by James Grant
“a kind of Mecca . . .”: Quoted in Schwarz, p. 426.
“The greatest asset . . .”: Ibid., p. 425.
“Dear Chief: Ibid., p. 468.
“great modern thinkers.”: Herman Baruch to Secretary of State, Apr. 12, 1945. (State Department document.)
“THIS BARAUCH . . .”: Fred Jenny to Fulton Lewis, c. Sept. 1943; Baruch General Correspondence.
“There has been . . .”: Baruch and Hancock, “War and Postwar Adjustment Policies,” Feb. 15, 1944, p. 7; Baruch papers. As late as Dec. 23, 1943 (Baruch to Garet Garrett), Baruch himself was worried about a postwar deflation, but his revised bullish opinion was correct.
Baruch attitude toward Germany: See, for instance, Morgenthau Diaries, 45, Apr. 21, 1945, p. 106, in which Baruch was quoted as saying: “That is all I have to live for now is to see that Germany is deindustrialized and that it’s done the right way, and I won’t let anybody get in my way.” Morgenthau said that he spoke with tears in his eyes.
“the President.”: Wallace interview, Columbia University Oral History Collection, p. 4012.
Chapter Fifteen: The Atom and All
“Asked old man . . .”: Robert H. Ferrell, ed., Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman (New York, 1980), p. 87.
“I am confused . . .”: Morgenthau Diaries, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, 44, p. 164; memorandum dated Mar. 13, 1945.
“The real protection . . .”: New York Times, Mar. 29, 1946.
Begging calls: Baruch wrote to Swope on Mar. 2, 1946: “There are so many friends and relatives who continually harass me for help of all kinds, that what with being bothered by them on the telephone, I would go mad.” Swope papers.
“another messenger boy . . .”: Bernard M. Baruch, Baruch: The Public Years (New York, 1960), p. 361.
“Hell, you are!”: Ibid., p. 363.
“monopoly capitalism”: New York Times, Feb. 10, 1946.
Baruch’s House Banking Committee testimony: Ibid., Mar. 26, 1946.
“I have unlimited . . .”: Baruch to Senator Joseph Guffey, Feb. 24, 1945.
“. . . I was quite sick.”: David E. Lilienthal, The Journals of David E. Lilienthal, Vol. II, The Atomic Energy Years, 1945–1950 (New York, 1964), p. 30.
“I had grimly . . .”: Ibid., pp. 39–40.
“predictable”: Informal Notes of a Meeting with the American Members of the Military Staff Committee, 10:30 a.m.—Sept. 12, 1946, p. 4 (State Department document).
“Wall Streeters”: John M. Hancock, “Memorandum for Atomic Energy File” (State Department document), Apr. 19, 1946, p. 2. Hancock wrote as an aside: “I wonder as a matter of personal curiosity whether more generally abusive terms were not used.”
Baruch’s accusation of Acheson: Acheson to Baruch, Aug. 23, 1946 (State Department document).
Lilienthal suspicions: Lilienthal Journals, Vol. II, p. 42; wink of the eye: Adele Busch to author, May 4, 1983.
“At least one hundred . . .”: Draft Memorandum to the Secretary of State, Mar. 31, 1946 (State Department document).
“dominion”: Minutes of a meeting at Blair-Lee House, Washington, DC, Friday, May 17, 1946, p. 6 (State Department document). (Cited hereafter as Blair-Lee minutes.)
Baruch’s Joint Chiefs meeting: Mentioned in Blair-Lee minutes, May 18, 1946, p. 37.
Article X: Lilienthal Journals, Vol. II, pp. 130–132 (dated Jan. 11, 1947).
“. . . a law without . . .”: Blair-Lee minutes, May 17, p. 18.
“Don’t let these”: Lilienthal Journals, Vol. II, pp. 42–43.
“Write down . . .”: Ibid., p. 53.
Hiss memo: Hiss to Acheson, May 8, 1946 (State Department document).
“I’ve got . . .”: Baruch, The Public Years, p. 369.
“We are here . . .”: Quoted in E. J. Kahn, Jr., The World of Swope (New York, 1965), pp. 400–401.
Lilienthal-Oppenheimer reaction: Lilienthal Journals, Vol. II, pp. 60–61.
“rhetoric and truth . . .”: Quoted in Kahn, p. 401.
“Conn must wish . . .”: Baruch, The Public Years, p. 379.
10-2 vote: Lilienthal Journals, Vol. II, p. 69.
“If it is good . . .” and ff.: Ibid., pp. 75–76.
Newsprint story: Baruch, The Public Years, p. 378.
Baruch’s resigned attitude: In a meeting on Aug. 1, a stenographer wrote: “Mr. Baruch stated that there has been a tremendous change in public attitude toward Russia. We must do everything we can to reach an agreement: nevertheless, ultimately, we must face the facts. If we have made every effort to reach an agreement, we can then face a break with a clear conscience.” (Notes on conference with General McNaughton and Mr. Ignatieff, Aug. 1, 1946, State Department document.)
“Repeated efforts . . .”: Observations Concerning the Attitude of the Soviet Representatives on the Atomic Energy Commission, Aug. 12, 1946, p. 1.
Baruch’s bomb suggestion: A minute-taker quoted him: “In strengthening our military potential against the day that negotiations may break down, efforts should be redoubled to accumulate stockpiles with raw materials and atomic bombs.” (Informal notes of staff meeting, 11 a.m.—Sept. 10, 1946, State Department document.)
“We cannot afford . . .”: Memorandum for the President, Sept. 17, 1946, p. 21 (State Department document).
“Is it any wonder . . .”: New York Times, Sept. 18, 1946.
“The tougher . . .”: Ibid., Sept. 13, 1946.
“main agent . . .”: Memo to the director of the FBI, Mar. 22, 1947; FBI document 62-45288-143.
“Here’s the atomic . . .”: New York Times, Dec. 31, 1946.
War College anecdote: Quoted in Lilienthal Journals, Vol. II, p. 258.
“I’m just not . . .”: Ibid., p. 163.
“Flatterer . . .”: Ferrell, p. 64.
“rude, uncouth and ignorant . . .”: New York Journal American, Oct. 31, 1948. Just those words appear in Pegler’s notes of the conversation; Pegler papers.
“The incident reflects . . .”: Krock to Pegler, Dec. 8, 1951; Pegler papers.
“Let us . . .”: Quoted in Kahn, p. 403.
“You performed . . .”: Quoted in Jordan A. Schwarz, The Speculator: Bernard M. Baruch in Washington, 1917–1965 (Chapel Hill, NC, 1981), p. 530.
“For every paragraph . . .”: Pegler column (Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph), May 29, 1947.
“Look at . . .”: Lilienthal Journals, Vol. Ill, Venturesome Years: 1950–1955, p. 31.
Swope memos: Swope papers.
“You son . . .”: Quoted in Kahn, p. 395.
“It has been . . .”: Swope to Baruch, Apr. 30, 1948; Swope papers.
“thrived on contention . . .”: Kahn, p. 440.
“Mr. Baruch”: Swope to Baruch, Apr. 14, 1953.
“substantial”: Swope note to himself, Dec. 28, 1953; Swope papers.
“I have sensed . . .”: Baruch to Swope, Nov. 26, 1954.
“Any person . . .”: New York Times, Aug. 17,1955. On Aug. 10, 1953, in a letter to E. D. Coblentz, Baruch offered this view on internal security: “Whether they [the Soviets] have the hydrogen bomb through spies I do not know but they certainly got the atomic bomb through spies. What else they got, we do not know but we do know that no one has the right to be a communist or a fellow-traveler while we face an antagonistic enemy—imperialistic communism.”
Stock-market testimony: Stock Market Study; Hearings before the Committee on Banking and Currency, United States Senate, Washington, DC, 1955.
“I used to wait . . .”: New York Times, Aug. 19, 1956.
Baruch’s estate: According to probate documents, he left $115,801.84 in cash, $8.4 million in bonds, $5.5 million in stocks, with the balance in miscellaneous accounts.
“It’s a terrible thing . . .”: Van Ess to author, June 5, 1982.
“You know . . .”: Harold Epstein to author, July 9, 1980.
Description of Baruch’s apartment: Dorothy Schiff in the New York Post, Oct. 21, 1951.
Stock-market details: James Myers to
author.
“Mr. Baruch stated . . .”: E. J. Powers to J. Edgar Hoover, Sept. 25, 1957 (FBI document).
“his eyes . . .”: Harold Epstein to author, July 9, 1980.
Malone story: Adele Busch to author, Feb. 12, 1980.
Sapphire story: The source asked for anonymity.
“You may wonder . . .”: Baruch to Coblentz, Mar. 5, 1955.
“Tell Mr. Hoover . . .”: Edward Scheidt to J. Edgar Hoover, Nov. 15, 1950 (FBI document).
“there is no use . . .”: Bernard M. Baruch, Baruch: My Own Story (New York, 1957), p. 50.
“It would be a pretty . . .”: J. Leon Gasque, Jr., in oral history interview with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Mar.-Apr. 1979.
“Elizabeth, show her . . .” and ff.: Navarro to author, Feb. 21, 1980.
“I can’t keep up . . .”: New York Times, Aug. 19, 1964.
Niehans story: Helen Lawrenson, Stranger at the Party: A Memoir (New York, 1975), p. 161; and an interview with a doctor of Baruch’s who asked not to be identified.
“live and be strong . . .”: Baruch to Rusk, Oct. 11, 1961.
“That’s the best . . .”: Epstein to author, Apr. 15, 1980.
“God damn it . . .”: Quoted in Kahn, p. 410.
“Ah, who the hell . . .”: Epstein to author, July 9, 1980.
Spellman story: Navarro to author, Feb. 21, 1980.
Index
#
1929, Crash of 243, 267, 276–278, 281, 282–286, 287, 294, 325. See also Depression, Great
Beruch’s prescience about 274
A
Abraham Lincoln Battalion 336, 435
Acheson, Dean 319, 368
Acheson-Lilienthal group 369, 374
Acheson-Lilienthal report 369, 371, 375, 377
Acton, Harry 325, 434
Adams Express 282
advertising 44, 269, 387
Advisory Commission on National Defense 338
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) 312, 320
agriculture
Baruch’s activities in 122, 235
in South Carolina 7, 239
money demand and 236
Alaska Gold Mine Company 108
Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company 108
Aldrich, Nelson 104
Allen, J. M. 146, 148, 416
Allis-Chalmers 48
Alloway, Henry 62
Amalgamated Copper Company 80, 93, 102
public disclosure by 54–55
American Beet Sugar Company 126, 127, 131
American Bicycle Company 48
American Can Company 156
American Legion 382, 398
American Smelters Securities Company 90
American Smelting & Refining Company 94–96, 269
American Spirits Manufacturing Company 67
American Stock Exchange 42, 92
American Sugar Refining Company 35, 54
American Tin Plate Company 41
American Tobacco Company 64
Anaconda Copper Co. 55, 278, 280, 283–285
Anderson, Chandler P. 212
anti-Semitism 328, 338, 350
appendectomy 12
Appleyard, Albert E. 60
arbitrage 30, 76
Baruch’s training in 24
prohibition of 44
armaments 187, 336
Armour & Company 273
Armour Grain Company 236
Armsby, George 286, 288
Army, US 100, 183, 184, 186, 200, 203–204, 209–210, 392
du Pont and 187–191, 193
in World War II 336–339, 357, 359, 362
Arthurdale project 327
Astor, Nancy 318
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 52
Atiola (tungsten mine) 180
Atlantic Coast Line 50, 264
Atlantic Monthly C 265
atomic bomb 199, 334, 368, 377, 442
July memorandum and 381–382
Atomic Development Authority 368
Australia, gold-mining in 53
Austria 162, 212, 220, 287, 294, 297
automobile industry 206
B
Bache & Company 79
Bache, Jules S. 71
Baker, George F. 104, 284
Baker, Newton D. 189, 295, 304
Baker, Stephen 101
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) 163, 264–265, 268, 279, 289, 293–296
Norman vs. 322–323
Balzac, Honoré de 26
bank deposits, federal insurance of 42
bankruptcy
of National Cordage Company 47
of railroads 49, 74, 296
of United States Flour & Milling Trust 48–49
Baragwanath, John 249
Barkley, Alben W. 260
Barton, Bruce 273, 297
Barton, Peggy 243
Baruch, Annie Griffen (wife) 61–62, 65, 69, 82, 88, 180, 196, 227
death of 333–334, 361
description of 33–34
in Hobcaw 114
in New York City 116, 268
marriage of 36
pregnancies and childbirths of 66, 68, 72
social credentials of 118
travels of 85–86, 104, 106, 114, 210, 276, 307, 320
Baruch, Belle (daughter) 85, 210, 320
as equestrienne 118
at Hobcaw 112, 115
birth of 72
death of 401
encounter with anti-semitism 116–118
Hobcaw turned over to 114
Baruch, Bernard Mannes
accent of 6
affairs of 361
amiability of 19, 66
and the press 59, 100, 119, 129, 139, 218–219, 306, 325–326, 343–344, 357, 359, 381, 394. See also specific news sources
anti-Semitism and 328, 338, 350
apprenticeships of 22–23, 39, 192
as a fighter 12, 25, 27, 335
as a Jew 5, 19, 117–118, 163, 183, 195, 209, 232, 255, 257, 325, 345, 398, 400
as a parental failure 116
as a southerner 6, 159–160, 208
as delegate to UN Atomic Energy Commission 369
as diplomat 217, 382
as eclectic 7, 63, 248, 335, 393
as éminence grise 312
as encyclopedic young man 27
as entertainer 219, 343, 398
as financial establishment 119–121
as gold partisan 53
as golfer 116, 118
as gym instructor 25
as ideal subordinate 182–183
as investment banker 63, 105
as model patient 334
as New York Stock Exchange governor 103, 123, 139
as peacemaker after World War I 209–230
as peripatetic millionaire 111
as pro-German 220–222
as proponent of war preparedness 159, 161, 163, 172, 330, 338, 341, 370
as railroad bondholder 133–145, 153, 295
as railroad buff 133
as Republican voting Democrat 124
as second-most-important man 2
as short seller 66, 71, 77, 79, 81–83, 89, 96, 103, 124, 170–171, 174–175, 267, 271, 279–280, 288
as southerner 6, 159, 160, 208
as venture capitalist 63, 105, 281, 303
autobiography of (My Own Story) 5, 7, 9, 17, 87, 101, 181, 224, 265, 274, 288, 326, 398, 400
automobiles and boats of 111–112, 238
birth of 5
brokerage partnership 34, 61, 86–88
card-playing and 23, 116, 144, 277, 399
caution of 103, 144, 158, 207, 303
charity of 233, 239
charm of 71–72, 315, 375
chauffeurs of 89, 112, 161–162, 213, 238
childhood of 5–19
club memberships of 118–119, 343
coming of age of 37
commodities experience of 97
congressional investigation of 164�
�177
cruel streak of 396–397
deafness of 361–362, 398
death of 400–401
decisiveness of 62, 194, 196
description of 5, 220
diary of 193
education of 2, 16–19, 24
elephant analogy of 144, 303
financial ambitions of 63
financial inventory of (1931) 293–295
financial losses of 67, 98, 198, 230, 233, 265, 267–268, 276, 286, 289
“free ride” of 30
gambling of 22, 24, 156
ghostwriters used by 228, 241, 326
gossip about 132, 169, 220
guilty feelings of 23, 310, 333
“his métier was peril” said of 335
honorary degrees and awards of 307, 382–383
hunting and 115
hypochondria of 334, 359–360
in Advisory Commission 163–164, 181, 183–184, 196, 198, 338
income and net worth of 156, 294, 394
income-tax returns of 276
independence of 306
in Great Depression 287–291
in lawsuits 105, 112
inside information used by 55, 89, 316
integrity of 81, 87–88, 370
intelligence of 19, 260, 370
introspection of 88, 289
jokes about 5, 141, 317, 378
leisure-time travels of 120–121, 132, 162, 202, 257, 273, 336
loyalty of and to 6, 199, 254, 321
marriage proposals offered to 360–361
medical ambitions of 21
memo to himseIf (1930) 289–292
nicknames of 5, 12, 19, 203, 372
patriotism of 16, 231, 331, 339, 341
personal safety of 293
philosophy of life 202–203, 230
political ambitions of 257, 259
political changeability of 63, 248–249, 335, 393
political contributions of 274
political credo of 304–305
political favors of 160–161
public-policy debates of 390–392
restlessness of 24, 81, 254
rheumatism and gout of 163, 296, 306, 335, 398
seasickness of 111
self-confidence of 69, 71, 97
social standing of 92, 118
speaking style of 168, 217
speeches of 307–308, 313–314, 376–378, 400
