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133-512: Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist , financier , and art patron . He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel manufacturing concern. He had extensive real estate holdings in Pittsburgh and throughout

266-561: A millionaire by the age of thirty. The company was called Frick Coke Company. Thanks to loans from the family of lifelong friend Andrew Mellon , by 1880, Frick bought out the partnership. The company was renamed H. C. Frick & Company, employed 1,000 workers and controlled 80 percent of the coal output in Pennsylvania, operating coal mines in Westmoreland and Fayette counties, where he also operated banks of beehive coke ovens. Some of

399-509: A British-born antiques dealer 14 years her junior. Two years after the Lees' divorce in 1928, Nora Lee resumed the surname Mellon, at the request of her son, Paul. In the 1920s, while Mellon served as Secretary of the Treasury, Ailsa was courted by several influential men, including Otto Christian Archibald von Bismarck , Robert Horne , and Gelasio Caetani . In 1926, in the "greatest society event that

532-584: A Carnegie protege, Frank W. Haskell. Mellon also invested in mining concerns, becoming vice president of the Trade Dollar Consolidated Mining Company. Mellon and Henry Clay Frick enjoyed a long-lasting business and social relationship, and Frick frequently hosted Mellon, attorney Philander C. Knox , inventor George Westinghouse , and others for poker games. Frick and Mellon both joined the Duquesne Club and, after Frick established

665-570: A bank located in Pittsburgh. Andrew joined his father at the bank, quickly becoming a valued employee despite being in his early teens. Andrew also attended the Western University of Pennsylvania (which was later renamed the University of Pittsburgh ), but he never graduated. After leaving Western University, Andrew briefly worked at a lumber and coal business before joining T. Mellon & Sons as

798-474: A bonus to World War I veterans. Mellon did, however, win one legislative victory, as he convinced Congress to create the Board of Tax Appeals to adjudicate disputes between taxpayers and the government. Mellon had originally planned to retire after one presidential term but decided to remain in the cabinet in the hope of presiding over the full enactment of his taxation proposals. In the 1924 presidential election ,

931-613: A cabinet position as a prestigious capstone to his career. Mellon agreed to accept appointment as Secretary of the Treasury in February 1921, and his nomination was quickly confirmed by the United States Senate . Though Mellon's supporters believed that he was highly qualified to address the economic issues facing the country, critics of the Harding administration saw the Mellon appointment as

1064-697: A co-owner and vice president. During the 1880s, Mellon began to expand the bank's activities. Along with Frick, Mellon gained control of the Pittsburgh National Bank of Commerce, a national bank that was authorized to print banknotes . Mellon also acquired or helped found the Union Insurance Company, City Deposit Bank, the Fidelity Title and Trust Company, and the Union Trust Company. He branched out into industrial concerns, becoming

1197-505: A director of the Pittsburgh Petroleum Exchange and a co-founder of two natural gas companies that collectively controlled 35,000 acres of gas lands in the late 1880s. In 1890, Thomas Mellon transferred his properties to Andrew, who would manage the properties on behalf of himself, his parents, and his brothers. In late 1894, Thomas transferred all of his remaining assets to Andrew. Despite the large sums entrusted to Andrew,

1330-673: A director of various other companies, including the Pennsylvania Railroad and the American Locomotive Company . Mellon was deeply involved in the financing of World War I , as the Union Trust Company and other Mellon institutions provided millions of dollars in loans to the United Kingdom and France, and Mellon himself invested in Liberty bonds . In 1887, Frick, Andrew, and Richard Mellon jointly purchased Old Overholt ,

1463-432: A divorce the following year. To avoid a public scandal, Andrew reluctantly agreed to a separation in 1909. Seeking to hold divorce proceedings privately before a judge rather than publicly before a jury, in 1911 Mellon convinced the Pennsylvania legislature to amend a law that had required a jury trial in divorce proceedings. In response, Nora attacked Mellon in the press, and the divorce proceedings were widely covered by

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1596-528: A full-time employee in 1873. That same year, the Panic of 1873 devastated the local and national economy, wiping out a portion of the Mellon fortune. With Andrew taking a leading role at T. Mellon & Sons, the bank quickly recovered, and by late 1874 the bank's deposits had reached the level they had been at before the onset of the Panic. Mellon's role at T. Mellon & Sons continued to grow after 1873, and in 1876 he

1729-535: A large collection. By 1905, Frick's business, social and artistic interests had shifted from Pittsburgh to New York . He took his art collection with him to New York, rented the William H. Vanderbilt House , and served on many corporate boards. For example, as a board member of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, Frick attempted the removal of James Hazen Hyde (the founder's only son and heir) from

1862-487: A major part of the federal government's revenue system with the passage of the Revenue Act of 1913 , and federal taxation on income had increased during World War I to provide funding for the war effort. According to M. Susan Murnane, major reforms to the federal income tax in the aftermath of World War I were "inevitable", but the exact nature of the tax system in the 1920s was debated by conservatives and progressives within

1995-639: A moratorium on German debt repayments. After Mellon returned to the United States in August 1931, he was confronted by another series of bank failures. Among the banks that failed was the Bank of Pittsburgh, the lone remaining major Pittsburgh bank not controlled by the Mellon family. Again, following Hoover's lead, Mellon presided over the creation of the National Credit Association, a voluntary initiative among

2128-480: A power vacuum in Pennsylvania Republican politics. Along with his nephew, William Larimer Mellon, Mellon became an influential player in Pennsylvania politics, and their support helped ensure the elections of Senator David A. Reed and Senator George W. Pepper in 1922. Mellon was unable to assert the same level of control that Boies Penrose had had over state politics, and his leadership of the state party

2261-468: A prominent member of the local Republican Party , and in 1859 he won election to a position on the Pennsylvania court of common pleas . Because Thomas was suspicious of both private and public schools, he built a schoolhouse for his children and hired a teacher; Andrew attended this school beginning at age five. In 1869, after leaving his judicial position, Thomas Mellon established T. Mellon & Sons,

2394-457: A reduction would minimize tax avoidance and would not affect federal revenue because it would lead to greater economic growth. He hoped that tax reform would encourage high earners to move their savings from tax-exempt state and municipal bonds to taxable, higher yield industrial stocks. Though much of the tax plan that he proposed had been developed by former Wilson administration officials Russell Cornell Leffingwell and Seymour Parker Gilbert ,

2527-421: A revolver and a sharpened steel file, entered Frick's office in downtown Pittsburgh . Frick, realizing what was happening, attempted to rise from his chair while Berkman pulled a revolver and fired at nearly point-blank range . The bullet hit Frick in the left earlobe, penetrated his neck near the base of the skull, and lodged in his back. The impact knocked Frick down, and Berkman fired again, striking Frick for

2660-446: A second time in the neck and causing him to bleed extensively. Carnegie Steel vice president (later, president) John George Alexander Leishman , who was with Frick, was then able to grab Berkman's arm and prevented a third shot, possibly saving Frick's life. Frick was seriously wounded but rose and (with the assistance of Leishman) tackled his assailant. All three men crashed to the floor, where Berkman managed to stab Frick four times in

2793-590: A sign that Harding would "reseat the power of special privileged interests, the powers of avarice and greed, the powers that seek self-aggrandizement at the expense of the general public". Harding paired the nomination of Mellon with that of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover , who was distrusted by many of the same Senate Republicans who favored Mellon's candidacy. Before joining the cabinet, Mellon sold his banking stock to his brother, Richard, but he continued to hold his non-banking stock. Through Richard and other business associates, Mellon continued to be involved with

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2926-401: A successful legal practice in Pittsburgh , and in 1843 he married Sarah Jane Negley, an heiress descended from some of the first settlers of Pittsburgh. Thomas became a wealthy landowner and real estate speculator, and he and his wife had eight children, five of whom survived to adulthood. Andrew Mellon, the fourth son and sixth child of Thomas and Sarah, was born in 1855., Thomas Mellon became

3059-726: A target of even more union organizers. Because of this strike, people like Alan Petrucelli had thought that he is depicted as the "rich man" in Maxo Vanka 's murals in St. Nicholas Croatian Church , but the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka (which works to preserve the artwork) says it depicts Andrew Mellon . In 1892, during the Homestead strike, anarchist Alexander Berkman attempted to assassinate Frick. On July 23, Berkman, armed with

3192-536: A whiskey distillery located in West Overton, Pennsylvania . At the time, Old Overholt was one of the largest and most respected whiskey producers in the country. In 1907, as prohibition became more popular across the country, Frick and Mellon removed their names from the distilling license but retained ownership in the company. It is believed that Mellon's connections in the Treasury Department are what allowed

3325-436: The 1928 Republican National Convention and was influential with Republicans throughout the country. Though they had maintained an amicable relationship in public, Mellon privately distrusted Hoover, resented Hoover's engagement in the affairs of other cabinet departments and feared that a President Hoover would move away from Mellon's tax policies. Several Republicans urged Mellon to run for president, but Mellon believed that he

3458-676: The Andrew Mellon Building . The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation , the product of the merger of the Avalon Foundation and the Old Dominion Foundation (set up separately by his children), is named in his honor, as is the 378-foot US Coast Guard Cutter Mellon (WHEC-717) . Andrew W. Mellon appears in the HBO drama series Boardwalk Empire , in the fifth, eighth and twelfth episodes of the third season, in his capacity as Secretary of

3591-565: The House Ways and Means Committee jointly prepared a bill setting the top marginal rate at the level advocated by Mellon, but opposition in the Senate from progressives like Senator Robert M. La Follette limited the size of the tax cuts. In November 1921, Congress passed and Harding signed the Revenue Act of 1921 , which raised personal tax exemptions and lowered the top marginal tax rate to 58%. Because it differed from his original proposals, Mellon

3724-665: The Japanese word taikun ( 大君 ) , which means "great lord", used as a title for the shōgun . The word entered the English language in 1857 with the return of Commodore Perry to the United States. US President Abraham Lincoln was humorously referred to as the Tycoon by his aides John Nicolay and John Hay . The term spread to the business community, where it has been used ever since. Modern business magnates are entrepreneurs that amass on their own or wield substantial family fortunes in

3857-616: The Latin word magnates (plural of magnas ), meaning "great man" or "great nobleman". The term mogul is an English corruption of mughal , Persian or Arabic for "Mongol". It alludes to emperors of the Mughal Empire in Early Modern India , who possessed great power and storied riches capable of producing wonders of opulence, such as the Taj Mahal . The term tycoon derives from

3990-506: The McKinley Tariff of 1890. During the early 20th century, Mellon was dismayed by the rise of progressivism and the antitrust actions pursued by the presidential administrations of Theodore Roosevelt , William Howard Taft , and Woodrow Wilson . He especially opposed the Taft administration's investigations into Alcoa, which in 1912 signed a consent decree rather than going to trial. In

4123-616: The National Gallery of Art . His philanthropic efforts also played a major role in the later establishment of Carnegie Mellon University and the National Portrait Gallery . Mellon's paternal grandparents, both of whom were Ulster Scots , migrated to the United States from County Tyrone , Ireland, in 1818. With their son, Thomas Mellon , they settled in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania . Thomas Mellon established

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4256-934: The Pittsburgh Coal Company , the Carborundum Company, Union Steel Company, the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company, Gulf Oil , and numerous others. He was also an influential donor to the Republican Party during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era . In 1921, newly elected president Warren G. Harding chose Mellon as his Secretary of the Treasury . Mellon would remain in office until 1932, serving under Harding, Calvin Coolidge , and Herbert Hoover , all three of whom were members of

4389-489: The Revenue Act of 1932 , which included many of the Treasury Department's proposals. In early 1932, Congressman Wright Patman of Texas initiated impeachment proceedings against Mellon, contending that Mellon had violated numerous federal laws designed to prevent conflicts of interest. Though Mellon had defeated similar investigations in the past, his falling popularity left him unable to effectively counter Patman's charges. Hoover removed Mellon from Washington by offering him

4522-408: The Revenue Act of 1935 rescinded many of Mellon's tax policies and contained other provisions that were designed to increase taxation on top earners and corporations. Even after leaving office, Mellon continued to be vilified by many in the public, and in 1933 Harvey O'Connor published a popular and unfavorable biography, Mellon's Millions . Democrats won effective control of Allegheny County in

4655-623: The South Fork Dam breach immediately after the flood. However, the report was delayed, subverted, and whitewashed, before being released two years after the disaster. A detailed discussion of what happened during the ASCE investigation, its participating engineers, and the science behind the 1889 flood was published in 2018. In 1881, Frick, already wealthy, took control of his grandfather's whiskey company, Old Overholt . Frick split ownership with Andrew Mellon and Charles W. Mauck; each owned one-third of

4788-549: The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club , Mellon became one of that club's first members. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club built the South Fork Dam , which supported an artificial lake that the club used for boating and fishing. In 1889, the dam broke, causing the Johnstown Flood , which killed 2,000 people and destroyed 1,600 homes. In the aftermath of the flood, Knox led a legal defense that successfully argued that

4921-676: The Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings . Twenty-one paintings , of the highest quality, were later given to the National Gallery of Art. Mellon decided to use his fortune and art collection to establish a national art museum in Washington modeled after the National Gallery in London. In 1936, Mellon presented President Roosevelt with an offer to establish a national art museum to which Mellon would donate his art collection as well as an endowment, while

5054-614: The Texas oil boom , the Mellons also helped J. M. Guffey establish the Guffey Company. The Mellons later removed Guffey as the head of his company, and in 1907 they reorganized the Guffey Company as Gulf Oil and installed William Larimer Mellon Sr. (a son of Andrew Mellon's older brother, James Ross Mellon) as the head of Gulf Oil. The success of Mellon's financial empire and his varied investments made him, according to biographer David Cannadine,

5187-608: The Union Trust Company in Pittsburgh in 1889. By the end of 1913, Mellon National Bank held more money in deposits than any other bank in Pittsburgh, and the second-largest bank in the region was controlled by Union Trust. In the course of his business career, Mellon owned or helped finance large companies including Alcoa , the New York Shipbuilding Corporation , Old Overholt whiskey, Standard Steel Car Company , Westinghouse Electric Corporation , Koppers ,

5320-563: The Westmoreland , a private railroad car , from the Pullman Company in 1910. The car cost nearly $ 40,000, and featured a kitchen, pantry, dining room, servant's quarters, two staterooms, and a lavatory. Frick frequently used the car for travel between his residences in New York City , Pittsburgh , and Prides Crossing, Massachusetts , as well for trips to places such as Palm Beach, Florida , and Aiken, South Carolina . The car remained in

5453-499: The national debt of the United States in the aftermath of World War I . Mellon also helped fund and manage Kennywood Park in West Mifflin , Pennsylvania. Andrew began working at his father's Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, bank, T. Mellon & Sons , in the early 1870s, eventually becoming the leading figure in the institution. He later renamed T. Mellon & Sons as Mellon National Bank and established another financial institution,

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5586-483: The "Mellon plan" was fully realized. He also presided over a reduction in the national debt, which dropped substantially in the 1920s. Mellon's influence in state and national politics reached its zenith during Coolidge's presidency. Journalist William Allen White noted that "so completely did Andrew Mellon dominate the White House in the days when the Coolidge administration was at its zenith that it would be fair to call

5719-542: The "single most significant individual in the economic life and progress of western Pennsylvania" in the first decade of the 20th century. The Panic of 1907 devastated several companies based in Pittsburgh, ending a period of strong growth. Some of Mellon's investments experienced a sustained down period after 1907, but most experienced a quick recovery. Mellon also became an investor in George Westinghouse 's Westinghouse Electric Corporation after he helped prevent

5852-512: The 1924 elections, it immediately began working on another bill designed to lower tax rates on the highest earners. In February 1926, Coolidge signed the Revenue Act of 1926 , which reduced the top marginal rate to 25%. Mellon was extremely pleased by the passage of the act, because, unlike the Revenue Act of 1921 and the Revenue Act of 1924, the Revenue Act of 1926 closely reflected Mellon's proposals. In addition to cutting tax rates on top earners,

5985-801: The 1933 elections, and the following year Democrat Joseph F. Guffey won Pennsylvania's Senate election and George Howard Earle III won the state's gubernatorial election. Mellon endured numerous attacks during these campaigns, and his unpopularity in Pittsburgh led him to spend most of his final years in Washington rather than his home town. In the 1930s, the Roosevelt administration conducted several high-profile tax evasion prosecutions against individuals such as Thomas W. Lamont and Jimmy Walker . In response to accusations levied by Republican Congressman Louis Thomas McFadden of Pennsylvania in early 1933, Attorney General Homer Cummings began an inquiry into Mellon's tax history. Between February 1935 and May 1936,

6118-523: The Board of Tax Appeals heard a widely covered case in which the federal government accused Mellon of tax fraud. During the proceedings, Mellon divulged numerous details of his business career that had previously been unknown to the public. Mellon was diagnosed with cancer in November 1936. His health declined in 1937, and he died on August 26, 1937. Newspapers across the country took note of his death. Secretary of

6251-612: The British to allow Gulf Oil to operate in Kuwait , a British protectorate in the oil-rich region of the Persian Gulf . Defying Mellon's expectations, Hoover was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election . Mellon left office when Hoover's term ended in March 1933, returning to private life after twelve years of government service. Knox and Penrose both died in 1921, leaving

6384-552: The Federal Reserve Board raised the discount rate to six percent. The higher rate failed to curb speculation, and the activity on the stock market continued to grow. In October 1929, the New York Stock Exchange suffered the worst crash in its history in what was called " Black Tuesday ". As the vast majority of Americans did not own shares in the stock market, the crash did not immediately have disastrous effects on

6517-403: The Federal Reserve Board to lower interest rates in 1921 and 1924; lower interest rates contributed to a booming economy, but they also encouraged stock market speculation. In 1928, responding to increasing fears of the dangers of speculation and a booming stock market, the Federal Reserve Board began raising interest rates. Mellon favored another interest rate increase in 1929, and in August 1929

6650-627: The Frick family until it was scrapped by Helen Clay Frick in 1965. Photographs of family and friends travelling on the Westmoreland form part of the Frick archive, as do the original construction plans and upholstery fabric samples. Frick and his wife Adelaide had booked tickets to travel back to New York on the inaugural trip of the RMS Titanic in 1912, along with J.P. Morgan . The couple canceled their trip after Adelaide sprained her ankle in Italy and missed

6783-587: The Mellon banks flourished in the first years of the 20th century. While Mellon's financial empire prospered, his investments in other areas, including Pittsburgh's streetcar network, the Union Steel Company (which was bought out by U.S. Steel ), and the Carborundum Company, also paid off handsomely. Another successful Mellon investment, the Standard Steel Car Company , was created in partnership with three former U.S. Steel executives. As part of

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6916-416: The Republican Party. Mellon sought to reform federal taxation in the aftermath of World War I. He argued cutting tax rates on top earners would generate more tax revenue for the government, but otherwise left in place a progressive income tax . Some of Mellon's proposals were enacted by the Revenue Act of 1921 and the Revenue Act of 1924 , but it was not until the passage of the Revenue Act of 1926 that

7049-472: The Republican Party. Unlike the progressives in his party, Mellon rejected the redistributive nature of the taxation system that had been left in place by the Wilson administration. Owing in part to the high debts left over from the war, Mellon did not join with some conservatives in the party, who favored the virtual abolition of the income tax in favor of high tariff rates, excise taxes, a national sales tax, or some combination thereof. Mellon instead advocated

7182-485: The Republican nomination on the first ballot of the convention, and he went on to defeat Al Smith in the 1928 presidential election . Defying widespread expectations that he would retire, Mellon chose to stay on as Secretary of the Treasury. Along with Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and Secretary of Labor James J. Davis , Mellon is one of only three cabinet members to serve in the same post under three consecutive presidents. Secretary Mellon had helped persuade

7315-503: The Republicans campaigned on further tax cuts, while both the Democrats and third-party candidate Robert La Follette denounced Mellon's tax proposals as "a device to relieve multi-millionaires at the expense of other taxpayers". Buoyed by the strong economy, and overcoming the scandals of the Harding years , Coolidge won re-election by a decisive margin. Coolidge saw his victory as a mandate to pursue his favored economic policies, including further tax cuts. When Congress reconvened after

7448-438: The Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. stated that Mellon had lived through "an epoch in the economic history of the nation, and his passing takes one of the most important industrial and financial figures of our time." Months after Mellon's death, the Board of Tax Appeals handed down a ruling exonerating Mellon of all tax fraud charges. In the early 1880s, Mellon had a serious relationship with Fannie Larimer Jones, but he broke off

7581-493: The Treasury Department to his deputy, Ogden L. Mills . After the 1926 elections, Mellon and Mills sought to cut the corporate tax and fully repeal the estate tax. The Revenue Act of 1928 did indeed cut the corporate tax, but the estate tax was left unchanged. Mellon also focused on the construction of new federal buildings, and his efforts led to the construction of several buildings in the Federal Triangle . In 1928, Mellon stated that "in no other nation, and at no other time in

7714-671: The Treasury. His character is played by Carnegie Mellon alumnus James Cromwell . In the alternate history / time travel story "A Slip in Time" by S. M. Stirling , featuring a history in which the First World War was avoided and the Austro-Hungarian Empire survived, Andrew Mellon was the President of the United States in 1926. Mellon is the subject of three unflattering chapters in Matt Stoller's 2019 book, Goliath: The 100 Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy , which recounts efforts by populists in Washington (namely, Congressman Wright Patman ; Roosevelt administration lawyer Robert H. Jackson ; and Ferdinand Pecora , attorney for

7847-450: The U.S. economy as a whole. Mellon had little sympathy for the speculators who lost their money, and he was philosophically opposed to an interventionist economic policy designed to address the stock market crash. Nonetheless, Mellon immediately began calling for cuts to the discount rate, which would reach two percent in mid-1930, and successfully urged Congress to pass a bill providing for temporary, across-the-board tax cuts. Mellon supported

7980-497: The United States and France agreed to the Mellon-Berenger Agreement , which reduced France's debt and set terms for repayment. Coolidge surprised many observers by announcing that he would not seek another term in August 1927. The decision left Hoover as the presumed front-runner for the 1928 presidential election , but many conservatives within the party opposed Hoover's candidacy. The conservative resistance to Hoover centered around Mellon, who controlled Pennsylvania's delegation at

8113-539: The United States to France by seeking an appointment for him to become United States Ambassador to France . Frick had engaged a similar stratagem when orchestrating the ouster of the man who had saved his life, John George Alexander Leishman , from the presidency of Carnegie Steel a decade beforehand. In that instance, Leishman had chosen to accept the post as ambassador to Switzerland. Hyde, however, rebuffed Frick's plan. He did, however, move to France, where he served as an ambulance driver during World War I and lived until

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8246-458: The United States, second only to Hoover himself. Facing this unprecedented economic catastrophe, Mellon urged Hoover to refrain from using the government to intervene in the depression. Mellon believed that economic recessions, such as those that had occurred in 1873 and 1907, were a necessary part of the business cycle because they purged the economy. In his memoirs, Hoover wrote that Mellon advised him to "liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate

8379-628: The act also raised the personal exemption for federal income taxes, abolished the gift tax , reduced the estate tax rate, and repealed a provision that had required the public disclosure of federal income tax returns. Meanwhile, the booming economy fostered a $ 400 million budget surplus in 1926, and the country's national debt dropped from $ 24 billion in early 1921 to $ 19.6 billion at the end of fiscal year 1926. Government revenues increased considerably under Mellon's plan, largely collected from higher-income earners. With his top priority of tax reform accomplished, Mellon increasingly turned over management of

8512-465: The administration the reign of Coolidge and Mellon." Mellon's national reputation collapsed following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression . He participated in various efforts by the Hoover administration to revive the economy and maintain the international economic order, but opposed direct government intervention in the economy. After Congress began impeachment proceedings against Mellon, President Hoover shifted Mellon to

8645-449: The aftermath of World War I, he provided financial support to Henry Cabot Lodge and other Republicans in their successful campaign to prevent ratification of the Treaty of Versailles . Mellon attended the 1920 Republican National Convention as a nominal supporter of Pennsylvania Governor William Cameron Sproul (Mellon hoped Senator Philander Knox would win the nomination), but the convention chose Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio as

8778-527: The aftermath of the Spanish–American War , Mellon and Frick also became major shareholders in the New York Shipbuilding Corporation . In 1902, Mellon reorganized T. Mellon & Sons as the Mellon National Bank, a federally chartered National Bank. Andrew Mellon, Richard Mellon, and Frick drew up a new business arrangement in which the three of them jointly controlled the Union Trust Company, which in turn controlled Mellon National Bank. They also established Union Savings Bank, which accepted deposits by mail, and

8911-446: The alterations to the South Fork Dam that caused its failure, leading to the catastrophic Johnstown Flood . His vehement opposition to unions also caused violent conflict, most notably in the Homestead Strike . Frick was born in West Overton , Westmoreland County , Pennsylvania , in the United States, a grandson of Abraham Overholt (Oberholzer), the owner of the prosperous Overholt Whiskey distillery (see Old Overholt ). His father

9044-517: The brick and stone structures are still visible in both Fayette and Westmoreland Counties. Shortly after marrying Adelaide Howard Childs, in 1881, Frick met Andrew Carnegie in New York City while the Fricks were on their honeymoon. This introduction would lead to an eventual partnership between H. C. Frick & Company and Carnegie Steel Company and, eventually, to United States Steel . This partnership ensured that Carnegie's steel mills had adequate supplies of coke . Frick became chairman of

9177-522: The businesses he ran were still fairly small in the 1890s; T. Mellon & Sons employed seven individuals in 1895. In 1889, Mellon agreed to loan $ 25,000 to the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, a fledgling operation seeking to become the first successful industrial producer of aluminum. Mellon became a director of the company in 1891, and he and Richard played a major role in the establishment of aluminum factories in New Kensington, Pennsylvania , and Niagara Falls, New York . The company would emerge as one of

9310-481: The cancellation of European debts from World War I but recognized that Britain and other countries would be unable to pay those debts without a renegotiation of terms. In 1923, Mellon and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Stanley Baldwin negotiated an agreement in which Britain promised to pay off the debts over a 62-year period. After the adoption of the Dawes Plan , Mellon reached debt settlements with several other European countries. After protracted negotiations,

9443-467: The club bore no legal responsibility for the flood. Mellon did not publicly comment on the flood, though he did donate $ 1,000 to a relief fund. By the late 1890s, Mellon had amassed a substantial fortune, but his wealth paled in comparison to that of better-known business leaders such as John D. Rockefeller . In the late 1890s, the Union Trust Company emerged for the first time as one of Mellon's most important and profitable holdings after Mellon broadened

9576-479: The club or the flood. This strategy was a success, and Knox and Reed were able to fend off all lawsuits that would have placed blame upon the club's members. With a volumetric flow rate that temporarily equalled that of the Mississippi River, the flood killed 2,208 people and caused US$ 17 million of damage (about $ 450 million in 2015 dollars). The American Society of Civil Engineers launched an investigation of

9709-415: The coal production of the United States. With Frick, Richard Mellon, and William Donner , Mellon co-founded Union Steel Company, which specialized in the production of nails and barbed wire . Though Frick had fallen out with steel magnate and long-time business partner Andrew Carnegie , Mellon received Carnegie's consent to venture into the steel industry. Responding to the growing emphasis on naval power in

9842-455: The coalition of Democrats and progressive Republicans that exercised effective control over the 68th Congress . In February 1924, the House Ways and Means Committee approved of a bill based on Mellon's plan, but an alliance of progressive Republicans and Democrats engineered passage of an alternative tax bill written by Democrat John Nance Garner ; Garner's plan also reduced income taxes but set

9975-489: The collapse of the strike. Frick married Adelaide Howard Childs of Pittsburgh on December 15, 1881. They had four children: Childs Frick (born March 12, 1883), Martha Howard Frick (born August 9, 1885), Helen Clay Frick (born September 3, 1888) and Henry Clay Frick, Jr. (born July 8, 1892). In 1882, after the formation of the partnership with Andrew Carnegie, Frick and his wife bought a home they eventually called Clayton , an estate in Pittsburgh's East End. They moved into

10108-512: The collection. Much of the collection is available as digitized and openly accessible. Most of the collection is from 1881 to 1914, and is relevant to the history of the Pittsburgh region. The archive of Frick's great-grandfather, Henry Overholt (1739–1813), is also housed at the Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh Library System, University of Pittsburgh. Industrialist The term magnate derives from

10241-504: The company from going into bankruptcy. By the end of 1913, Mellon National Bank held more money in deposits than any other bank in Pittsburgh, and the Farmer's Deposit National Bank, which held the second-largest amount of deposits, was controlled by Mellon's Union Trust Company. In 1914, Mellon became a co-owner of Koppers , which produced a more sophisticated coking oven than the one that had earlier been pioneered by Frick. He also served as

10374-624: The company to secure a medicinal permit during Prohibition. This permit allowed Overholt to sell existing whiskey stocks to druggists for medicinal use. When Frick died in December 1919, he left his share to Mellon. In 1925, under pressure from prohibitionists, Mellon sold his share of the company to a New York grocer. Like his father, Mellon consistently supported the Republican Party, and he frequently donated to state and local party leaders. Through state party boss Matthew Quay , Mellon influenced legislators to place high tariffs on aluminum products in

10507-505: The company's activities to include commercial banking. With an infusion of capital from Union Trust, Mellon underwrote the capitalization of National Glass and several other companies. He also became a co-owner of the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company and established Crucible Steel Company, the Pittsburgh Coal Company , and the Monongahela River Coal Company ; the two coal companies collectively contributed 11 percent of

10640-464: The company. Carnegie made multiple attempts to force Frick out of the company they had created by making it appear that the company had nowhere left to go and that it was time for Frick to retire. Despite the contributions Frick had made towards Andrew Carnegie's fortune, Carnegie disregarded him in many executive decisions including finances. At the suggestion of his friend Benjamin Ruff, Frick helped to found

10773-426: The company. The family's whiskey company was a sentimental side business for Frick, and was headquartered in Pittsburgh's Frick Building . In 1907, as prohibition became more popular across the country, Frick and Mellon removed their names from the distilling license, although they retained ownership in the company. Upon Frick's death in 1919, he left his share of the company to Mellon. Frick and Carnegie's partnership

10906-523: The construction of a solid board fence topped with barbed wire around mill property. The workers dubbed the newly fortified mill "Fort Frick." With the mill ringed by striking workers, Pinkerton agents planned to access the plant grounds from the river. Three hundred Pinkerton detectives assembled on the Davis Island Dam on the Ohio River about five miles (8 km) below Pittsburgh at 10:30 p.m. on

11039-491: The couple married in 1900. Nora gave birth to a daughter, Ailsa , in 1901. Nora disliked living in Pittsburgh, and she was unhappy in her marriage. By the end of 1903, she had begun an affair with Alfred George Curphey, who would also later be involved with the wife of George Vivian, 4th Baron Vivian . Mellon and Nora eventually reconciled, and in 1907 she gave birth to a son, Paul . The reconciliation proved short-lived, as Nora took up with Curphey again in 1908 and requested

11172-463: The dam sat the city of Johnstown. Cambria Iron Company operated a large iron and steel work in Johnstown and its owner, Daniel J. Morrell , was concerned about the safety of the dam and the thoroughness of repairs made to it. The Club fatally lowered the dam by between 0.6 and 0.9 metres (2.0 and 3.0 ft). Poor repairs and maintenance, unusually high snow melt and heavy spring rains combined to cause

11305-498: The dam to give way on May 31, 1889, resulting in the Johnstown Flood . A screen placed across the spillway by the club to prevent fish from escaping also partly blocked the main spillway. When word of the dam's failure was telegraphed to Pittsburgh , Frick and other members of the club gathered to form the Pittsburgh Relief Committee for assistance to the flood victims, as well as determining never to speak publicly about

11438-468: The disastrous voyage. Frick died of a heart attack on December 2, 1919, at age 69. He was buried in Pittsburgh's Homewood Cemetery . Frick left a will in which he bequeathed 150 acres (0.61 km) of undeveloped land to the City of Pittsburgh for use as a public park, together with a $ 2 million trust fund to assist with the maintenance of the park. Frick Park opened in 1927. Between 1919 and 1942, money from

11571-552: The documents regarding the business and financial dealings from 1849 to 1919. These original documents record the evolution of the period of American steel and coal industrial growth. Documentation includes first business activities, first coal firm, H.C. Frick & Company , to the formation of United States Steel Corporation on March 2, 1901. Correspondence sent and received from prominent businessmen such as Andrew Carnegie , Charles Schwab , Andrew Mellon , Henry Oliver , H. H. Rogers , Henry Phipps , and J. P. Morgan are part of

11704-449: The economy went into a deep slump, as gross national product declined dramatically, and numerous workers lost their jobs. While numerous banks failed, Democrats won control of Congress in the 1930 mid-term elections . As the economy declined, so did Mellon's popularity, which was further damaged by his opposition to another bonus bill for veterans. In mid-1931, the country entered a deep depression, and, at Hoover's request, Mellon negotiated

11837-582: The establishment of the National Portrait Gallery , which also hosts several paintings donated by Mellon. Mellon was initiated to the Scottish Rite Freemasonry, till he raised the 33rd and highest degree. The Andrew W. Mellon Memorial Fountain in Washington was created by Sidney Waugh and was dedicated in May 1952 by Harry S. Truman . Washington, D.C., also hosts the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium and

11970-502: The exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club high above Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The charter members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were Benjamin Ruff; T. H. Sweat, Charles J. Clarke, Thomas Clark, Walter F. Fundenberg, Howard Hartley, Henry C. Yeager, J. B. White, Henry Clay Frick, E. A. Meyers, C. C. Hussey, D. R. Ewer, C. A. Carpenter, W. L. Dunn, W. L. McClintock, and A. V. Holmes. The sixty-odd club members were

12103-417: The farmers, liquidate real estate. Purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. ... enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people." Facing a large deficit, Mellon and Mills called for a return to the tax rates set by the Revenue Act of 1924 and also sought new taxes on automobiles, gasoline, and other items. Congress responded by passing

12236-541: The federal government would pay for the institution's upkeep. He conditioned the offer on the establishment of a board of trustees, a majority of whom would be chosen by Mellon. Despite the ongoing tax case against Mellon, the Roosevelt administration accepted the offer, and Congress passed legislation authorizing the construction of the National Gallery of Art on Mellon's terms. The National Gallery of Art opened in 1941 and continues to operate. Mellon's friend and former employee, David E. Finley Jr. , would later preside over

12369-580: The head of the Mellon financial empire. Emulating his father, Mellon eschewed philanthropy for much of his life, but in the early 1900s, he began donating to local organizations such as the YMCA . Mellon committed to his first large-scale act of philanthropy in 1913, when he and his brother, Richard, established the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research as a department of the University of Pittsburgh. In 1967,

12502-606: The history of the world, have so many people enjoyed such a high degree of prosperity or maintained a standard of living comparable to that which prevails throughout this country today." Responsibility for foreign relations lay with the State Department rather than the Treasury Department, and Benjamin Strong Jr. and other central bankers took the lead with regard to international monetary policy, but Mellon nonetheless exercised some influence in foreign affairs. He strongly opposed

12635-494: The home in early 1883. The Frick children were born in Pittsburgh and were raised at Clayton. Two of them, Henry, Jr. and Martha, died in infancy or childhood. In 1904, he built Eagle Rock, a summer estate at Prides Crossing in Beverly, Massachusetts on Boston 's fashionable North Shore . The 104-room mansion designed by Little & Browne was razed in 1969. Frick was a fervent art collector whose wealth allowed him to accumulate

12768-480: The idea of asset liquidation to balance budgets, even if it meant shutting down entire industries. By mid-1930, many, including Mellon, believed that the economy had already experienced the worst effects of the stock market crash. He did not object to the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act , which raised tariff rates to one of the highest levels in U.S. history. Despite the optimism of Hoover and Mellon, in late 1930

12901-627: The institute merged with the Carnegie Institute of Technology to form Carnegie Mellon University . Mellon also served as an alumni president and trustee of the University of Pittsburgh, and made several major donations to the school, including the land on which the Cathedral of Learning and Heinz Chapel were constructed. In total it is estimated that Mellon donated over $ 43 million to the University of Pittsburgh. Encouraged by Frick and guided by Charles Carstairs , Mellon began collecting art in

13034-423: The intervention of 8,000 armed state militia under the command of Major General George R. Snowden . During the confrontation Frick issued an ultimatum to Homestead workers, which restated his refusal to speak with union representatives and threatened to have striking workers evicted from their homes. Among working-class Americans, Frick's actions against the strikers were condemned as excessive, and he soon became

13167-526: The larger banks that was designed to assist failing institutions. As the National Credit Association proved to be ineffective at stemming the tide of bank failures, Congress and the Hoover administration established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to provide federal loans to banks. With the unemployment rate approaching twenty percent, Mellon became one of the most "loathed leaders" in

13300-451: The leading business tycoons of Western Pennsylvania, and included among their number Frick's best friend, Andrew Mellon , his attorneys Philander Knox and James Hay Reed , as well as Frick's occasional business partner Andrew Carnegie . The club members made inadequate repairs to what was at that time the world's largest earthen dam , behind which formed a private lake called Lake Conemaugh . Less than 20 miles (32 km) downstream from

13433-435: The leg with the pointed steel file before finally being subdued by other employees and a carpenter, who had rushed into the office. Frick was back at work within a week; Berkman was charged and found guilty of attempted murder. Berkman's actions in planning the assassination clearly indicated a premeditated intent to kill, and he was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Negative publicity from the attempted assassination resulted in

13566-417: The major decisions of the Mellon business empire during his time in public service, and he occasionally lobbied congressmen on behalf of his businesses. His fortune continued to grow, and at one point in the 1920s he paid more in federal income tax than any other individual save John Rockefeller and Henry Ford . As Treasury Secretary, Mellon focused on balancing the budget and paying off World War I debts in

13699-486: The media. Nora went so far to contest the divorce that she made an appeal to King George of England and parliament. In 1912, Mellon and Nora finally agreed on a divorce settlement, largely on Mellon's terms. Mellon did not remarry. Nora lived in Pittsburgh for several years before eventually settling in the Hudson Valley , and the two children alternated living with either parent. In 1923, Nora married Harvey Arthur Lee,

13832-467: The mid-to-late 1890s. Over the ensuing decades, his art collection continued to grow as he purchased pieces from Knoedler and Joseph Duveen , and during the 1920s his collection was generally considered to be one of the finest art collections in Washington. In the early 1930s, he purchased, according to Cannadine, just under half of the "greatest paintings" from the Soviet Union 's Hermitage Museum in

13965-479: The midst of the Depression of 1920–21 ; he was largely unconcerned with international affairs and economic matters such as the unemployment rate. To Mellon's chagrin, his department was charged with enforcing Prohibition; he did not believe in teetotaling himself and viewed the law as unenforceable. Aside from balancing the budget, Mellon's top priority was an overhaul of the federal tax code. The income tax had become

14098-619: The most profitable ventures invested in by the Mellons, and in 1907 it was renamed Alcoa . Moving into the petroleum industry, the Mellon family also established the Crescent Oil Company, the Crescent Pipeline Company, and the Bear Creek refinery. By 1894, the Mellon family's vertically integrated companies produced ten percent of the oil exported by the United States. Partly due to the difficult economic conditions caused by

14231-454: The nation's capital had witnessed" since before World War I, Ailsa married David K. E. Bruce , son of Democratic Senator William Cabell Bruce of Maryland. After attending Yale University and the University of Cambridge , Paul briefly worked at Mellon National Bank. He later settled in Virginia, becoming a well-known philanthropist. Mellon's nephew, Richard King Mellon , succeeded Andrew as

14364-508: The necessity for further tax cuts. William Allen White , a contemporary journalist, stated that "so completely did Andrew Mellon dominate the White House in the days when the Coolidge administration was at its zenith that it would be fair to call the administration the reign of Coolidge and Mellon." Coolidge, Mellon, business organizations, and administration allies conducted a publicity campaign designed to convince wavering congressmen to support Mellon's tax plan. Their efforts were opposed by

14497-411: The night of July 5, 1892. They were given Winchester rifles, placed on two specially-equipped barges and towed upriver with the object of removing the workers by force. Upon their landing, a large mêlée between workers and Pinkerton detectives ensued. Ten men were killed, nine of them workers, and there were seventy injuries. The Pinkerton agents were thrown back, and the riot was ultimately quelled only by

14630-405: The onset of the Panic of 1893 , in 1895 the Mellons sold their oil interests to Standard Oil . At roughly the same time they were selling their oil concerns, Andrew and Richard invested in the Carborundum Company, a producer of silicon carbide . The brothers gained majority ownership of the Carborundum Company in 1898 and replaced the company's founder and president, Edward Goodrich Acheson , with

14763-613: The outbreak of World War II. The Frick Collection is home to one of the finest collections of European paintings in the United States. It contains many works of art dating from the pre-Renaissance up to the post-Impressionist eras, displayed at the Henry Clay Frick House (built in 1913) in no logical or chronological order. It includes several very large paintings by J. M. W. Turner and John Constable . In addition to paintings, it also contains an exhibition of carpets, porcelain, sculptures, and period furniture. Frick purchased

14896-439: The party's presidential nominee. Mellon strongly approved of the party's conservative platform, and he served as a key fundraiser for Harding during the presidential campaign. Following Harding's victory in the 1920 presidential election, Harding considered various candidates for Secretary of the Treasury, including Frank Lowden , John W. Weeks , Charles Dawes , and, at the urging of Senator Knox, Andrew Mellon. By 1920, Mellon

15029-439: The position of United States ambassador to the United Kingdom . Mellon returned to private life after Hoover's defeat in the 1932 presidential election by Franklin D. Roosevelt . Beginning in 1933, the federal government launched a tax fraud investigation on Mellon, leading to a high-profile case that ended with Mellon's estate paying significant sums to settle the matter. Shortly before his death, in 1937, Mellon helped establish

15162-535: The position of ambassador to the United Kingdom . Mellon accepted the post, and Mills replaced his former boss as Secretary of the Treasury. Mellon arrived in Britain in April 1932, receiving a friendly reception from a country he had often visited over the previous thirty years. From his post, he watched the collapse of the international economic order, including the debt accords that he had helped negotiate. He also convinced

15295-416: The press generally referred to it as the "Mellon Plan". The Revenue Act of 1918 had set a top marginal income tax rate of 73% and a corporate tax of approximately 10%. Due in part to the size of the U.S. public debt, which had grown from $ 1 billion before the war to $ 24 billion in 1921, the provisions of the Revenue Act of 1918 remained in place when Harding took office. In 1921, the Treasury Department and

15428-671: The process of building or running their own businesses. Some are widely known in connection with these entrepreneurial activities, others through highly-visible secondary pursuits such as philanthropy , political fundraising and campaign financing, and sports team ownership or sponsorship. The terms mogul , tycoon , and baron were often applied to late-19th- and early-20th-century North American business magnates in extractive industries such as mining , logging and petroleum , transportation fields such as shipping and railroads , manufacturing such as automaking and steelmaking , in banking , as well as newspaper publishing. Their dominance

15561-579: The prosperity of the Roaring Twenties , Mellon emerged as one of the most renowned figures in the Harding administration. One admiring congressman referred to Mellon as the "greatest Secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton ". Harding died after suffering a stroke in August 1923, and he was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge . Mellon enjoyed closer relations with President Coolidge than he had with President Harding, and Coolidge and Mellon shared similar views on most major issues, including

15694-408: The relationship after learning that she was suffering from tuberculosis . After this experience, Mellon refrained from courting women for several years. In 1898, while traveling with Frick and Frick's wife to Europe, Mellon met Nora McMullen, a nineteen-year-old Englishwoman of Ulster Scots ancestry. Mellon visited McMullen's home of Hertford Castle in 1898 and 1899, and, after a period of courtship,

15827-422: The retention of a progressive income tax that would serve as an important, but not primary, source of revenue for the federal government. His so-called "scientific taxation" was designed to maximize federal revenue while minimizing the impact on business and industry. The central tenet of Mellon's tax plan was a reduction of the surtax, a progressive tax that affected only high-income earners. Mellon argued that such

15960-445: The state Republican Party. Numerous financial institutions failed in the months prior to Roosevelt's inauguration, but Mellon National Bank, the Union Trust Company, and another Mellon banking operation, Mellbank Corporation, were all able to avoid closure. Mellon strongly opposed Roosevelt's New Deal policies, especially the 1933 Banking Act , which required separation between commercial and investment banking. Mellon believed that

16093-541: The state of Pennsylvania . He later built the Neoclassical Frick Mansion in Manhattan (now designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark ), and upon his death donated his extensive collection of old master paintings and fine furniture to create the celebrated Frick Collection and art museum. However, as a founding member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club , he was also in large part responsible for

16226-455: The top marginal tax rate at 46% rather than Mellon's preferred 33%. In June 1924, Coolidge signed the Revenue Act of 1924 , which contained the income tax rates of Garner's bill and also increased the estate tax . Coolidge signed the bill but simultaneously called for further tax cuts. Congress also rejected Mellon's proposed constitutional amendment that would have barred the issuance of tax-exempt securities and, over Coolidge's veto, authorized

16359-572: The trust fund was used to enlarge the park, increasing its size to almost 600 acres (2.4 km). Many years after her father's death, Helen Clay Frick returned to Clayton in 1981, and lived there until her death in 1984. Frick was elected an honorary member of the Alpha chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity at the New England Conservatory of Music on October 19, 1917. The Henry Clay Frick archive of business records consisted of

16492-412: The various New Deal policies, including Social Security and unemployment insurance , undermined the free market system that had produced one of the largest economies in the world. Aside from banking reform, other New Deal policies, including regulations on utilities and coal mines and laws designed to promote labor unions, also affected Mellon's business empire. Additionally, the Revenue Act of 1934 and

16625-534: Was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. The son of Mellon family patriarch Thomas Mellon , he established a vast business empire before moving into politics. He served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from March 9, 1921, to February 12, 1932, presiding over the boom years of the 1920s and the Wall Street Crash of 1929 . A conservative Republican , Mellon favored policies that reduced taxation and

16758-512: Was challenged by William Scott Vare of Philadelphia and progressive leader Gifford Pinchot , who won the 1922 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. Nonetheless, Mellon would continue to exert an important influence on Pennsylvania politics throughout the 1920s, especially in senatorial elections and in Allegheny County. Mellon's influence over state politics waned in the early 1930s, as the progressive allies of Governor Pinchot took control of

16891-411: Was displeased by the bill. He also strongly disapproved of a "Bonus Bill" passed by Congress that would provide for additional compensation to veterans of World War I, partly because he feared it would interfere with his plans to reduce debt and taxes. With Mellon's support, Harding vetoed the bill, and Congress failed to override the veto. As the economy recovered from recession and began to experience

17024-430: Was given power of attorney to direct the operations of the bank. That same year, Thomas introduced his son to Henry Clay Frick , a customer of the bank who would become one of Mellons's closest friends. In 1882, Thomas turned over full ownership of the bank to his son, but Thomas continued to be involved in the bank's activities. Five years later, Mellon's younger brother, Richard B. Mellon , joined T. Mellon & Sons as

17157-1565: Was known as the Second Industrial Revolution , the Gilded Age , or the Robber Baron Era . Examples of business magnates in the western world include historical figures such as pottery entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood , oilmen John D. Rockefeller and Fred C. Koch , automobile pioneer Henry Ford , aviation pioneer Howard Hughes , shipping and railroad veterans Aristotle Onassis , Cornelius Vanderbilt , Leland Stanford , Jay Gould and James J. Hill , steel innovator Andrew Carnegie , newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst , poultry entrepreneur Arthur Perdue , retail merchant Sam Walton , and bankers J. P. Morgan and Mayer Amschel Rothschild . Contemporary industrial tycoons include e-commerce entrepreneur Jeff Bezos , investor Warren Buffett , computer programmers Bill Gates and Paul Allen , technology innovator Steve Jobs , vacuum cleaner retailer Sir James Dyson , media proprietors Sumner Redstone , Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch , industrial entrepreneur Elon Musk , steel investor Lakshmi Mittal , telecommunications investor Carlos Slim , Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson , Formula 1 executive Bernie Ecclestone , and internet entrepreneurs Larry Page and Sergey Brin . Andrew Mellon Andrew William Mellon ( / ˈ m ɛ l ə n / ; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), known also as A. W. Mellon ,

17290-497: Was little-known outside of banking circles, but his potential appointment to the cabinet received strong support from bankers and Pennsylvania Republican leaders like Knox, Senator Boies Penrose , and Governor Sproul. Mellon was reluctant to enter public life due to concerns about privacy and a belief that his ownership of various businesses, including Old Overholt distillery, would be a political liability. But Mellon also wanted to retire from active participation in business, and he saw

17423-449: Was of Swiss ancestry; his mother was of German ancestry. Frick's father, John W. Frick, was unsuccessful in business pursuits. Henry Clay Frick attended Otterbein College for one year, but did not graduate. In 1871, at 21 years old, Frick joined two cousins and a friend in a small partnership, using a beehive oven to turn coal into coke for use in steel manufacturing, and vowed to be

17556-707: Was strained over actions taken in response to the Homestead Steel Strike , an 1892 labor strike at the Homestead Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, called by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers . At Homestead, striking workers, some of whom were armed, had locked the company staff out of the factory and surrounded it with pickets. Frick was known for his anti-union policy and as negotiations were still taking place, he ordered

17689-404: Was too old to seek the presidency. Mellon attempted to convince Coolidge or Charles Evans Hughes to run, but neither heeded his appeals. In the months before the 1928 Republican Convention, Mellon maintained his neutrality in the presidential race, but with no compelling alternative Republican candidate willing to run, Mellon finally threw his support behind Hoover. With Mellon's backing, Hoover won

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