All language subtitles for The Men Who Built America Part 4 - When One Ends, Another Begins [2012] [720p] [BluRay].en

- NARRATOR: Previously
on the men who built America...

Fighting back from the
bloodshed of the Civil War,

America has grown into one
of the most powerful countries

on the planet

fuelled by a group

of visionaries who
are building a better future.

Vanderbilt stopped at
nothing to connect

the nation via railroads.

- If they want a War--
I'll give them a war.

- NARRATOR: Rockefeller
used his trademark

ruthlessness to light
homes from coast to coast...

- But what about the
Pittsburgh refineries?

- Shut them down.

- NARRATOR: Cities are
expanding to the sky

built on the strength of
Andrew Carnegie's steel.

- It's impossible.

- Nothing's impossible.

- NARRATOR: And under
J.P. Morgan's control,

electricity is starting
to power the country.

- EDISON: Long live
the electric light.

- (laughter)

- (applause)

- MORGAN: We're in the
early days of a new industry.

- NARRATOR: In just 35
short years the nation

has changed faster than
anyone could imagine.

But the incredible advancements
come with a price.

- All those in favor of
striking, raise your hand!

- NARRATOR: An undercurrent of
anger is growing...

- Fire!

- (gun fires)

- NARRATOR: And many...
- Mr. Frick...

- NARRATOR: are looking
to take back control

of the country

but America's
most powerful Titans

believe they
answer to no one.

- I've heard enough.

This is what's
going to happen.

The Morgan bank...

- NARRATOR: And with a
Presidential election

on the horizon their next
move will shock the world.

- (Blues Saraceno playing
"Save My Soul")

♪ When I got to Memphis ♪

♪ I put my old
baby down ♪

♪ He said I can't
take you to Heaven ♪

♪ I can't save
your soul ♪

♪ I can't promise
forever ♪

♪ Whoo ♪

♪ With my heart
in your hands ♪

♪ I can't feel,
fell my soul ♪

- NARRATOR: After inheriting
and expanding his father's

banking empire J.P. Morgan

is now among the
most powerful man in the nation.

His influence over the
country is matched

by only two other men.

Andrew Carnegie and John
D Rockefeller

have been rivals for decades
and that competition

has driven both men to
incredible heights.

At the peak of
their power, J.P. Morgan,

John Rockefeller
and Andrew Carnegie

are worth the modern
equivalent

of over $1 trillion dollars
combined.

More than the entire
net worth

of the 40 richest people
alive today.

- The wealth, then,
was like royalty.

It was just a
different thing.

They literally
controlled the country.

When you're talking about
a guy like Rockefeller,

who was literally
1% of the economy,

it's stunning to
think about that.

It is almost
incomprehensible.

- NARRATOR: But
while Carnegie,

Rockefeller and Morgan
continue to get richer,

others are
struggling to get by.

The gap between the rich
and the poor

is as big as it's ever been.

Over 90% ofAmericans
survive on less than $100

dollars per month, while
the average worker earns

barely a dollar a day--
well below the poverty line.

Working conditions in
factories across

the country are
almost unbearable.

In a single year, one out
of every 11 steel workers

will die while on the job.

As the country approaches
the 1896 Presidential

election, America's poor
are desperate and without hope.

One man sees the
opportunity to harness

their anger and in the
process propel himself

to the White House--
William Jennings Bryan.

Bryan runs on a ticket
promising equality

for all, vowing to be
a voice for the poor

and to take the fight
to the country's elite.

- The great combinations
of capital have encroached

upon the rights
of the masses.

No man can earn a
million dollars honestly.

- (applause)

- He made himself the
spokesman for the common man.

He was the Great Commoner.

There's no doubt that he
tapped into something

that was vital to most
Americans

that were not well off.

- Republicans endeavor to
overthrow and discredit

all who honestly
administer the law

and to allow every wrong doer
to operate unchecked

as long as he has
enough money.

- The monopolies, the
trusts became a target

of Democrats, so that
anti-trust became

a rallying cry of everybody
who was--well not seen

as in the hip pocket of the
corporations themselves.

- I will tear
down these trusts.

Do you hear me, Carnegie?

Do you hear me,
Rockefeller?

- (applause)

- NARRATOR: Bryan's
emergence is the biggest

threat the Titans
have ever faced.

He promises to dismantle
their companies and to not rest

until they're
behind bars.

- CARNEGIE: This is
William Jennings Bryan

at a recent Democrat rally.

He's a prohibitionist and
a devout Presbyterian.

According to him, Darwin's
theory of evolution

is a pack of lies.

He's an enemy of the gold
standard and an enemy

of big business.

It is certain that he will win
the Democratic nomination.

What do you think?

- The Republican party
has a good candidate.

- No. We have to have
to buy our own president.

- They took advantage
of the strengths.

When you have, you know,
what relatively speaking

is an unlimited
amount of money,

you can pay people to do
almost anything for you.

- NARRATOR: Desperate
to protect the empires

they've spent their
lifetimes building

the titans throw their
full support

behind the candidacy of
Ohio Governor,

William McKinley.

- William McKinley's
campaign manager was

an industrialist
himself and he went,

essentially hat in
head, around Wall Street

"dunning them".

Saying, "if McKinley
doesn't win,

that crazy man Bryant will
be President and if Bryan

is President, don't you
realize what that is going

to do to the credibility
of the United States

around the world?"

- NARRATOR: The Titans
weld more power than any group

of men in American history

and they're about to use it.

- Much appreciated.

This is McKinley's speech
that he'll be giving

at the Republican convention.

- Make sure he
sees it in time.

- Understood.

- NARRATOR: Rockefeller,
Morgan and Carnegie each

give over $200,000
to McKinley.

The equivalent of $20
million dollars today.

The campaign is, by far,
the most expensive

in American history and
McKinley outspent Bryan

by a factor of five to one.

But they don't just
fund their candidate.

The group wields
tremendous influence

and they aren't shy
about using it.

Suggesting headlines and
orchestrating PR campaigns

that end up getting
McKinley elected.

- It was easier to buy the
publicity that you wanted

in those days,
than it is now.

The news media was a
smaller market and it was easier

to feed information
to your favorite

correspondents than
it probably is now.

- NARRATOR: Bryan
fights back.

He undertakes the
country's

first whistle-stop press tour.

Cross-crossing the nation
and talking directly

to the people.

The tour becomes the model
for the way Presidential

Bryan gives over 500
speeches to huge crowds

across the country.

- I will put rings in
the noses of these hogs.

- NARRATOR: Publicly
attacking the nation's richest

and most powerful
men and vowing to usher

in a whole new era.

As Bryan's campaign
gains traction,

the nation's leading
industrialists turn

to fear tactics.

- Many big employers--
many big industrialists

said, "if Bryan
wins this election,

business is going to be so
bad we're simply closing shop.

So, if Bryan wins
on election Tuesday,

don't bother showing up
for work on the next day

because there
won't be jobs."

Well, if you're a worker
and this is something that

confronts you, you're
going to think very

seriously--even if you
had been intending to vote

for Bryan, which
way does...

maybe your heart
leans towards Bryant,

but where does your
pocketbook point?

- NARRATOR: On election
day the lines are drawn.

It's Wall Street
versus Main Street,

rich versus poor.

- One of the things of an
evolving society is that--

is the wealth distribution
and it's clear that we

argue about today has a
corner in every politics.

Is it better with wealth
in the hands of a few,

versus distributing
among the many,

whether from a moral or
an economic point of view.

- NARRATOR: 90% of
eligible voters go

to the polls, roughly double
recent turnouts.

- In the 1890s voting was
a public act and on one

side there was the
Republican ballot box

and on the other side was the
Democratic ballot box.

And so your foreman or
an agent of your foreman

could see who
you voted for.

So there was a certain
coercion that was employed

by the Republicans upon
those urban workers.

They might well have
decided what they decided

on their own but this
simply made it easier

for them to decide that.

- NARRATOR: When
the polls close,

the nation's future
hangs in the balance.

For 20 long
hours Carnegie,

Morgan and Rockefeller
agonize over the results.

Not knowing whether the
modern country they helped

to build will still
be the same

when all the ballots
are counted.

America is at
a crossroads.

A small group of men
have created the modern

country, building
unimagined empires in oil,

steel and electricity.

But now, those empires
are being threatened.

People across the country
are demanding change.

Outraged over what they
see as corrupt business

practices and unbearable
conditions for workers.

The 1896 US Presidential
election is the

battleground to determine
the future of the nation

and the Titans have done
everything they can

to make sure the election
goes their way.

As America goes to the
polls, Andrew Carnegie,

J.P. Morgan and John
Rockefeller are forced to wait.

Ultimately, this decision
lies in the hands

of the American people.

The country is divided.

Democrat William Jennings
Bryant carries the rural

South and Mid-West.

While Ohio Governor,
William McKinley,

takes the big
money North East.

As the results are tallied
the nation holds its breath.

Until, finally, a
President is chosen.

- NARRATOR: Rockefeller,
Carnegie and Morgan

have dodged a bullet.

The country remains
in their control.

With McKinley in office
they're free to conduct

business in the way
they've become accustomed.

- MAURY KLEIN: After
McKinley's election

a number of the issues
that had bothered

the big businessmen
conveniently went away.

He was a man who was
in his philosophy,

in his approach to
politics very much

in sympathy with them.

- NARRATOR: McKinley
rules back regulation

and profits once
again skyrocket.

It's back to business
as usual and Carnegie,

Rockefeller and Morgan are
set to become even more powerful

than ever before.

They've defeated their
common enemy

and with that ultimate
goal achieved

their uneasy alliance
begins to fray.

Rockefeller is the
first to break ranks.

- Because Rockefeller, because
Carnegie were so wealthy,

because they had
so much money--they had

more money than they could
probably reinvest

in their own companies--
they were looking

for things to invest in.

- NARRATOR: John
Rockefeller learns

of a massive deposit of iron
ore in Northern Minnesota.

The primary material used
in production of steel.

Rockefeller knows little
about the steel business.

What he does know is that
Andrew Carnegie is the

biggest steel producer in
the world and that this is

his chance to beat his
long time rival at his own game.

- If you were a well-run
company competing against

other well-run companies
you're coming up

with ideas to jump them.

You're thinking
they might do this,

I'm going to do this.

It's not a big
complicated thing.

- Rockefeller is a fool.

- How so?

- Should we be worried?

- No.

You can buy iron ore
anywhere and the ore from

the Mesabi Mountains
is like dust.

It clogs the
blast furnaces.

No steel producer in his
right mind would buy it.

- (dynamite explosion)

- NARRATOR: But
Carnegie is wrong.

Steel manufacturers
quickly figure out how

to use the iron ore and
Rockefeller immediately

begins supplying it to
Carnegie's competitors

at rock bottom prices.

- There are many people
who either work

for Carnegie knew how to make
steel, could figure out,

well if I could raise a
little bit of money

maybe I could start my own
steel company and price it

just a little bit lower
than Carnegie.

And guess what?

Customers will come to
me to buy their steel.

- NARRATOR: As the
competition heats up

Carnegie's customers
begin to flee.

The impact is devastating.

In just months Carnegie's
profits begin to crater.

Sensing weakness
Rockefeller devises

a daring scheme.

He's going to build
a steel plant.

One to rival anything
Andrew Carnegie has ever built.

But Carnegie knows he
can't let that happen.

- Carnegie is determined

that nobody is going
to take his place.

He's going to
build new plants,

he's going to destroy--
if Rockefeller goes

into steel he'll destroy him.

Carnegie calls a meeting.

Hoping to intimidate
Rockefeller into staying

out of the steel business.

But Rockefeller didn't
become the richest man

in American history by
cowering in fear.

- CARNEGIE: Mr.
Rockefeller.

- ROCKEFELLER:
Mr. Carnegie.

- You don't want to
negotiate with me.

I am a great negotiator.

I know I
intimidate people.

I understand that.

I get it, and I
understand why,

and I don't want to
intimidate anybody,

unless they
try to hurt me.

Then I hurt them back.

- NARRATOR: Their rivalry
has lasted for decades

but now--for the first
time ever--Carnegie

and Rockefeller are
locking horns directly.

The negotiations last for
months and neither man

is willing to give in.

- Negotiating
is a real art.

It's an art and a
great negotiator,

is like a great surgeon, and
the--they're very, very rare.

You don't see it often.

- NARRATOR: Rockefeller has
already made a fortune in oil.

His investment
in steel

is just a small part
of his portfolio.

- CARLY FIORINA: You have
to be willing to walk away.

You have to be
willing to walk away.

And people who won't
walk away from a deal,

in my experience, end
up making bad deals.

- NARRATOR: Carnegie knows
he has little choice.

In order to stay on top,
he needs to do whatever

it takes to keep
Rockefeller out of steel.

- CARNEGIE: I will buy
the entire output of your mines.

In return, you will
renounce your decision

to construct a steel mill.

- ROCKEFELLER: Agreed.

- They both knew that at
some point they would have

to reach a deal in which neither
got everything he wanted.

But neither got
destroyed in the process.

Rockefeller and
Carnegie, in the end,

were smart enough to know
that they were both

too big to get into a battle.

- NARRATOR: The agreement
is one of the most satisfying

of Rockefeller's career.

He's forced his biggest
rival to hand over

a fortune in exchange for an
iron ore mine he never had

much interest in owning.

Rockefeller may have
gotten the better

of Carnegie but their deal
has drawn the attention

of another rival who
envisions something even bigger.

America has expanded more
in the last three decades

than any country on Earth.

Covering the breadth
of the continent,

its prosperity
is built on oil,

steel and electricity.

John D. Rockefeller, Andrew
Carnegie and J.P. Morgan

amassed
mind-boggling fortunes

and became targets.

But after teaming up to put
their man in the White House,

they're now free
to do whatever they want.

- Every great business
leader I've ever met,

in addition to being
very smart, very driven,

they have this
"Why not me?

Screw it. I deserve it.
Let's go."

And if you don't have that you
can't achieve greatness.

- NARRATOR: J.P. Morgan

has risen to power
by consolidating broken

industries and
eliminating competition,

and after Carnegie's deal
with Rockefeller,

he sees the potential to
apply his model

to the steel business.

- Morgan had much more
power than he had wealth

and he understood that he
could have more influence

over the economy
than Rockefeller,

than Carnegie, than
just about anybody else.

And he used this to pursue his
vision of the American economy.

- NARRATOR: Morgan's years
of deal making have left

him with a controlling
interest in companies

ranging from
manufacturing, to mining,

to railroads.

One industry brings all
those others together--steel.

- J.P. Morgan believes
that some individual

has to bring sense and has
to bring order to American

capitalism.

Morgan wants to end the
cutthroat competition in steel

and the only way
to do that is to bring

together the competitors
into one new company.

- NARRATOR: If Morgan
can consolidate steel,

he could potentially
create the largest

corporate empire
in the world.

But do to that, J.P. Morgan

will need to pull
off his biggest

and most daring move yet--
a complete takeover

ofAndrew Carnegie's empire.

Morgan's timing
is impeccable.

Carnegie, after years
of bruising battles,

is questioning his future.

- Carnegie knew that as
long as he wanted to,

he could continue to
reign supreme in steel.

He didn't know that he
wanted to keep fighting

for the rest of his life.

- NARRATOR: Morgan knows

he can't go after
Carnegie directly.

He needs another way in.

So he sets up a meeting
with Carnegie's right-hand

man, Charles Schwab.

- How long have your
worked for Carnegie?

- Over 1 5 years.

- I guess he'd hate
it if you left.

- No one is indispensable.

- You've doubled profits
at Carnegie Steel every

year for the past 5 years.

- Times have been good.

Carnegie is a
very easy boss.

- What if you were
your own boss?

- Of what?

- I am going to
buy Carnegie Steel.

And you are going
to be President

of the world's largest company.

- With all due
respect, Mr. Morgan,

Carnegie would kill
your idea at birth.

Carnegie would never sell.

- Everyone has
their price.

You just have to
find out what it is.

CARNEGIE: Did you
know, Charles,

that the game of golf
was invented in Scotland?

- I did not.

So, do they treat you like
a king when you return

home to Scotland?

- I suppose they do.

- And then you came to
America and became a king--

of industry.

You created your
own destiny.

- Destiny is not a
matter of chance.

It's a matter of choice.

- Exactly.

Quote from Shakespeare?

- No.

William Jennings
Bryan said it.

And we three kings of
industry have robbed him

of his destiny.

- Yeah.
For the greater good.

To create more wealth.

- Only if that wealth is
used for the benefit of mankind.

- You know, if you were
to sell Carnegie Steel,

you could spend the rest
of your life benefiting mankind.

- Alas, there is not one
person in the world

with enough money to
buy Carnegie Steel.

- Save J.P. Morgan.

Supposing Morgan
did want to buy.

What would be your price?

- Carnegie wasn't gonna do any
price haggling with Morgan.

Carnegie writes done four
hundred and eighty million

on a piece of paper.

It's the equivalent of
four hundred billion today.

More than Gates and
Buffet together.

NARRATOR: Carnegie
has dared J.P. Morgan

to buy him out
for an outrageous price.

A sum that is higher
than the entire budget

of the U.S. Federal Government.

- I have a price.

- NARRATOR: America
is on the move.

After decades of
unprecedented growth,

the country has emerged
as one of the leading

industrial powers
in the world.

J.P. Morgan has consolidated
business for years

and now he's set his sights on
Andrew Carnegie's steel empire.

Hoping to take it over
and create a monopoly in steel.

But Carnegie has spent
a lifetime building his company,

rising from
nothing to become

one of the most powerful
men in America.

Convincing him to sell
will take an astronomical

amount of money.

- I have a price.

- Have Carnegie
come and meet me.

Tell him the answer's yes.

- CARNEGIE: I believe
that's the earliest

in the day that I've ever
drunk champagne.

- Congratulations,
Carnegie.

You're now the richest
man in the world.

- Would you have
said yes, Morgan,

if I had asked for
$100 million more?

- Goodbye, Carnegie.

- NARRATOR: For 30 years
Andrew Carnegie

has battled John D. Rockefeller
for the title

ofAmerica's richest man

and now he's finally
surpassed him.

The deal gives Carnegie a
personal net worth

of $310 billion dollars
in today's money.

The largest private
fortune the modern world

has ever seen.

- Initially there is
this enormous let down.

He can't quite believe now
that he has no connection

with Pittsburgh
or his mills.

That there is no
Carnegie Steel anymore

and I think it's hard for him
to get used to that.

- If somebody accepts
the ask too quickly,

then you think there
was more room there.

But I never like
to look back.

I'm a very forward
thinking person

and a very positive thinking
person, and the transactions

that I did, or did not do,
I very rarely have

any remorse over a situation.

I like to move on.

- NARRATOR: J.P. Morgan calls
his new company, U.S. Steel.

It's instantly the biggest
corporation in the world.

The first company in
history to be worth more

than 1 billion dollars and
it will dominate the steel

business for
almost 100 years,

virtually unchallenged.

But the creation
of U.S. Steel

is only possible in this
new era of unchecked monopolies.

An era Morgan helped
create when he and his rivals

put their President
in the White House.

They may have helped
to buy the President,

but they can't avoid
politics forever.

Their power over
the nation's biggest

industries soon catches
the attention

of an emerging politician,
Theodore Roosevelt.

- Roosevelt was the kind
of figure that had to dominate,

had to, in
a sense, own the room.

- NARRATOR: Roosevelt is
from a wealthy New York

family and could have
become a businessman like

Carnegie or Rockefeller,
but he took a different path.

Foregoing a career in
business for one in politics.

But the young Roosevelt
had an image problem.

His fancy clothes and
upper class demeanor

left him open to ridicule.

He took great pains to
remake his image

posing in a New York City
photography studio dressed

as a Badlands hunter with
a $500 engraved silver

hunting knife
from Tiffany's.

The images help Roosevelt
transform himself

from a wealthy New York
aristocrat into a man

of the people.

And, as Roosevelt
enlists in the army,

the image he manufactured
becomes real.

- HW BRANDS: Theodore
Roosevelt became a hero

during the
Spanish-American war.

And the republican boss
of New York state

said to Theodore Roosevelt,
"you're my boy."

Got him the Republican
nomination and by virtue

of his heroism became
New York Governor.

Roosevelt quickly
demonstrated

an independent streak.

Roosevelt could not
be manipulated at all.

- NARRATOR: As
Governor of New York,

Roosevelt passes laws
clamping down on big business.

His biggest targets are

the nation's most powerful
monopolies

and the men behind them.

But Rockefeller and Morgan know
they can't buy Roosevelt

so they set out to make him
as weak as possible.

- One way to figure out
how to keep Roosevelt

from becoming a major figure
at the national level

is to make him Vice President.

Because the Vice President
doesn't really have much to do.

- NARRATOR: Heading into
a new election year

it's a rematch of 1896.

McKinley versus
William Jennings Bryan.

Through a series
of backroom deals,

some of the nation's
richest and most powerful

men convince McKinley
to put Roosevelt on the ticket.

- The vice presidency,
in those days,

was a place where people
went to disappear.

They became
vice president,

were never heard
from again.

It was almost like a modern
witness protection program.

- NARRATOR: McKinley
is re-elected

by a comfortable margin and
Roosevelt is sworn in

as Vice President.

With their man still
in the White House

and their nemesis in a
powerless position,

Rockefeller and
Morgan think

they have protected
their empires.

But their clever ploy

may backfire.

President William McKinley
is re-elected to a second term

and Aspiring trust
buster Theodore Roosevelt

is installed as
Vice President.

A clever play to
silence his influence.

With McKinley in office
for another four years,

John Rockefeller and J.P.
Morgan

have the freedom
to expand their empires

to unprecedented heights.

In September of 1901
President McKinley travels

to Buffalo to give a speech
heralding America's prosperity.

But that prosperity
hasn't reached everyone.

Many are still struggling
to survive and they're fed up

with McKinley's close
relationship with big business.

Leon Czolgosz is a
former factory worker

who recently lost his
job at a company J.P. Morgan

took over during
the creation of U.S. Steel.

As Czolgosz struggled, he
took refuge

in the growing
anarchist movement.

He became convinced that
the Government is helping

the rich exploit the poor

and he's determined
to put an end to it.

- (gun fires)

- NARRATOR: Eight days
after the shooting,

William McKinley succumbs
to his injuries becoming

the third American President to
be killed in office.

For America's
most powerful men,

it's the worst
case scenario.

An assassin's bullet has robbed
them of their president,

a man they
spent millions to get elected

and with his death their worst
enemy comes to power.

Teddy Roosevelt is
about to become

the leader of the free world.

- Mr. Roosevelt.
Very good to meet you, Sir.

- The plan of having
Roosevelt buried,

in effect, in the vice
presidency completely

backfired because who
could've predicted

what would happen?

And what would
happen so quickly

after the election of the 1900.

- Theodore Roosevelt,
raise your right hand.

Do you, Theodore Roosevelt
solemnly swear that you

will faithfully execute
the office

of President
of the United States.

And to the best of
your ability,

preserve,
protect and defend

the constitution
of the United States.

- ROOSEVELT:
And thus, I swear!

Now. Let's get started.

- Started. Yes.

- Roosevelt insisted
that the big capitalists

recognize that they
were mere capitalists.

And that the elected
officials of the country,

were the ones that
the people had chosen.

Nobody elected J.P. Morgan
to anything.

Nobody elected John D.
Rockefeller to anything.

But the people had,
well, indirectly elected

Theodore Roosevelt
President and he was going

to make the most of it.

- Roosevelt quickly
launches a campaign

against the nation's largest
trusts and his first target

is a railroad conglomerate
owned by J.P. Morgan.

- Morgan demanded to
see the President.

So he stormed down from
New York to Washington,

went into the White House.

And he said, I don't
understand, he said,

if we got a problem, send
your man to my man

and they'll fix it up.

And Roosevelt said,

"This is exactly
the problem with Morgan.

He acts as though I'm
just a rival boss or something."

And Morgan, who thought
that he could manipulate

Roosevelt, discovered that
Roosevelt could not be

manipulated at all.

- NARRATOR: Roosevelt refuses
to back down from Morgan.

He sues his company
in Federal court.

The first Government
anti-trust case

filed against a major
corporation.

Roosevelt goes on to win
and Morgan's railroad

monopoly is broken up.

It's a stunning
setback for J.P. Morgan.

One he'll agonize
over for years

and it's a sign of things
to come for his fellow Titans.

Roosevelt is elected
to a second term

and over the course of his
administration,

he files suit against
dozens of trusts.

It's a time of great
change for the nation.

J.P. Morgan, John Rockefeller
and Andrew Carnegie

suddenly find Themselves
as members of an old guard.

Aging Titans forced
to defend their fading empires.

But as other
monopolies fall,

one target refuses
to go down.

John D. Rockefeller's
Standard Oil

had managed to hold off

a break up over multiple
administrations.

But Rockefeller won't
be able to hide forever.

- Standard Oil got
the reputation

as the most hated company
in America.

It became literally the
symbol for big business evils.

It was an example of big
businesses getting

way too much power and
nothing, or no one,

available to
restrain them.

- NARRATOR: The Government
files Suit against

Standard Oil--in what
promises to be the biggest

anti-trust case of
all time--

and the Government
is hoping their lead witness

will be John D. Rockefeller
himself.

The feds issue a subpoena
and Rockefeller goes on the run.

From California, to
Maine, to Key West...

The most powerful man
in America

has become a fugitive
from justice.

- He went all over the
country to escape

being served subpoenas.

You know, he was
constantly running from the law.

- NARRATOR: Rockefeller
avoids the subpoenas for months.

But life intervenes.

His son, John Jnr., and
his wife welcome

the first Rockefeller grandson
into the world.

Still on the run
from the subpoena,

Rockefeller is unable
to travel to see his grandchild

and the
absence is unbearable.

- DEVIL BILL: I'm
only here for one day.

Once I'm gone I am gone
and I may not be back.

- NARRATOR:
Rockefeller knows

what it's like
to be abandoned...

- DEVIL BILL: Never
trust anybody son.

Not even me.

- NARRATOR: And he's not
going to let this case

tear his family apart.

He turns himself in
agreeing to testify in court

in defense of
Standard Oil and in defense

of an entire way
of business he helped create.

- NARRATOR: America has
emerged onto the world stage

rebuilt over the
past five decades

by John Rockefeller, Andrew
Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan.

They've reigned
uncontested for years.

Only now the government
is cracking down

on big business
in a big way.

- (Blues Saraceno playing
"Save My Soul")

♪ When I got to Memphis ♪

♪ I put my old
baby down ♪

♪ He said I can't
take you to Heaven ♪

♪ I can't save
your soul ♪

♪ I can't promise
forever ♪

♪ Whoo ♪

♪ With my heart
in your hands ♪

♪ I can't feel,
fell my soul ♪

- NARRATOR: The case will
be the biggest challenge

of Rockefeller's life.

A fight that will determine the
future of the country.

As Rockefeller is forced
to defend the company

he built from nothing

into one of the most powerful

corporation's on earth.

- Buy now. Buy everything.

Buy the whole company.

- (people murmuring)

- It's Rockefeller.

- The United States
versus Standard Oil.

This hearing is
now in session.

Please state your name.

- John Rockefeller.

- Mr. Rockefeller,
can you tell the court

how in just one year,
in 1872,

you acquired all the
refineries in Cleveland?

- I don't remember.

- (gasps)
- (people murmuring)

- It was 36 years ago.

- You used intimidation to
wipe out the competition,

did you not?

I mean, so ruthlessly
that it became known

as the Cleveland massacre.

- I don't remember
any massacre.

- (people murmuring)

- Are you aware of
payments made by Standard

Oil to a Senator,
$15,000 to block a bill

hostile to Standard Oil?

- I don't remember.

- We have a list of bribes
made by Standard Oil

to politicians
between 1903...

- I stepped down as
Chief Executive

of Standard Oil in 1902.

I can't answer for any
incidents that occurred

after that date.

- You are still President
of Standard Oil,

are you not?

- It's an honorary title.

Much like that of
President of the United States.

- (laughter)

- Can I remind you Mr.
Rockefeller of the seriousness

of the charges
brought against you.

- NARRATOR: As John
Rockefeller fights to keep

his monopoly intact a new
generation of businessmen

is facing a new set
of challenges as they struggle

to get their
companies off the ground.

- I have set out to build
the best motor car

for popular use.

The Ford motor car
is durable and light,

weighing only 1,000lbs.

It has a four cylinder
engine and is capable

of speeds up to 45
miles an hour.

It is priced at $900
compared to $1 500

for the average
licensed car.

Which makes it
the first car

affordable for
the common man.

- NARRATOR: Young
entrepreneur Henry Ford

has created a
new kind of car.

But in order to sell it
he needs to get permission

from the association
of licensed automobile

manufacturers,
also known as ALAM.

ALAM owns the patent on
the automobile giving them

complete control over who
can manufacture and sell cars.

They are, in a sense,
a giant car monopoly

and Ford's future now
rests in their hands.

- ALAM: Thank
you Mr. Ford.

We'll be in touch.

- Thank you, gentleman.

- NARRATOR: Ford is
hopeful he'll be approved

by ALAM, allowing him to
start his own business

and to pursue his dream
for the future

of the car industry.

- When Ford entered the
automobile business

people didn't drive their own
cars, they had drivers.

And so cars were seen
as this luxury item.

Ford's insight was that
cars could be an every day item.

They could be very
utilitarian so that it was

within the reach
of ordinary people.

- NARRATOR: Ford has spent
years developing his car

for the common man.

He builds his first model
at the age of 33 and calls

it the quadricyle.

But the vehicle is
expensive to produce

and prone to breaking down.

Ford's second attempt--
Model A--is much more suited

to the needs
of modern America.

But he can't begin selling
it without permission from ALAM.

- ALAM was successful
in blackmailing

other automobile companies
saying,

"you have to be licensed
by us or we will sue you.

And we own this patent."

- NARRATOR: After months
of deliberation the ALAM

board reaches
its decision.

Henry Ford's
application is rejected.

It's a crushing blow.

The auto cartel has
stopped him in his tracks.

But Henry Ford is
determined to show the world

that to succeed in
America all you need

is integrity and ingenuity.

The next generation of
businessmen is on the rise.

Henry Ford is battling
a powerful cartel

for the right to make
a car he believes in.

The Association of
Licensed Automobiles

manufacturers owns the
patent on the automobile

and budding car makers
like Henry Ford need

its permission to sell cars.

After being rejected by ALAM,
Ford is left with few options

but he isn't about to give up
on his dreams.

- Ford thought that
the whole thing was ridiculous.

That there could not be a patent
on the idea of the automobile.

That the automobile was
not the property

of one single individual.

- NARRATOR: Ford is
determined to get around

ALAM'S stranglehold
on the auto industry.

But he's just one man going up
against a virtual monopoly.

If he's going to be a
success, without ALAM,

he's going to need to
make a name for himself.

- It's a very simple
thing on the make or break

decision: it's the gut and
that's what separates

the great leaders and
the great successes.

And if you can't listen to
it and you don't have it,

you're never gonna get it
'cause it's never gonna come

from someplace else.

- NARRATOR: Henry Ford
challenges the owner

of the biggest car company
in the country to a race.

Alexander Winton is also
known as the fastest

driver in America and a
prominent member ofALAM.

Beating Winton with a car of his
own design has the potential

to give Ford the
boost he needs to start

his own company.

There's just one problem,

Henry Ford had never
raced a care before.

- It's a David
and Goliath scene.

Winton's famous,
world record holder,

has this fancy race car.

Ford, the local
boy made good.

- NARRATOR: Henry Ford's
upset win over the fastest man

in America makes
him instantly famous.

- Ford's a hero and this
is really the first big time,

I think, that he
becomes a celebrity.

The Ford name gets out
there and he milks it

for everything that
it's worth,

and it was a very crucial
part of Ford

getting investors for the
Ford Motor Company.

- NARRATOR: Ford raises
$28,000--or $700,000 today.

Enough money to build his
first factory in Highland Park,

Michigan and before long he's
producing 1 5 cars a day,

priced low enough for
almost any American.

- When it finally
does break through,

it is sort of gratifying
because you--you're

starting to see the reality of
what you always believe.

That--that the vision you
had that someday the world

would be different is starting
to move in that direction.

- NARRATOR: Henry Ford's early
success puts him on the map.

But ALAM takes notice and
hits him with a lawsuit

claiming he's breaching
their patent on the automobile.

- You see all these huge
conglomerations

suing people over patents.

The big guys are taking
advantage of the little guys,

trying to find
whatever angle they could

and using their might.

And those with the
best tricksters win.

- NARRATOR: While Henry
Ford prepares to bring

his fight for the little
guy to a Detroit court,

the trial to bring
down Standard Oil

is starting to get ugly.

- Mr. Rockefeller, we have
evidence that you placed

several refineries
out of business.

- Not to my knowledge.

- Do you accept that
Standard Oil has enjoyed

profitability higher
than most industries?

- Our profitability is no
higher than that of US Steel.

I haven't heard of
anyone attempting

to break up U.S. Steel.

- NARRATOR: While
Rockefeller is fighting

to save his company,

J.P. Morgan has been able to
keep his steel monopoly

of the government's hit list.

He's used his power and
influence to broker

a number of deals for the nation
applying the might

of U.S. Steel to strengthen
the country's infrastructure.

But Morgan's biggest deal
is just getting started

in Central America.

For years, attempts have
been made to build a canal

linking the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans.

Such a canal would cut
East to West travel time

in half saving ships over
8,000 miles per trip.

But no one's had the power to
make it happen, until now.

J.P. Morgan acts as the middle
man for the government

and raises $40 million dollars
- OR $7 billion today--

to get the project started.

The Panama Canal is
the most ambitious

construction project the United
States has ever undertaken.

Over 75,000 workers
labor in brutal heat,

fighting off
deadly diseases,

digging a canal 51 miles from
the Atlantic to the Pacific.

- To assemble the
manpower, the material,

and the finances; to cut
a swath through the middle

of Panama and join the
Atlantic Ocean with the

Pacific Ocean--only an
industrially sophisticated

nation could do that.

- NARRATOR: The Panama
Canal embodies everything

that makes America the most
powerful country on the planet.

Built on steel,
powered by electricity

and running on gasoline.

And it's all made possible
due to the financial might

of one of the country's
most powerful men.

But the age of the
monopoly is still on trial

and the unchallenged power
the Titans have used

to amass their empires is
not going to last forever.

Decades of unprecedented
growth have transformed

America into an
industrial super power.

The change has been driven
by some of the largest

companies the world
has ever seen:

U.S. Steel,

Standard Oil
and General Electric.

But it also comes
with a cost.

Workers are outraged over
dangerous conditions

at factories across
the country.

- Nobody will break us!
Nobody!

- NARRATOR: And the gap
between the rich and the poor

is bigger than
it's ever been.

Many are convinced
that America's largest companies

are holding
the country back.

The age of monopoly
is under threat.

- I hate monopolists.

I fought monopolists
all my life.

I always wanted an
even playing field,

but I had to fight for an even
playing field for myself.

- NARRATOR: Over a 40 year
career John Rockefeller

used innovation and
ingenuity to create

a corporate empire unlike
any the world has ever seen.

But he was also
notoriously ruthless

and many believe he
went too far.

For John D. Rockefeller,

judgment day
is here in what's become

the trial of the century:
The People versus Standard Oil.

- The picture painted
of Standard Oil

is a depressing one.

No trust in the history
ofAmerica has been

so destructive in its
pursuit of profit.

Time and time again we
have heard how Standard Oil

has used secret
kickbacks from the

railroads, been routinely
engaged in predatory

pricing, used intimidation
and exclusive sales

territories to put
refineries out of business.

For over thirty years,
Standard Oil has been

on a mission to crush its
competition and establish

itself as a monopoly to
hoist up the price of kerosene.

Mr. Rockefeller, before
the court renders its decision,

do you have
anything you wish to say?

- When I came into the oil
industry, there was chaos.

I brought order.

I took a second rate,
inefficient market

and built an industry.

It was done the way it was
because that's the way

it had to be done.

No one complained when I
brought light into every home.

No one complained when
I provided thousands ofjobs,

or millions of
dollars from exports.

Oil is what this
country runs on.

You call it monopoly,
I call it enterprise.

- (people murmuring)

- Now, you tell me,
why am I here?

- (gavel bangs)
- (people murmuring)

- NARRATOR: As the court
adjourns to deliberate

Rockefeller can only
await his company's fate.

Hundreds of miles away a
new kind of businessman,

Henry Ford, also waits.

A panel of federal judges
will decide whether Ford

can continue to freely
manufacture

and sell his model A car.

The association of
licensed automobile

manufacturers is suing
Ford for a royalty on

every car he sells.

Ford knows those royalties
would drive up the cost

of his car putting
it out of the reach

for the average consumer.

For most early car makers,
the lawsuit would be

a devastating setback, but
for Ford it's something

different--an
opportunity.

- People react to failure
in one of two ways.

Either they get
scared and give up.

Or they take that failure
that--as a learning

experience and they kind
of use that experience

to redouble their efforts.

- Ford is convinced
the era of unchecked

monopolies is over.

So as his lawsuit winds
its way through court

he openly defies the order
from ALAM and continues

building and
selling his cars.

He believes there's a
better way to conduct

business in America and
he's determined

to make it a reality.

- Henry Ford was able to
position himself

as an anti-monopolist, really
in a certain way,

as a kind of antithesis of
the Rockefellers

and the Carnegies.

He is a kind of heroic
individual entrepreneur,

who believed
in competition,

who believed in
developing a product

and bringing it
to the people.

- NARRATOR: Ford begins
paying his workers

a livable wage, $5 per day,

more than double the rate
of most U.S. factories.

But Ford isn't just
paying his workers better,

he's also getting
more out of them.

He innovates a new system
for producing cars.

Rather than hand crafting
each car one at a time,

his are assembled by
a line of workers,

piece by piece.

It's called the
assembly line

and it completely changes
manufacturing forever.

- Ford didn't invent
mass production.

But he perfected
mass production.

He understood that a
complicated product

like an automobile could be
simplified and could be

made less expensive if the
same thing was produced

again and again and again.

- NARRATOR: Using
the assembly line,

Ford workers can build
cars up to 8 times faster

than any other automobile
factory in the world.

What once took 12
hours to assemble,

now takes an
hour and a half.

The innovation allows Ford
to standardize

the 8-hour workday,

5 days per week.

But for Ford to
continue to innovate,

he'll need to
win his lawsuit.

His fate, like
John Rockefeller's,

now rests in the hands
of a federal court.

Henry Ford and
John D. Rockefeller

are two
American icons,

from different
generations,

on opposing sides of
battle for the country's future.

As the verdicts come in,
American business

will never be the same.

America is becoming the
most powerful nation on earth.

Transformed from a
post-civil war wasteland

into a budding superpower

by a group of visionaries

who battled the impossible
to build unimaginable

empires that have brought the
country into the 20th century.

- With all the
great entrepreneurs,

it was a mix of
believing in an idea,

but they also recognized
that they had to do

some things to take that
idea and make it real.

- NARRATOR: After decades
of doing whatever it took

to crush the
competition,

John D. Rockefeller is fighting
to save the company he built

from nothing into one
of the largest

and most dominating
corporations on the planet.

- Big business is a
dangerous thing

in the eyes of many because
of the power it wields.

- JUDGE: The U.S. government
Versus Standard Oil.

- NARRATOR: The biggest
anti-trust trial

of all time is about to
reach a verdict.

444 witnesses have
taken the stand,

12,000 pages of testimony
have been recorded,

but in the end it
all comes down

to the testimony of one man.

ROCKEFELLER: You
call it monopoly,

I call it enterprise.

- NARRATOR: John
Rockefeller has done

all he can to keep his
monopoly intact,

but the fate of Standard
Oil is out of his control.

JUDGE: In the case of the
United States against

the Standard Oil Company,
this hearing

has reached a decision.

This court determines
against the Standard Oil Trust

on account of its
unreasonable business practices,

which are in violation of
the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

The Standard Oil Trust

must be broken
up within six months.

- (gavel bangs)
- (people murmuring)

- (people talking)

- REPORTER: Is this the
end of Standard Oil?

- NARRATOR: John
Rockefeller's Standard Oil

is completely dismantled,

broken up
into 34 smaller companies.

The age of the
monopoly is over.

The takedown of Standard
Oil bodes well

for the rising guard of a new
generation of businessman--

most of all Henry Ford.

Ford awaits the
future of his company.

After the powerful
auto Cartel, ALAM,

charged him with breaching
their patent

on the automobile and tried
to shut him down.

It's a potentially
life-changing moment

not just for Ford,
but for the future

of every industry
in the country.

In a surprise decision,
the court rules

in favor of Henry Ford.

ALAM has no legal claim
to the design of the car.

Henry Ford is free to innovate
without repercussion.

- Well, guys, that was it.

Let's go sell some cars.

- NARRATOR: Ford's
dream is made a reality.

The car belongs
to everyone.

- Ford's success put him
forward in American life

as a new kind of
businessman but,

in crucial ways, unlike
Rockefeller or Carnegie

he wasn't trying to
gain a monopoly.

He was trying to bring
a product to the people.

The American population
ate this up and they made

Henry Ford a kind
of folk hero.

- NARRATOR: Ford seizes
the momentum

and his factories go
into overdrive.

His assembly lines starts
producing a revolutionary

new car at a record rate.

It's called the Model T
and it costs only $825.

For the first time, a car
the common man can afford.

- Henry Ford created what
became the most important

industry in the
American economy.

He had no idea of the
enormous impact it would

have on almost every
sector ofAmerican life.

He literally changed
America, the way we live,

the way we do things, and the
way we go about our business.

Ford's reputation won't
always be so positive,

but his revolution
inspires an entire generation

of visionaries
who will transform

the fabric ofAmerican life.

Childhood friends William
Harley and Arthur Davidson

attach an engine to a
bicycle and begin selling

motorcycles to the masses.

Milton Hershey applies
Henry Ford's assembly line

model to the mass
production of chocolate.

Chicago merchant,
William Wrigley

takes his chewing
gum national

and in Hollywood,

Polish immigrant,
Max Factor,

begins distributing
cosmetics for movie stars

to drug stores across
the country inventing

a completely new consumer
product--make-up.

This new breed of
businessman is doing

things a different way.

They're creating
products for the masses,

while paying their
employees a livable wage.

With safe working
conditions

and a standard
40-hour work week.

The era of Rockefeller,
Carnegie and Morgan looks

like it may have
come to an end.

But America's three
most powerful men

are just as relevant
as ever before.

Standard Oil gasoline
stations

appear across the country
fueling Henry Ford's cars,

cars that are built
using Carnegie's steel

in factories powered by
J.P. Morgan's electricity.

The new breed of
businessman may be doing

things different from
their predecessors

but their innovations wouldn't
be possible without

the groundwork laid by men
like Cornelius Vanderbilt,

Andrew Carnegie,
J.P. Morgan

and John D. Rockefeller.

The result is broad
prosperity shared

throughout the country and
perhaps America's greatest

innovation yet, a thriving
and prosperous middle class.

- The Industrial
Revolution created

the development of
the middle class.

It created wealth
that we never

would've imagined
possible before.

- NARRATOR:
John Rockefeller

may have lost his court case,

but the smaller companies
created from Standard Oil

will go on to become

corporate giants with
names like Exxon,

Mobil and Chevron

and John Rockefeller

is a shareholder in
each new company.

- It's ironic, isn't it?

I mean, it's a great
moment in American history

and it established
the principle

that monopolistic practices
should not be for the future

and that
sounds really good.

Except now they
were all separate

and my great grandfather had
large amounts of stock

in every one of them.

He made more money than
he ever made in his life.

The effect on
John D. Rockefeller

was absolutely
blissful from his point of view.

- NARRATOR:
Even in defeat,

John Rockefeller becomes
the richest man in the history

of the world with
a net worth of almost

$660 billion dollars
in today's money.

With the stranglehold
of the monopolies over,

Americans now realize that
anything is possible

as long as they
work together.

The nation is more
powerful than ever

and that power will
soon be needed.

On a brisk spring morning,
two years after

the breakup of standard oil,
John Rockefeller joins

his old rival Andrew Carnegie
to mourn the loss

of one of their own.

Less than a month from
his 76TH birthday,

J.P. Morgan dies in his sleep.

Morgan leaves such a mark
on American finance

that the New York Stock
Exchange shuts down,

an honor normally reserved
for the passing of a president.

- J.P. Morgan certainly was the
foremost name in banking

in terms of creating
modern finance...

and you can't have a modern
economy without a modern,

effective
functioning banking system.

He was as influential as
any of the Titans of that day.

- NARRATOR: While the old
rivals once saw each other

as cutthroat competitors

now, in their twilight years,
the fathers of American business

have found a mutual respect.

For Rockefeller
and Carnegie,

Morgan's passing is a
reminder--

time is running short

and the realization
triggers a new contest.

No longer is their competition
about who makes more money,

now the question is who
can give more away.

- Andrew Carnegie was
the first of the big

capitalists of this
era to be bitten by

the philanthropy bug.

He decided that he was
going to use his wealth

to good purpose and he said
that a man who dies rich

dies disgraced.

- Andrew Carnegie was not
a very popular man

among his millionaire friends
because he demanded

that the millionaire has to
give away all of his money.

- There's nothing wrong
with making a lot of money.

Making money is fun.
I enjoy that very much.

But I enjoy giving away
money, even more so.

- Carnegie gives away more
than $350 million dollars

- $67 billion, today.

Most goes to education and his
favorite cause--libraries.

As more than 2,500
"Carnegie libraries"

are built in 49 states
and around the world.

But even in this contest
Carnegie will be bested

by his old rival.

John Rockefeller will
outlive Carnegie by 13 years.

That time--and his
greater worth--allows him

to give away more money
than Carnegie Is ever able to.

Throughout his life Rockefeller
has donated millions--

to his church
and numerous universities.

At the age of 73, he
creates the Rockefeller

foundation with a personal
endowment of $100 million

dollars--the equivalent
of 38 billion today.

That money will go on
to advance public health

around the world
for decades.

- My great-grandfather, he went
full bore into philanthropy.

Whether that was a duty under a
sort of a Baptist stricture,

or whether it
just came pouring out of him,

I'm just not sure.

But it doesn't make any
difference, he did it.

- NARRATOR: John
Rockefeller will live to be

97 years old and gives
away more $530 million dollars

in his lifetime.

Gifts that, today, would
total over 100 billion.

- I look at Carnegie, I
look at what Rockefeller did

and I revere these
people--for the second half

of their lives--
and they certainly are,

they're inspirations to
people who have managed

to be able to accumulate some
wealth and want to be able

to say, you know what,
I now want to help others.

- NARRATOR: As the nation
heads deeper into

the 20TH century, millions
ofAmericans,

for the first time ever,
are able to take part

in the American dream,

employed in well-paid
and safe jobs.

Manufacturing products
they themselves can now afford.

The country is united
with a robust economy

that benefits not just the
rich, but everyone.

It's the beginning of one
of the longest periods

of prosperity America
will ever see.

- It wasn't by accident
that the 20th century became,

you know,
the American century.

America made the greatest
strides in terms

of harnessing these
new technologies.

We simply could out
produce any other nation

in this world by the time
the 20th century rolled around.

And that clearly put us
in a position

to drive the global agenda.

It was on the back of the
Industrial Revolution.

- NARRATOR: But as World
War I breaks out in Europe,

the world
looks for help.

It looks to America.

Just 50 years removed from
the ashes of the Civil War,

America has become
a global super power.

By April of 1917, the
country enters the war

sending troops,
supplies and weapons.

Resources that will help
bring peace to the world.

But those resources would
have never been possible

without the contributions
of a small group

of visionary men.

Men who sparked
a revolution

that forever
changed America.

- America was transformed

by the vision,

the incredible hard
work and determination,

and the willingness
to take big risks

that these men display.

There is also no question
that these men

could not have done what they
did anywhere else but America,

because this place allows
more people to dream

than any other place
in the world.

All that matters is how
big do you want to dream

and how hard do
you want to work?

- NARRATOR: From a broken
country into the most powerful

nation on Earth,
they didn't discover

this modern America,
they built it.