Word: du
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ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE wrote that America possessed a unique advantage in that it was born a democracy and had none of the trappings of feudalism. The members of the du Pont family would have a horse-laugh at the expense of that thesis. The du Ponts were a self-proclaimed aristocracy, a family that preferred its sons and daughters to marry cousins so as not to sully the family blood. By the 1920s they were the wealthiest and most powerful family in the country. They controlled General Motors and U.S. Rubber, as well as their own corporation. People said they...
Mosley's book takes the du Ponts from the time they left France and started a gunpowder business in Delaware in 1802. He relates the personal side of the family--their loves, their fears and their extensive rivalries within the family. The monopolistic business enterprises of the du Ponts are discussed from the family's point of view: this book does not criticize the du Ponts, it merely explains them...
...explanation of the family's success stems from baronial mentality that allowed them to view the company as both their empire and their self-justification. As long as the family controlled the company, their fortunes and their power grew. The book is subtitled The Rise and Fall of the du Ponts of Delaware-- and the fall comes only in the late 1950s with a government crackdown, anti-trust laws, and the removal of the family from active control of the corporation...
...diaries of his subjects and recreates their emotions and feelings. He attempts to latch onto the most vulnerable side of the leading family members, and expands on the little quirks to introduce each of his characters. Mosley's style of intimate portrayals is effective with the twentieth-century du Ponts--simply because he had superb material to work with...
...scene is a du Pont Corporation board meeting. The board of officers is gathered awaiting the arrival of P.S. du Pont, their president. His absence is baffling. He is punctilious about company matters, and he never misses a board meeting. The officers begin to speculate that perhaps the influenza epidemic or a terrible accident has stricken the boss. He, in fact, is missing the meeting to be at the sick bed of his chauffeur--his only true friend. Mosley contrasts P.S.'s affection for his servant with his marked coldness toward his wife. P.S. is the first of many du...