Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. is a 1998 non-fiction book by American author Ron Chernow. The book covers the life of the American business magnate John D. Rockefeller from his early days as the son of an itinerant snake-oil salesman, into his founding of Standard Oil and its massive success and eventual dissolution, and through the large-scale philanthropy that consumed much of his later life. At the time of its writing, the book was unique in its balanced view of Rockefeller's career, bucking the trend of his biographers portraying him and his business practices as either good or evil. The book was well-received by critics, who praised Chernow's meticulous research and neutral approach to describing the life of a polarizing figure. It was called "a triumph of the art of biography" by The New York Times Book Review and became a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.

Background
As the 1990s began, no significant biography on the life of John D. Rockefeller had appeared since 1940, when Allan Nevins published a two-volume study that was revised and published in 1953 as the single-volume Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist. Nevins, who sought to burnish Rockefeller's reputation after its battering by Progressive and New Deal-era critics, painted the magnate's business ethics in a favorable light.

After Chernow published his second book, The Warburgs, his publisher Random House suggested he pursue a biography of Rockefeller. Chernow was initially resistant, saying that Rockefeller's notorious secrecy around his private life would make it difficult for a biographer to learn about the man's inner thoughts and feelings. Chernow said this inability to "hear the music of his mind" made the prospect of multiple years of research unpalatable.

On a suggestion by his editor at Random House, Chernow visited the Rockefeller Archive Center in New York, home of the papers and records of Rockefeller University and the Rockefeller family. He discovered a 1,700-page transcript of private interviews conducted over three years late in the tycoon's life. The interviews, which showed an articulate, funny, and analytic side of Rockefeller, had yet to be used in a biography of the man, and Chernow decided to pursue the project.

The writing and publication of Titan, a book largely about the creation of one of the largest and most powerful monopolies in America's history, coincided with the Justice Department's investigation of Microsoft and its competition-swallowing business practices. A month before Titan release, Chernow wrote a column in The New York Times comparing and contrasting the two business giants and their respective situations.

Synopsis
Titan begins during Rockefeller's childhood and describes his formative years living with two very different parents: a devout Baptist mother and a traveling salesman father. William Avery Rockefeller was a grifter and peddler of snake oil health cures. A neighbor remarked, "They had a big jug full of medicine, and they treated all diseases from the same jug." William practiced bigamy as well. He abandoned the family for long stretches of time, much of it spent with an entirely separate family in Philadelphia. He also moved a mistress into the Rockefeller household and bore children with both her and John's mother. Due to and in spite of his upbringing, Chernow traces John's longstanding Christian faith as well as his frugal nature to the influence of his parents.

Chernow continues tracking Rockefeller through the formation of what became Standard Oil, and describes how a Cleveland merchant with no great education or contacts came to control nearly all of the nation's oil refining industry. Rockefeller, like Karl Marx before him, recognized the "anarchy of production" that plagued unfettered capitalism. His fellow oil refiners waged vicious price wars and refused to taper production even when new oil discoveries glutted the market with product. Chernow writes, "At times, when he railed against cutthroat competition and the vagaries of the business cycle, Rockefeller sounded more like Karl Marx than our classical image of the capitalist." Chernow reveals that Rockefeller profited by buying out other refiners and thus curtailing competition, and by convincing the major East Coast railroads to give his company sweetheart deals on the shipment of his product.

These business practices incurred scrutiny, Chernow wrote. Muckrakers in the press—notably, Ida Tarbell—published scathing, multi-part exposés about the oil trust's underhanded tactics. These pieces vilified Rockefeller, who by that time had largely, though not publicly, retired from his company's operations. He opted not to respond to Tarbell's widely popular series, which ultimately harmed his reputation even further. Tarbell's series and subsequent book raised public awareness of the oil trust; less than a decade later, it was broken up by the U.S. government.

After he retired, Rockefeller devoted much of his time to massive philanthropic efforts. Chernow argues that while this charity was not entirely altruistic—a public relations firm was hired; gifts were made primarily to uncontroversial recipients—the donations were still made with Rockefeller's unwavering belief that he had received the money from God and God expected him to give it back. By the early 1920s, Rockefeller had donated $475 million (equivalent to $ in ) to various causes, including towards the founding of the University of Chicago and the establishment of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Reception
Titan was met with mostly positive reviews. Jack Beatty of The New York Times called it "unflaggingly interesting" and praised Chernow's depiction of Rockefeller's familial connections. Maury Klein of The Wall Street Journal was impressed with Chernow's well-rounded approach to a complex figure, saying, "Rockefeller's career is a minefield of controversies and complexities through which Mr. Chernow makes his way with admirable balance and judgment." Time Magazine Lance Morrow said the book was "one of the great American biographies". The economist Richard Parker wrote in the Los Angeles Times of Chernow's talent for providing "an immense, almost baroque detailing of a complex human life", but believed Chernow did not devote enough scrutiny to why Rockefeller was considered such a villain in his time, and that Chernow wrote "passingly" about the many corrupt and illegal acts practiced by Standard Oil while Rockefeller was at the helm. Steve Weinberg of the Chicago Tribune called the book a "flawed gem", citing Chernow's "unforgettable portraits" of various members of Rockefeller's family and inner circle, while conceding that the author occasionally "cannot refrain from telling readers what to think."

Titan was a finalist for the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.