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American Jupiter: Leland Stanford and the Scandalous History of the Man Who Created Modern California
American Jupiter Leland Stanford and the Scandalous History of the Man Who Created Modern California Author:Roland De Wolk The life of Leland Stanford reads like a tall tale of the Old West. Born in a country tavern in upstate New York, Stanford followed the Gold Rush to California, became a successful businessman, and invested in railroads. He then made headway into politics, becoming governor of California and later a US senator. As president of the Central Pacifi... more »c Railroad, Stanford brought the locomotive Jupiter to preside over the completion of the first transcontinental railroad?and contemporaries likened him to the namesake Roman god. He then founded one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Stanford lived large and bold?amassing an astonishing fortune, only to die on the brink of bankruptcy.
In American Jupiter, Roland De Wolk balances the accomplishments of this quintessential self-made American man with the darker aspects of his life. He shows how Stanford used high public office to drain taxpayers, farmers, and merchants of millions, which he, in turn, squandered on mansions, race horses, jewels, and vast landholdings. Even the eponymous university in Silicon Valley?created from the largest private university endowment of all time?was born of tragedy, a memorial for Stanford?s fifteen-year-old son who died from typhoid fever.
Although deeply conservative in belief and style, Leland Stanford?s life was one of almost unparalleled risk, failure, and reward. For his legacy in business and education, he deserves to be as remembered in the same ranks as Vanderbilt, Carnegie, and Rockefeller. Richly detailed and deeply researched, American Jupiter helps restore his rightful place as an architect of modern America.« less