Product Description

A landmark work from one of the preeminent historians of our time: the first published biography of Andrew W. Mellon, the American colossus who bestrode the worlds of industry, government, and philanthropy, leaving his transformative stamp on each.

Andrew Mellon, one of America’s greatest financiers, built a legendary personal fortune from banking to oil to aluminum manufacture, tracking America’s course to global economic supremacy. As treasury secretary under Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and finally Hoover, Mellon made the federal government run like a business–prefiguring the public official as CEO. He would be hailed as the architect of the Roaring Twenties, but, staying too long, would be blamed for the Great Depression, eventually to find himself a broken idol. Collecting art was his only nonprofessional gratification and his great gift to the American people, The National Gallery of Art, remains his most tangible legacy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57769 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-12
• Released on: 2008-02-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 832 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this volume, the first published "full-scale life" of financial pioneer Andrew Mellon-who would help propel the country to economic domination, serve as servant and scapegoat for powerful White House administrations, and establish the National Gallery of Art-biographer Cannadine (In Churchill's Shadow) tackles every aspect of a towering American figure who was nevertheless "shy in life and secretive in business." Beginning with the boyhood immigration to Pittsburgh of Mellon's domineering father, Cannadine chronicles the busy buildup of Mellon's early career, as he involves himself with his father's successful real estate projects and enters the world of Pittsburgh's wealthy industrial elite. His largely obstacle-free ascension, however, packs the book's first third with humdrum lists of business transactions. Tellingly, the chapter titled "The First Scandal" provides the book's first meaty narrative: the disastrous collapse of Mellon's mid-life marriage to the young Englishwoman Nora McMullen. Following this, Mellon becomes a more dynamic character and his money takes a more secondary role. Mellon's contentious stint as Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover provides interesting insight into the clash of democracy (which Mellon was never such a fan of) and high finance; it also provides Mellon a telling conflict between his responsibility to the country's failing post-war economy and his desire to re-engage his estranged daughter Ailsa. Cannadine does not shy from pointing out the hypocrisy and insensitivity in his subject-especially in his devastating behavior toward his unfaithful wife-but remains sympathetic throughout, providing a balanced look at a supremely principled businessman who made some startlingly unprincipled choices. Though a scholarly work with limited popular appeal, this is a valuable, comprehensive look at an important American life.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Andrew Mellon spent his remarkable life in the Pittsburgh area, where from the late 1800s into the next century he dominated banking, industry, and government policy through his financial expertise and wealth. He mingled with U.S. presidents and industry big shots, accrued vast amounts of real estate through his mortgage endeavors, raised successful sons, and worked for philanthropic causes, yet he never achieved personal happiness. Narrator John Mayer has a distinct newsreel-announcer style, befitting this biography. He provides an inviting grandfatherly tone throughout as he describes Mellon's personal and professional highs and lows, his somber personality and lifestyle, and his drive for enormous success. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
*Starred Review* This is the first comprehensive biography of Andrew Mellon, the powerful American financier, secretary of the treasury, and art collector. Like Rockefeller and Carnegie, Mellon came to symbolize the era of the U.S. rise to industrial might, with all the benefits and abuses that entailed. Professor Cannadine brings compassion and fairness to his subject. At first glance, Mellon is neither an appealing nor an especially interesting character. Mellon's father, Thomas, had already made his fortune, so Andrew's story lacks the rags-to-riches aspect that made Andrew Carnegie such a compelling figure. In personal relations, Mellon was stiff, diffident, and self-absorbed. His only marriage ended disastrously, and his relations with his children were problematic. But, as Cannadine eloquently shows, Mellon was a true genius at the art of making money. He was a brilliant practitioner of and a true believer in -laissez-faire capitalism. As secretary of the treasury under Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, he used his financial acumen to cut both taxes and the national debt. Although he came to philanthropy late in life, the donation of his private art collection and massive subsidizing of a museum to house it have greatly enriched the nation's cultural life. Despite Mellon's personal shortcomings, Cannadine's recounting of Mellon's public career make this a worthy contribution to our understanding of the man and his era. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A biography that goes above and beyond.
Cannadine exceeded expectations on a number of fronts with this definitive biography of Andrew Mellon. It has everything you'd expect from a grade-A biography, laying out where Mellon's family came from (both physically and philosophically), how Mellon grew up, his rise, peak, eventual fall from grace, death and legacy. Not only that, but Cannadine does all of this exceedingly well, giving his reader a sense of the nuances and subtleties of Mellon's personality and life. If Cannadine had done nothing else, he'd still have written a five-star book.

This book goes beyond most rock-solid biographies that I've read in Cannadine's sensitivity to the larger meaning of the events in Mellon's life, his place in history and his impact even after his death. While this sensitivity is present throughout Cannadine's book, it really comes together in in his three-part epilogue, which you will absolutely not want to miss, it is the highlight of the book.

The first point Cannadine develops is that Mellon's life straddled the line between two different eras in American history. He shows how Mellon, without changing his behaviors, was perceived one way for much of his life, then a totally different way at the end of his life. Through his awareness of this point, Cannadine really demonstrates to the reader how radical the shift in sentiment was in America in the 1930s.

The second point Cannadine is aware of, as any successful biographer of a great historical figure must be, is the idea that Mellon was a human being with some great strengths and some great flaws. In my experience, people who have the strengths to accomplish the most often have corresponding weaknesses to go with them; Cannadine really makes this point clear in his epilogue, doing a "balance sheet" of positives and negatives of Mellon's character and accomplishments. I've never seen an author take even-handed analysis to a similar place, and it really helped bring together the books ideas at the end.

Finally, Cannadine captures a truth about life, society and politics that imbues the book with a sense of sadness. It becomes obvious that many (though certainly not all) of the good things that happen to Mellon happen out of chance. Similarly, when bad things happen to Mellon, most (again, not all... his divorce comes to mind as an obvious exception) of them are undeserved. Mellon dies near the low point of his public popularity, suffering primarily for sins he did not commit.

I highly recommend this book for lovers of biography and history, it is truly a step beyond a really good biography.

history and sadness
What I found interesting about this book is that is a history lesson in American business and early regulatory policies that shaped the landscape we see today. At the same time, it is a story of classic love and betrayal. I found the author doing a great job when the story focused on Mellon's marriage and the demise of such, but he tended to become a bit lost in the details when describing all of the political ups and downs. Overall, a fine book and great American story

AN EXCELLENT AND COMPREHENSIVE WORK
Though I can not claim to be altogether objective about the subject matter in much of this great book, I must congratulate Cannadine for a masterful study of what has been an extremely closed subject for a long, long time - most of all in the Mellon's home town of Pittsburgh. The late Paul Mellon must be given a lot of credit for breaking with family tradition - first for allowing the book "Thomas Mellon And His Times" to see the light of public day and then to let it all hang out with Cannadine with regard to sources and family papers.

All of the business glories (one wonders at times if Andrew ever really enjoyed his successes), all of the personal agonies (it must have been excruciating on many levels), and much of the rancor between both Judge Thomas Mellon's as well as Andrew's detractors and adversaries are, for the first time, put into print for ALL of the public's perusal. It will be up to each individual reader to judge for themselves how they feel about this man and his father and family.

It came as no suprise to me when Cannadine named my great-great grandfather as being one of the "vexatious litigation" principles who Judge Mellon would only refer to as "A", "B", or "C" in his autobiography. Cannadine is specific about the bad blood between the Negleys and the Mellons after the "eugenic" match (his words) and Pittsburghers specifically will find much new insight here.

However, this long and comprehensive book never lets down as it explores all facets of the Mellon dynasty, how it was aquired (at times skirting legality and even morality), and he leaves very few stones unturned. What Cannadine might have missed was the fact that the rehabilitation of the Mellon name in Pittsburgh was undertaken by Andrew's nephew Richard K. Mellon (Richard Beatty Mellon's son) when "Renaissance I and II" which, along with the Allegheny Community Conference, cleaned up the city of Pittsburgh and made it livable again after over 150 years of take, take, and more take by men such as "A.W." and "R.B" among many others, including Andrew's buddy Henry Clay Frick.

The mystery of "M..." will, I feel, eventually be solved but as was mentioned in a previous review, even as good a sleuth as Cannadine could not hazard even a guess (though I'll bet he had a guess). Notice that she becomes "Mrs. M---" on pg 259. I hardly believe that such a man would be so indiscreet as to write an entree with such a clue, or such an admission of a possible affair - but this entree IS followed by perhaps the most emotional outburst of his heart, "CRUEL", in uppercase.

A flawed man, as are all men, and obviously a tortured one for much of his life, this book will give everyone the chance to weigh the evidence and decide for themselves the verdict which until now was impossible to consider to to lack of full factual disclosure. I found it fascinating the whole way from beginning to end. The source notes are a gem in and of themselves.
I would also recommend both books by father and son for a comprehensive look at all three men, and how wealth, acquisition, and the drive and pressures of both shaped them.
"Thomas Mellon And His Times"
"Reflections In A Silver Spoon"