John D. Rockefeller

The Rockefeller Archive CenterJohn D. Rockefeller in 1885Soon, a middle-class boy, son of a semi-successful businessman would rise up and become the wealthiest and most powerful man in America. Who was John Davison Rockefeller? He was an entrepreneur and the richest American to ever live (PragerU). John D. Rockefeller, through the business of refining oil with his company Standard Oil, he amassed a wealth of over 340 billion dollars (PragerU). However, he didn’t start out this way. “John Davison Rockefeller was born on 8 July 1839, in Richford, New York, to Eliza Davison and William Avery Rockefeller. His father owned a farm and traded commodities, such as salt and lumber. The family, which included John's older sister, two younger sisters, and two younger brothers, moved frequently: first to Moravia, New York; then to Owego, New York; and finally, to Cleveland, Ohio. John's education was irregular, but he studied hard and did have two years at Cleveland High School. His father, who by that time had become a wandering vendor of patent medicine, encouraged him to go into business. John especially liked mathematics, and he took a three-month course in bookkeeping at Folsom's Commercial College” ("John D. Rockefeller"). His education didn’t stop there, John found a job as a bookkeeper at the age of 16, where he learned about the business world. From there, he kept expanding until later when he went on to create the company known as Standard Oil ("John D. Rockefeller"). A hero must be shrewd and clever (wit), have a good heart and the will to persevere. Someone with a good heart is one who acts out of the intention to benefit from others. To persevere is to maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, or to persist in anything tried. John D. Rockefeller’s wit allowed him to give generously. This along with the will to persevere makes him a hero.

One of John D. Rockefeller’s most essential heroic values was having the will to persevere. This meant that every challenge that faced him, he would take on. Even early on in Rockefeller’s business career, he was hitting roadblock after roadblock, and kept going around them ("John D. Rockefeller"). At the age of about 22, Rockefeller was drafted by the U.S.A to fight in the Civil War (“John D. Rockefeller”). Instead of running the risk of dying, he simply paid someone to serve for him. This may not show him courageous, however, it demonstrates how he refused to give up his dream and kept fighting to reach his goal. “After three and a half years {of working as a bookkeeper}, he left to form his own wholesale grain and grocery business with Maurice B. Clark. Together, the two had only four thousand dollars; during their first year, however, they grossed $450,000 and netted {only} a fourteen-hundred-dollar profit. The following year, the Civil War began. The war gave Rockefeller, along with a number of other leading postwar industrialists, the opportunity to make his initial pile of money. Business at Cleveland-based Clark and Rockefeller boomed with major orders coming in from the army, other cities, and Europe. Rather than miss these business opportunities fighting in the Civil War, Rockefeller avoided the draft by paying for a substitute to fight in his place” ("John D. Rockefeller"). To achieve a goal, one must be attentive and ready for any opportunity that will provide some sort of leverage to obtain their goal. This is not always easy because things like environmental factors will often get in the way or distract the pursuer from pursuing his goal. Rockefeller was taught from an early age to give and to help the community. He would donate to blacks and whites alike and would even donate when not banking billions.  When he was 16, he would donate to his local Baptist church because from an early age he was taught to give (PragerU). “John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), the recognized patriarch of the Rockefeller family that grew to prominence over the course of a century and a half, both through its business interests and its massive philanthropic efforts, was not born to great wealth. But he was born with a sense of commitment to others. Even while a teenager, the future oil magnate donated money from his first paychecks to his church, influenced in large part by his mother, Eliza, a devout Baptist who taught her children the value of hard work, saving money and giving to charity” (“Huso, Deborah R.”). The characteristic of giving was taught at an early age for Rockefeller. He would even donate money when he wasn't wealthy. This was a setback in the sense that he was not reaping all the profits of everything he made. This was significant in his journey for dominance because the more money one has when starting a company, the easier it is to compete. The more money a startup company obtains, the greater the chance is that it will succeed. With a portion of Rockefeller’s income going to charity, he had to push past the struggle. Rockefeller saw opportunity in refining oil into kerosine. In 1870 in Columbus Ohio, at the age of 31, he founded a new company by the name of Standard Oil. The name came from the idea that his product set the standard for kerosine, the substance used to light lanterns (History.com). Once creating an unstoppable force of a company, Rockefeller crushed and bought all competitors no matter how big or small (History.com). However, this caught the eye of the United States government. “On January 6th, {1911} the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Standard Oil Trust was in violation of federal laws which prohibited the restraint of trade. Chief Justice Edward White ruled that standard oil would have to be divided up” (History.com). Rockefeller's company had grown to be so large, that the United States government ended up having to divide Standard Oil into smaller companies on charges that essentially he had a monopoly. Ironically, for Rockefeller this actually had a beneficial effect regarding John’s overall wealth because he now had massive amounts of shares in each of the smaller companies. Despite societal setbacks and the world wanting to crush one beneath its foot, seemingly bad events can have positive outcomes. The will to persevere allowed Rockefeller to blow past his competition.

Rockefeller’s wit allowed his generosity to flourish. He was able to give nearly half of his wealth away because of how much money he made (PragerU). Rockefeller had many outstanding feats of philanthropy. This was because of his massive economic power. Rockefeller nearly single-handedly led the industrial revolution. “One of Rockefeller's main contributions was in devising ways to structure this economic power. In 1882 Rockefeller and his associates established the first trust in the United States, which consolidated all of the company's assets under the New York Company, in which Rockefeller was the major shareholder. The 30 companies in the trust controlled 80 percent of the refineries and 90 percent of the oil pipelines in the country” (“Standard Oil Company”). John D Rockefeller was an ingenious businessman who had the knowledge and capability to dominate the market whenever he could. Rockefeller wasn’t born smart, no one is. However, not everyone learns with each chance he/she gets. His perseverance paid off later in his career. However, success breeds contempt. At one point, John D. Rockefeller was considered to be “the most hated man in America” (PragerU). To improve his public image, he organized Standard Oil Trust. “In 1882, he organized the Standard Oil Trust...It was the mechanism by which monopolies were created. What Rockefeller did with all of his oil companies, he in a sense folded them into the standard trust that ended up owning all of the shares of these companies.” (Dr. Tony Spiva). The Standard Oil Trust also bought massive amounts of shares of other oil companies so that he could get richer. Again for Rockefeller, it was worth the sacrifice since his wealth would allow him to become one of the biggest and most renowned philanthropists in American history. Thereby changing societies view on him (PragerU).  Indeed, it is easier to donate when you have hundreds of billions of dollars; that’s the reason I consider Rockefeller such a great hero. He got rich, then made as big a difference to the world in a positive way before dying. All races, black or white, were at the receiving end of Rockefeller's generosity. He put a significant amount of money into education benefits. “And in 1903, he established the General Education Board, spending $129 million on the initiative, to promote education without consideration of sex, race or religion” (“Huso, Deborah R.”). Many of John D. Rockefeller's memorable achievements revolved around his philanthropy. He believed that if a man were to die wealthy, he/she would be a selfish disgrace (History.com). Although the reason for his donations may have not been the noblest of causes, he did good with his money, he helped people. With the wit to make money and the heart of a giver, John D. Rockefeller was arguably the greatest American philanthropist.

To be a hero you must have the characteristics of one, such as possessing wit, a good heart, and the will to persevere. A good heart means that your intentions are pure, or at least in your own eyes. Nothing will stand in the way between you and your goal. John D. Rockefeller stood for helping others, freedom, and America. John D. Rockefeller, nearly single-handedly, was responsible for the creation of the middle class. He paid workers a livable wage and donated, even when he had little money. (PragerU) Rockefeller was the first in America to create cheap and reliable kerosene for all. His business revolutionized the United States as we know it. Even with a monopoly and the ability to do virtually anything, he chose to do good with his life and inspire others to do the same. In the year 1937, Rockefeller passed away with the legacy of a hero (PragerU). Normal people in the world have good intentions or at least good intentions from their point of view. Most can agree that having the characteristics of generosity and the will to persevere is “good”. These are all values that Rockefeller possessed. There may have been cons to his overall character, but the point remains that his values and actions make him a hero.

Works Cited

Editors, History.com. “John D. Rockefeller: Oil, Money and Power.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 May 2012, www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/john-d-rockefeller-oil-money-and-power-video.

“Huso, Deborah R.” "Legacy of giving: the Rockefeller family has made sharing their wealth a generation-to-generation commitment." Success, Sept. 2010, p. 82+. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A235205014/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=789cee01. Accessed 17 Jan. 2019.

"John D. Rockefeller." American Decades, edited by Judith S. Baughman, et al., Gale, 1998. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1602000586/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=2cfc1c82. Accessed 18 Jan. 2019.

“Rockefeller: The Richest American Who Ever Lived.” PragerU, 4 Oct. 2015, www.prageru.com/videos/rockefeller-richest-american-who-ever-lived.

"Standard Oil Company." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk, Gale, 1999. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ1667500659/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=2d7dd88e. Accessed 14 Jan. 2019.