Roosevelt: Tarbell vs John D Rockefeller
14 year old girl vs Richest man on earth
Her mother was crying. Her dad's business was failing. You can't compete with the Standard Oil thet said. If you refuse to sell, you'll be crushed."Soon they would lose everything. How would they eat? Her mother thought. John D Rockefeller was putting a lot of people out of business. But what could a 14 year old girl do?
Ida would do what her had couldn't. Stand up to John D Rockefeller, the richest man in the works and restore justice to American business.
As she grew up, she wanted to be a scientist. She loved studying geology and botany. She was clever and did well at school. She took biology in college and was the only female in a class of 41 students. However, in 1900, women weren't allowed to be scientists and unlike the other students, she was denied a job in science purely because she was a woman.
So she used her investigation skills and became a writer. She got a job in France, where she wrote about science and new discoveries. She wrote popular books on Abraham Lincoln and Napoleon. Once her talents were well known, she got a job as a journalist for McClure's magazine in the USA.
Now that she was working for a popular American magazine, she wanted the world to know how and why Rockefeller was so rich. She wanted the world to know what Rockefeller had done to her father. Her own father warned her not to do it. "Don't do it Ida, they'll ruin the magazine."
She set about her investigation. She interviewed hundreds of people. People who work for Rockefeller, people that used to work for Rockefeller, people Rockefeller had put out of business and Rockefeller's own brother.
Ida uncovered the lengths Rockefeller had gone to and the dirty tactics he had employed in becoming so successful.
Rockefeller had used his large business to make special deals with the railroads. At the time, railroads were considered a public service. They were given land by the government in exchange for being impartial and helping all businesses equally. However, Rockefeller had negotiated rebates, money back for shipping his oil, a way for Rockefeller to get a cheaper rate than other competitors.
He held so much influence on the railroads that he could ask them to cancel other companies orders. They would treat other companies badly, putting them out of business.
Ida uncovered that Rockefeller had an extensive spy network. They'd tell Rockefeller the plans of his competitors and he'd use this information to put them out of business.
If a store refused to sell Rockefeller's oil, he'd pay someone to open up a rival store and sell things, including oil for dirt cheap. The purpose of the store wasn't to make a profit but only to put the rival store out of business.
Ida's articles were popular. The eyes of the nation were on Rockefeller. Many people resented Ida Tarbell and investigative journalists like her. Some people labeled them as 'mudrakers".
Rockefeller was initially dismissive of Tarbell's work. He thought that if he just ignored her, she'd go away. However, public opinion and progressive politicians had turned against him. They sought to control his power. They were afraid that a single man could hold so much power over the United States.
Enter Roosevelt
Roosevelt congratulated her. He fought for fairness and protect smaller competitors. Through the house of representatives, Roosevelt sought to level the playing field and force Rockefeller to play fair.
What about Roosevelt's life do you think made him want to stand up for the little guy?
Roosevelt tried to organize the house of representatives to investigate Rockefeller. When many politicians didn't want to, Roosevelt called an emergency meeting. He also told the newspapers about the letters his fellow Republicans in the Senate had received from Rockefeller. Rockefeller had gifted them money over the years and now he was asking a small favor, for them to interfere with the investigation into his company. The general public were outraged.
Rockefeller hid from reporters and court officials. He traveled from home to home, state by state to avoid being called to appear in court. His bodyguards protected him and roughed up anyone looking for him. After living that way for a year, he gave up and finally agreed to appear in court. Once in court, he avoided testimony by claiming not to know the answers to any questions.
The courts ruled that his monopoly was illegal and needed to be broken up immediately. The government created laws that forced future businesses to play fair. Today, businesses have to play fair and those that don't pay consequences.
Rockefeller would appeal the decision at the Supreme court but of the 9 judges, 8 supported the courts ruling and 1 said that it wasn't harsh enough.
Her mother was crying. Her dad's business was failing. You can't compete with the Standard Oil thet said. If you refuse to sell, you'll be crushed."Soon they would lose everything. How would they eat? Her mother thought. John D Rockefeller was putting a lot of people out of business. But what could a 14 year old girl do?
Ida would do what her had couldn't. Stand up to John D Rockefeller, the richest man in the works and restore justice to American business.
As she grew up, she wanted to be a scientist. She loved studying geology and botany. She was clever and did well at school. She took biology in college and was the only female in a class of 41 students. However, in 1900, women weren't allowed to be scientists and unlike the other students, she was denied a job in science purely because she was a woman.
So she used her investigation skills and became a writer. She got a job in France, where she wrote about science and new discoveries. She wrote popular books on Abraham Lincoln and Napoleon. Once her talents were well known, she got a job as a journalist for McClure's magazine in the USA.
Now that she was working for a popular American magazine, she wanted the world to know how and why Rockefeller was so rich. She wanted the world to know what Rockefeller had done to her father. Her own father warned her not to do it. "Don't do it Ida, they'll ruin the magazine."
She set about her investigation. She interviewed hundreds of people. People who work for Rockefeller, people that used to work for Rockefeller, people Rockefeller had put out of business and Rockefeller's own brother.
Ida uncovered the lengths Rockefeller had gone to and the dirty tactics he had employed in becoming so successful.
Rockefeller had used his large business to make special deals with the railroads. At the time, railroads were considered a public service. They were given land by the government in exchange for being impartial and helping all businesses equally. However, Rockefeller had negotiated rebates, money back for shipping his oil, a way for Rockefeller to get a cheaper rate than other competitors.
He held so much influence on the railroads that he could ask them to cancel other companies orders. They would treat other companies badly, putting them out of business.
Ida uncovered that Rockefeller had an extensive spy network. They'd tell Rockefeller the plans of his competitors and he'd use this information to put them out of business.
If a store refused to sell Rockefeller's oil, he'd pay someone to open up a rival store and sell things, including oil for dirt cheap. The purpose of the store wasn't to make a profit but only to put the rival store out of business.
Ida's articles were popular. The eyes of the nation were on Rockefeller. Many people resented Ida Tarbell and investigative journalists like her. Some people labeled them as 'mudrakers".
Rockefeller was initially dismissive of Tarbell's work. He thought that if he just ignored her, she'd go away. However, public opinion and progressive politicians had turned against him. They sought to control his power. They were afraid that a single man could hold so much power over the United States.
Enter Roosevelt
Roosevelt congratulated her. He fought for fairness and protect smaller competitors. Through the house of representatives, Roosevelt sought to level the playing field and force Rockefeller to play fair.
What about Roosevelt's life do you think made him want to stand up for the little guy?
Roosevelt tried to organize the house of representatives to investigate Rockefeller. When many politicians didn't want to, Roosevelt called an emergency meeting. He also told the newspapers about the letters his fellow Republicans in the Senate had received from Rockefeller. Rockefeller had gifted them money over the years and now he was asking a small favor, for them to interfere with the investigation into his company. The general public were outraged.
Rockefeller hid from reporters and court officials. He traveled from home to home, state by state to avoid being called to appear in court. His bodyguards protected him and roughed up anyone looking for him. After living that way for a year, he gave up and finally agreed to appear in court. Once in court, he avoided testimony by claiming not to know the answers to any questions.
The courts ruled that his monopoly was illegal and needed to be broken up immediately. The government created laws that forced future businesses to play fair. Today, businesses have to play fair and those that don't pay consequences.
Rockefeller would appeal the decision at the Supreme court but of the 9 judges, 8 supported the courts ruling and 1 said that it wasn't harsh enough.
Monopolies," he declared, are "inconsistent with our form of government. . . . If we will not endure a king as a political power, we should not endure a king over the production, transportation, and sale of any of the necessaries of life. If we would not submit to an emperor, we should not submit to an autocrat of trade . . . ." - John Sherman
Henry Clay Frick, the steel baron, complained, ''We bought the son of a bitch, and then he didn't stay bought. '
Conclusion
She did not condemn capitalism itself, but "the open disregard of decent ethical business practices by capitalists." About Standard Oil, she wrote: "They had never played fair, and that ruined their greatness for me."
Conclusion
She did not condemn capitalism itself, but "the open disregard of decent ethical business practices by capitalists." About Standard Oil, she wrote: "They had never played fair, and that ruined their greatness for me."
As the Bible says, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
What's more important? What you achieve or how you achieve it? Is it about how much money you have or how you live?
The questions that faced Teddy Roosevelt still face us today. With companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google growing at rapid speeds. How big can a company be? When does the government step in? Can Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk become as powerful as the democratically elected president?
Amazon made 469 billion in 2022 – ranked with GDP of countries, Amazon would be the 33rd richest country in the world. Richer than Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Greece, and over 160 other countries. Amazon made more money in 2022 than Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia, Lithuania and Croatia combined. With a company that big, they are going to hold a certain amount of power. Local state and national politics are going to seek to make them happy in order to keep them loyal. Many companies have threatened to leave certain territories if the politics don’t match up with their expectations.
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