John D Rockefeller. Cornelius Vanderbilt. Andrew
Carnegie. John Jacob Astor. Henry Ford. Joseph P Kennedy.
Even today, long after their deaths, the names of these
six men continue to be associated with wealth and power.
When they were alive, they dominated their worlds as few
men had done before, and few have done since. These are
the life stories of six of the richest men who ever lived
in America. Their lives offer us windows into ways of
life over two centuries that most of us can only imagine,
and an opportunity to glimpse times when laws, attitudes,
prejudices and opportunities were very different from
today. Their achievements - financial, political and
social - continue to affect us, for good or ill, to this
day. Their mistakes still offer important lessons about
the acquisition, use and abuse of wealth and power. And
had they not lived, the history of America - and the
world - might have been very different indeed.