thoroughly extinguished by Collier and Horowitz.
One thing I would have liked to have seen, but which was not mentioned at all, would have been some discussion of the Rockefeller money contributed to parapsychological research, references to which have appeared in other books I've read.
My exposure to the Rockefellers goes back, of course, as far as I can remember, so pervasive are the institutions members of the family created. Indeed, my exposure to the Rockefellers is far greater than I knew prior to reading this book. Notably, this includes my having attended Union Theological Seminary in New York, all unknowing of the financial support it had received from the family and its foundations. I did, however, know of a more personal connection between at least one Rockefeller and the seminary, one of my floor neighbors in Hastings Hall being engaged to marry a member of the family.
It doesn't seem that Messrs. Collier and Horowitz had quite turned to the right when they published this book in 1976--a move which had been made by the time of the publication of the Kennedy book in 1984. It is, however, possible that the hundreds of hours they spent interviewing those they call "the cousins"--the grandchildren of John Davison Rockefeller Jr.--may have humanized the ruling class for them. In any case, this book has all the appearance of a balanced and honest family biography.
Personally, I found the last section, "The Cousins", to be far less interesting than the prior sections dealing with the family during its period of wealth accumulation under John D. Sr., philanthropic adjustments under John D. Jr. and diversification during the careers of his sons. My interest is much more with the history of the family in particular and with the sociology of the ruling class in general than it is with their fourth generational spin-offs.
Most revelatory for me was the discovery of the politics of Nelson Rockefeller, multi-term governor of the State of New York and, briefly, Vice-president of the United States. I had, when he was around, bought into his image as Republican realist, even a liberal, relatively speaking. I had known nothing of his involvement in promoting the nuclear industry and in advocating, under the tutelage of Edward Tellar and Henry Kissinger, preparations for "limited nuclear war." Nor had I known of his various, opportunistic moves to the extreme right of the Republican Party in pursuit of his presidential aspirations. What respect I had held for the Governor has been pretty thoroughly extinguished by Collier and Horowitz.
One thing I would have liked to have seen, but which was not mentioned at all, would have been some discussion of the Rockefeller money contributed to parapsychological research, references to which have appeared in other books I've read.
January 18, 2014
One of the collaborative biographies about American dynasties by DAVID HOROWITZ before he became a fringe right-wing sycophant. My favorite part was the beginning of the family during the robber-baron period of American history and how the ascetic prematurely hairless icon founded one of the greatest fortunes and philanthropies in world history. John D. Rockefeller was not just in the right place at the right time - he was a psychopath on a Capitalist Jihad.
Read
October 7, 2020Listened to this on audiobook as I fell asleep. LOL
abandoned
March 6, 2015Written from an almost tabloid, muckraking perspective... I was expecting some interesting details about how the Rockefellers grew their empire through multiple generation, what they decided to diversity into at what times and what they decided to divest... And the success or failure of those decisions...
This ended up being something different entirely... If you want a tabloid about the politics of envy, you may like this.
This ended up being something different entirely... If you want a tabloid about the politics of envy, you may like this.
June 27, 2016
Seems a very superficial account, despite the hefty page count and the dense text. The only Rockefeller worth reading about is the first John D. Rockefeller, the rest are notable enough but really supporting characters or with symbolic value.
September 26, 2022
Fourth generation Stephen Rockefeller was, “very uncomfortable with the wealth that I have … I’m fully convinced there is no rational justification for extreme privilege and the accumulation of vast wealth.” This generation came to adulthood in the turmoil of the sixties - many forsaking their conservative roots and becoming anti-war and environmental activists. But how could they justify their own cushy lives, made possible by Standard Oil and other world killers? Up to the writing of this book over 1 billion dollars was given away by the Rockefeller Foundation at no great sacrifice to the family. Rockefeller Center, John Hopkins Center and many other good things came to us, from their coffers. The old Mr. Rockefeller made the money - he was a devout Christian but a shrewd high handed businessman. This story is uniquely American as they try to be good countrymen to our faces but probably not so much in reality. Great family, I think. They said more than once, they wanted to use their money for the well-being of mankind. “Being a Rockefeller was like being a cripple.” Loved this evenly told story.
February 28, 2024
2/17/24 The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty, Peter Collier & David Horowitz, 1975
This book is almost 50 years old, but it’s still a great portrait of a family that was once the richest in the world. The founder, John D. Rockefeller was one of the worst of the robber barons of the late Nineteenth Century. His Standard Oil was the oil monopoly until it as broken into its component parts due to anti-trust litigation.
John D Rockefeller, Jr. spent much of his life trying to mitigate their father’s and grandfather’s sins by establishing vast charitable foundations and doling out millions of dollars to worthy causes. However, he and his sons also managed to enlarge their fortune. David Rockefeller controlled the Chase Manhattan bank, and Nelson was governor of New York, a power within the Republican party, and a perennial candidate for the presidency.
Today their wealth pales before that of the dot com billionaires. In light of today’s tech scoundrels, I almost feel nostalgia for these old-fashioned millionaires.
This book is almost 50 years old, but it’s still a great portrait of a family that was once the richest in the world. The founder, John D. Rockefeller was one of the worst of the robber barons of the late Nineteenth Century. His Standard Oil was the oil monopoly until it as broken into its component parts due to anti-trust litigation.
John D Rockefeller, Jr. spent much of his life trying to mitigate their father’s and grandfather’s sins by establishing vast charitable foundations and doling out millions of dollars to worthy causes. However, he and his sons also managed to enlarge their fortune. David Rockefeller controlled the Chase Manhattan bank, and Nelson was governor of New York, a power within the Republican party, and a perennial candidate for the presidency.
Today their wealth pales before that of the dot com billionaires. In light of today’s tech scoundrels, I almost feel nostalgia for these old-fashioned millionaires.
December 24, 2016
Exhaustive and exhausting! An excruciating and thorough history of the Rockefeller clan. I spent my formative years in Cleveland, Ohio and was familar with the parks and institutions John D funded or donated to the City. Unfortunately places like Rockefeller Park have been renamed with more politically correct names. Cleveland has all but forgotten him. I was particularly interested in the work of John D II and his successful efforts to change the perception of the name Rockefeller from Robber Baron to Philanthropist. Bogs down with Nelson and his political ambitions but since the authors are accomplished political observers that is to be expected. Loved the short chapters on the "Cousins" and their difficulties making sense of the money. I am impressed with the family's sense of duty and how it has not been lost in the 4th, 5th and 6th generations.
December 31, 2018
About 5 hours too long!
January 29, 2020
Very interesting view of all the Rockefellers down 4 generations. A bit long winded at times but overall good indepth viewpoint at how the Rockefeller clan came to be.
August 31, 2024
A supreme irony that a family who espoused birth control didn’t practice on themselves
February 25, 2025
Interesting but not a lot of depth.
June 25, 2024
Yawn… The beef of the book was in the first two parts. ‘The Brothers’ was an interesting post script of what, 4 or 5 hundred pages, although the authors did little service to the clearly much maligned Winthrop.
The Cousins portion was particularly difficult to read (too much money, oh, what a horrid curse) nevertheless it piqued an interest. A single interest.
Reading the book underscores what I believe is how people manage to find a way to make money, successfully, and wind up repeating it to practically catastrophic effect. The money maker was clearly Senior, while the rest managed through. Junior’s life seemed to be very much living in his father’s shadow. And the rest of that immediate family is immediately forgotten for the 5 stars of ‘The Brothers’ or, rather, the life of Nelson Rockefeller.
The Cousins portion was particularly difficult to read (too much money, oh, what a horrid curse) nevertheless it piqued an interest. A single interest.
Reading the book underscores what I believe is how people manage to find a way to make money, successfully, and wind up repeating it to practically catastrophic effect. The money maker was clearly Senior, while the rest managed through. Junior’s life seemed to be very much living in his father’s shadow. And the rest of that immediate family is immediately forgotten for the 5 stars of ‘The Brothers’ or, rather, the life of Nelson Rockefeller.
July 1, 2025
It was good in the beginning, long and dragged out later on.
February 22, 2017
An extensive recount of four generations of Rockefellers.
May 4, 2025
Hmmmm. I'm not altogether sure I liked this book, even if it tried to give a balanced view of the Rockefellers, people who could be described as the epitome of what people think of when they imagine the filthy rich.
It traces the lives (in broad brush strokes), of John D Rockefeller, the oil magnate, his philanthropist son, the philanthropists children (including Nelson and Withrop, who became governors (and Vice President in Nelson's case), and grandchildren.
Personally, while I don't dispute that the authors wanted to be fair and balanced, they ended up being fair and balanced in the same way that Fox News is fair and balanced (i.e. in name only). By the end it felt that they had a narrative that they wanted to tell (that money can screw you up, and that you can't but inherit elements of your past), and by damn they were going to tell it.
The result was that Winthrop, the first Republican Governor in Arkansas since Reconstruction is pitied, and not viewed as someone who actually achieved something quite remarkable (and I say that as a Democrat), while Nelson is almost held at the other end of the spectrum (at least until his Vice Presidential confirmation).
The other thing is that the book finishes in the late 1970s, with all of the third generation alive (with the exception of Winthrop), and as a result you're going to be left wondering what happened since the book closed.
So all in all, I was left feeling a bit blah by the book, and inclined to thing that the Ron Chernow's book of the oldest Rockefeller (Titan) was a better book than I originally thought.
It traces the lives (in broad brush strokes), of John D Rockefeller, the oil magnate, his philanthropist son, the philanthropists children (including Nelson and Withrop, who became governors (and Vice President in Nelson's case), and grandchildren.
Personally, while I don't dispute that the authors wanted to be fair and balanced, they ended up being fair and balanced in the same way that Fox News is fair and balanced (i.e. in name only). By the end it felt that they had a narrative that they wanted to tell (that money can screw you up, and that you can't but inherit elements of your past), and by damn they were going to tell it.
The result was that Winthrop, the first Republican Governor in Arkansas since Reconstruction is pitied, and not viewed as someone who actually achieved something quite remarkable (and I say that as a Democrat), while Nelson is almost held at the other end of the spectrum (at least until his Vice Presidential confirmation).
The other thing is that the book finishes in the late 1970s, with all of the third generation alive (with the exception of Winthrop), and as a result you're going to be left wondering what happened since the book closed.
So all in all, I was left feeling a bit blah by the book, and inclined to thing that the Ron Chernow's book of the oldest Rockefeller (Titan) was a better book than I originally thought.
July 29, 2013
Oy, so now I find there is a "part 2". The book was great because it is comprehensive and covers four generations. That is always what makes it a bit dry reading. A lot is dedicated to the intricate workings of the Rockefeller foundation - which is relevant, just a tad bit boring. How the family dealt with the money is a big story. It was actually a burden... so much money that one was forced to trust and deal with literally hundreds of people just to manage it. So, I guess I'll get "Part 2" now. UGH!
January 15, 2010
Eye-opening book. It really taught me a lot about American history and the Rockefeller's role in it. I also learned more about the symbiotic relationship between U.S. banking and politics. Pretty messed up.
December 13, 2009
Not as good as thier BIO on the Roosevvelts, I found it hard to care once they got past JD Rockefeller and JDII
September 4, 2014
a good fairly balanced book
October 2, 2011
made it thru about half. John D., John Jr., and the 5 brothers.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews