Willie K. Vanderbilt II: A Biography

· McFarland
Ebook
264
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

The Vanderbilts were one of the great American families of the industrial era. This book explores the life of one of its lesser-known scions of the fourth generation, William Kissam Vanderbilt II, known simply as Willie K. An inheritor, not a builder, Willie K. lacked the drive and ambition necessary for furthering the Vanderbilt dynasty, especially in the political atmosphere of bank failures, the dawn of progressivism, and the First World War. This biography, while the story of one man, is also an exploration of the burden of enormous wealth, the danger of inherited dreams, and the struggle for self-actualization regardless of wealth or social status.

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About the author

Steven H. Gittelman is president of a market research company in New York and serves on the board of the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum.

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