A New War Begins
Cornelius Vanderbilt grows from a steamboat entrepreneur to the head of a railroad empire, and gets into a heated rivalry with Jim Fisk and Jay Gould; the up and coming John D. Rockefeller founds Standard Oil. Many business owners lay their own rail lines which leads to the Panic of 1873. Later, Rockefeller starts to expand his wealth by diverting his business from the railroads to a new innovation, oil pipelines.
Just five days after the end of the Cival War, The President Lincoln is the final of the six hundred thousand deaths in Americas's bloodiest conflict. The country is devided and the world looks at American democracy as a failed experiment. But what most don't realize is that a new era has dawned. The nation is entering an age of advancement, and from the void left by the death of perhaps the greatest statement we will ever know, a new breed of leader will emerge.
The Rockefellers, the Fords, the Carnegies were the first generation of what we know as now the entrepreneurial rock stars, of what are today are the Buffets, and the Jobs, and the Gates. They were the one that set the standard for the American dream. They owned a new frontier -- literally and figuratively -- of who we are a cultrure. Men of inside, innovation, and ingenuity, the likes of which the world has never seen, and over the next five decades, this small group will change history, propelling the United States of America to greatness. These were great men with a vision that nobody else had. And that's why in last century -- that fifty years period -- we build the world.
VANDERBILT - ROCKEFELLER - CARNIGIES - J.P. MORGAN - FORD
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SAVE MY SOUL (Blue Saraceno)
When I got to Memphis
To put my ol' baby down
He said, "I can't take you to Heaven"
"I can't save your soul"
"I can't promise forever"
Whoa, yeah, got my heart in your hands.
I can't feel
"Feel my soul"
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New York City 1865.
For the first time in the country's short existence, the man most capable of leading America is not a politican. He's a self-made man, who, through sheer force of will, turned a poor upbringing on the docks of New York Harbor, into an impire.
Forty years earlier. At sixteen, Cornelius Vanderbilt, buy a small ferry boat with a one hundred dollar loan. He quickly earns a reputation as a cutthroat businessman, willing to use any means necessary to get ahead.
Back then, it was just pure competition. My brain against your brain. My effort against your effort. You just competed. That's the way they looked at business. It was the Wild, Wild West, and by hook or crook, it was just win or lose, and the best win.
He was a tough boy. Getting into scraps with other men, beating the hell out of them and knocking them unconscious. That competitive streak, and that toughness, very much defined his character.
His single ferry soon becomes a fleet of ships, transporting gods and passengers to every corner of the growing country. Vanderbilt will become so symnonymous with shipping that his nickname becomes "The Commodore".
I think Vanderbilt recognized that what was going to be important is transporting goods from one place to another. And he had this idea that required infrastucture, and hot infrastructure the government was going to provide, but that he was going to provide.
Over the next forty years, Vanderbilt builds the largest shipping empire in the world. Then, at the peak of his power, just before the Civil War, he does the unthinkable.
Work is under way on the first Transcontinental Railroad, and the Commodore realizes that its completion will transform America, slashing cross-country travel time by months.
Railroad were absolutely liberating, becoause railroads allowes cheap and effecient transportation from one corner of America to another.
Vanderbilt sees his future. He sells all of his ships and invests everthing he has in railroads.
You talk about seeing around corners as an element of success. That's what differentiates a good leader. Not many people have it. Note many people can predict that corner. That is a characteristic of great leaders.
He dicision to invest heavily in rail pays off. By the end of the war, Vanderbilt is the richest man in America, with a net worth of over sixty-eight million dollars, the equivalent of seventy-five billion today. But all that money can't buy his escape from the war's devastation.
New York City 1866.
In the wake of the Civil War, a country mourns publicly, while Vanderbilt does so privately. The first card is the past, the second is the present, and the third is the future. There has been an unexpected loss. Someone close to you. My son, George. He died in the war. What about the future? The chariot. There will be a war. The war's over. No. Your war is about to begin. Watch it man. Tormented by the loss of his favorite son, Vanderbilt's empire is more vulnerable than ever before.
For Vanderbilt, this is a great tragedy. He had one son, who had that same sense of physical strength and ability, and he had died when he was still quite young. It was deeply troubling for the Commodore. For years,Vanderbilt groomed George to take over the family business. Now, the Commodore is forced to rely on his less accomplished son, William.
I'm making you operations director of the Hudson Railroad. Vanderbilt places William in the midst of negotiations with the owners of a rival railroad.
So name your price. If you give us your freight, year round, we will give you the privilege of allowing your passengers access into Manhattan for two hundred thousand. That privilege is not worth two hundred thousand. Then let us settle on one hundred thousand? I believe that to be a fair and generous offer. I'm not really interested in your generosity. I'm only interested in getting the best deal for my shareholders. And that does not include handing over one hundred thousand dollars, or even one dollar. My father wants only what he believes is right. The trouble is, your father doesn't know what is right. The old man should be put out to pasture.
The message is clear. The competition no longer sees Vandebilt as a man to fear.
People are always rooting for very successful people to fail. The day people are not taking shots as you means you're not on top anymore.
But where they see weakness, the Commodore sees an opportunity to assert his dominance, and teach William what it means to be a Vanderbilt. If they want a war. I'll give them a war. Vanderbilt owns the only rail bridge into New York City. It's the getway to the country's largest port, supplying the entire continent. Vanderbilt knows this is the hammer he needs to beat his rivals into submission. Sit down. I want you to close the Albany Bridge. Without the bridge, every other railroad is shut out of New York City.
Vanderbilt, in essence, single-handedly erected a blockkade around the nation's largest city, cutting it off from contact with the rest of the contry. He was now asserting his dominance.
Ladies and Gentlemans, this train will not be going any farther! We're gonna watch them bleed.
The Cival War has left America in ruins. For the first time in its history, the nation must rebuild. Over fifty-thousand miles of railroad track have transformed the country. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt grew up poor, but has created a railroad empire, making him the richest man in the country. At 72, he's thirty years past the average life expectancy, and his competitors see him as weak. This is a mistake they'll come to regret. Locked in a battle for control of the rail lines east of the Mississippi, the Commodore is holding nothing back. If I want to close the Albany Bridge. We're gonna watch them bleed.
Vanderbilt controls the only bridge into New York City, America's busiest port. Seizing an opportunity, he sets up a blockade. This train will not going any farther! Shutting the bridge leaves millions of pounds of cargo unable to reach the rest of the country, slowly bleeds his compettiors dry. Before the stock is worthless, the president of the rival railroad try to sell all their shares. Word quickly reaches Wall Street, triggering a massive sell-off. Come on, put some money in that. Come on. New York Central shares are dropping fast. How low? $20 a share. Buy everything you can.
Vanderbilt was buying all of that stock that suddenly flooded the market at rock-bottom prices. Three aces. Ooh, that's good. In just days, Vanderbilt takes cotrol of the rival railroad, creating the largest single rail company in America.
