All language subtitles for The.Men.Who.Built.America.7of8.Taking.the.White.House.BDRip.720p.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

- 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.