Word: roosevelt
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...business affairs, Morgan was a man accustomed to handling things personally. One of his biggest objections to the way Roosevelt had sprung the Northern Securities suit was that the President had not quietly tipped him in advance. Large sums of borrowed money were at stake, and the abrupt attack by the Justice Department had rattled the markets. In Morgan style, he went personally to Washington to meet with Roosevelt and Attorney General Philander Knox...
...Roosevelt left a recollection of the meeting, which remains a classic moment in the history of dealings between business and government. In that account, Morgan asks Roosevelt why he had not quietly allowed Morgan to take care of the problem without resorting to the courts...
...Roosevelt: "That can't be done...
There in brief was the divide between the new President who had a whip in his hand and the veteran financier who could barely imagine that whips could be wielded by anyone in Washington. After Morgan departed, Roosevelt confided to Knox his bemusement at the financier's manner. Morgan, T.R. said, had acted as though the President of the U.S. was just "a big rival operator...
...Roosevelt directed Knox to continue to pursue his suit. All the same, Roosevelt remained open to more cooperative dealings with Morgan. For all his tough talk, Roosevelt really was willing to cut deals. But he wanted the business world on notice that the days of freewheeling combination were over. And Morgan had reason to play ball with Roosevelt. Northern Securities was only one of the many trusts he had assembled. General Electric, Western Union, International Harvester, Aetna Insurance--he controlled them all. Just a year earlier, he had put together what was then the world's largest corporation, U.S. Steel...