Mellon: An American Life

In the past decade, great biographers have mounted intense research and delivered a new generation of material documenting America's remarkable economic growth. David Cannadine has added greatly to that new canon with "Mellon: An American Life." For those that have an interest in why America operates the way it does, this book is a "must read." Cannadine documents, in incredible and interesting detail, the rise of Andrew Mellon and the greater Mellon fortune. Along the way, the reader gains important, although sometimes biased, insights into the economic miracle that happened in Pittsburgh at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. For Pittsburgh truly was the "Silicon Valley" of its age, and Cannadine illustrates correctly that Andrew Mellon and his brother were the "Sand Hill Road" venture capitalists of that era. Cannadine spends considerable time discussing the triumphs of Mellon's banking career, the important roles he plays in the development of Gulf Oil, Alcoa, and other large industrial organizations, his long tenure as Secretary of the Treasury, and his rank as one of the most significant art collectors of all time. For those that enjoy the minute details always present in good history and biography, Cannadine's effort is rewarding. But while this work is top notch, it lacks an understanding and appreciation of Mellon's longer term impact. He may well have had personal shortcomings, as all people do, but he was transformative in what he accomplished, and millions have benefited from his many efforts and initiatives. Pittsburgh evolved as much as any city in the world, and in the end a good deal of the wealth created there at the turn of the century has been preserved and reinvested in making the city the great place it is today. Cannadine shows little understanding of this in his writing - perhaps only a native could give it true perspective. And importantly, Cannadine barely captures the magnificence of Mellon's gift of the National Gallery of Art to the nation. Cannadine spends a lot of effort describing various barbs leveled at the time regarding Mellon's choice of John Russell Pope as the architect of the National Gallery. Time has shown that Mellon's choice was perfect - there was never serious, credible disdain for the building. Mellon's gift of art to found the Gallery is perhaps the greatest gift ever given to our country. Cannadine does make an effort to point out some of the shortcomings of Franklin Roosevelt - to limited success. Roosevelt is generally remembered as a great president, which is a well deserved reputation. But the man also had serious shortcomings and made many grave mistakes during his presidency. One has to wonder if the Holocaust might have been cut short if he had shown more leadership. One has to wonder if his monumental battles with big business actually prolonged the Depression (which really only ended with the advent of War). One has to wonder what it would

As I was nearing the end of this large and thorough biography of one of America's most prominent plutocrats, I was rooting for nonagenarian Andrew Mellon to live a few more years--just long enough to see the completion of his marvelous dream project and generous gift to the nation, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Sadly, Mellon did not live to see it completed, but this biographer holds our interest to the very end, in a book that comprises 620 pages of narrative and many more of notes and which took the author more than a decade to research and write. Having previously read both father Judge Thomas' and son Paul's autobiographies (both well worth your time and attention), and having lived in and around Andrew's milieu for many years, I knew the basic outlines of Mellon's life. The Scots-Irish Presbyterian boyhood growing up in what had been the Negley estate, the partnership with his father in Judge Thomas' investment forays, the lifelong friendship with business demagogue H C Frick, the late and ill-fated marriage to Englishwoman Nora McMullen, and the undemonstrative relationship with his children, not to mention the mature years during which Mellon's fortune burgeoned and consequently, his reshaping of the Pittsburgh urban scene. Anyone who has lived and worked within an hour's radius of "The Cathedral of Earning" as Mellon Bank's 1920s building on Mellon Square is still nicknamed, has heard the stories of Andrew's doings and indeed they still impact the social and business scene of Pittsburgh. However, Cannadine fleshes out the outline in so thorough a fashion that we do get a sense of the man who was lucky in business and unlucky in love, and who compensated for his disappointments in flesh and blood relationships by surrounding himself with portraits of beautiful but silent Englishwomen and amassed one of the world's greatest art collections. This biography was commissioned by Paul Mellon--with the goal of there being as complete and well researched a record of his father's life as possible. Cannadine, who is an acclaimed and prizewinning author, accepted the task with the caveat that he would draw his own conclusions and these were not subject to censure or review by Paul Mellon. So, we find this work as the end result of his Herculean labors. After spending 12 years with his subject, Cannadine, whose social and political orientation is not the same as Mellon or his family's circle, confesses that he has come to admire the man and his accomplishments even where he disagrees with Mellon's choices and convictions. Cannadine also makes it clear that Mellon was so private a man that at the end of the day it is hard to grasp some of the secrets of his persona. Certainly one of more interesting discoveries, and I would suspect one of the more frustrating unsolved aspects of Mellon's private life, is the question of who or what was "M___", the oft noted appointment in Mellon's diary during the years 1912-1917. It is u

A continual flow of books appears on Carnegie, Rockefeller, Frick, J.P. Morgan and others of the "gilded age" zillionaires who benefitted from the post-civil war industrialization of the U.S. But until now, Andrew Mellon (1855-1937) has lacked a substantial biography. David Cannadine, one of Britain's leading historians (who has taught here at Columbia and Princeton as well), has remedied this deficiency in this superb biography. It is a long book to be sure, 617 pages not counting notes; I always feel books of this dimension could benefit from more stringent editing. In its defense, it can be said to be authoritative and comprehensive. Mellon is largely a forgotten figure today, even for those of us who live in Washington and benefit from the National Gallery of Art and the National Portrait Gallery, and are aware of his service during three administrations (Harding, Coolidge, Hoover) as Secretary of the Treasury. Cannadine covers all aspects of Mellon's very diverse life and interests. He devotes limited attention to Mellon's parentage, although his father, Thomas Mellon, is quite an interesting figure in his own right. Much of the book is devoted to a solid business history of Mellon's activities--Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Mellon banks, etc. This affords us with an excellent resource for understanding this period in American history when these financial giants exercised such influence (Morgan stopping the panic of 1907, for example). Next, the book contains an excellent political history of the period, particularly 1920-1937, which witnesses the loss of GOP control and the shift to the New Deal. The third major dimension of the book is Mellon's art collecting and his plans for the creation of the National Gallery, and so we come to understand the reasons why so many of these financial giants ended up donating much of their money to build art museums, libraries, and other philanthropic endeavors. Finally, we learn about Mellon the man, a very private fellow who was capable of negotiating the donation of his extensive art collection to the very same United States that was trying him for tax fraud. Mellon's children in the late 1960's financed the construction of the National Gallery's East Building, and contributed much of the art which reposes there. Quite an interesting family. Cannadine was invited to undertake this 12 year project by Andrew's late son, Paul Mellon, a well-known cultural figure here in the nation's capitol. But this certainly is not an "authorized biography" which seeks to nominate its subject for sainthood. One of the most valuable sections of the book is "The Balance Sheet" section of the final chapter where Cannadine offers a very balanced but incisive summing up of Mellon and his life. Supported by 100 pages of notes, as well as photographs, color reproductions of some key Mellon art, and tables, this is clearly the work of a professional historian at the peak of his considerable powers. Mellon probably deserves nothin

This is one of those big biographies that I wanted to spend a bit more time with because of the way the life that is the subject of the book connects with the age in which he lived, how the generations before conditioned his opportunities and how the way he lived and affected his times echoed into the next generation. Andrew Mellon is an enigmatic character that has great complexities and yet at the same time seems to be not fully realized in his personal life. At his economic zenith, he paid more personal taxes than all but two men. While never nearly as rich as Carnegie or the senior Rockefeller, he was still amazingly wealthy. Mellon was shrewd and fiercely competitive in his business dealings and seemed to view investment and business growth in ways that are recognizable in, say, Warren Buffet today. He emphasized developing good companies and management teams rather than speculating in financial instruments. Yet, for all his business talent, he married disastrously and his daughter and son never felt close to him. They also felt quite burdened by the vast wealth he left them. Still, they never repudiated the wealth or the material ease of life it gave them despite their difficult search for their personal identity. The Mellons were Ulster Scots who came to American in the 1810s. Andrew Mellon's father, Thomas, was a boy when his father and mother, Andrew and Rebecca settled in western Pennsylvania to farm. Sewn into Rebecca's belt were 200 guineas that were to become the seed money for the Mellon fortune. As Thomas grew, he realized that he was no farmer. He worked to get himself a better education than any of his many sons obtained. The sons were provided as much of a private education as was necessary to set them up in business (including a smattering of college, if necessary). Otherwise, why waste the time and money on frivolity? Thomas became an attorney, a judge, a successful investor, and eventually a banker. To be sure, it was a private bank with extremely high standards for its clientele and hard dealing for the investments they made in the burgeoning Pittsburgh. Thomas married into a family with high social status that had fallen on hard times. Combined with his talent and hard won money, the dynasty was founded. Thomas and Sarah had eight children (six sons and two daughters - several of whom died very young), lived into their nineties. Thomas became known as The Judge and was one of the founders of the Republican Party, which the Mellons dominated in Pennsylvania until the New Deal. As he aged he even wrote an autobiography. David Cannadine, the author of this fine biography, uses quotes from The Judge's book to introduce each chapter and it is uncanny how aspects of The Judge's experience and thought echoed in the life of his most talented son. Andrew was a middle son, but easily the most talented. In fact, when facing decisions, the father would ask himself and the other sons, "what would Andrew do?