Robert Sobel

Discusses the history of money and investing from ancient times to the present day.

In the first full-scale biography of Calvin Coolidge in a generation, Robert Sobel shatters the caricature of our thirtieth president as a silent, do-nothing leader. Sobel delves into the record to show how Coolidge cut taxes four times, had a budget surplus every year in office, and cut the national debt by a third in a period of unprecedented economic growth. Though his list of accomplishments is impressive, Calvin Coolidge was perhaps best known and most respected by his contemporaries for his character. Americans in the 1920s embraced Coolidge for his upstanding character, which came as a breath of fresh air after the scandal-ridden administration of Warren G. Harding. Through research and analysis, Sobel reveals Coolidge's clear record of political successes and delivers the message that Coolidge had for our time - a message that speaks directly to our most important political debates. Coolidge's legacy is his deeds, not his words - which is exactly how he would have chosen to be remembered by history.

This book "contains career biographies of all cabinet heads, as well as of presidents, vice-presidents, and presidents of the Continental Congress. Only those individuals confirmed in office by the Senate have been included; acting cabinet officials -- of whom there were many, especially in the nineteenth century -- have been omitted since almost all served for very short periods of time. Each biography includes the most significant dates in the subject's life, family and other personal information, religious affiliation where available, service prior to and after cabinet duty, and place of death and interment. In addition, each biography contains a short bibliographic reference to important primary and secondary works to be consulted for additional information" -- Pref.

Wall Street and the stock market were major symbols of the 1920's, and the great crash was considered the end of that era. It is surprising, therefore, that little intensive study has been given to the bull market of the period. Several books have been written on the crash itself but none before has dealt with events leading up to it. The era of the 1920's was one of economic growth, and not merely tinsel and ballyhoo.

Thomas Edison -- King Gilette -- Adolph Zukor -- Mary Kay Ash -- Frederick Weyerhaeuser -- Frank Purdue -- John D. Rockefeller -- De Witt Clinton -- J.P. Morgan -- Alfred P. Sloan -- Samuel Colt -- Andrew Carnegie -- Henry Ford -- P.T. Barnum -- A.T. Stewart -- Montgomery Ward -- Samuel F.B. Morse -- David Sarnoff.