Pittsburgh History Spring 1993 trasting rituals and structures among The New Crowd: The ch and Rehfeld show that Weill was the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Changing Face oftheJewish a man driven by success, later head- Knights, and other orders exam- Guard on Wall Street ing American Express and Primeri- ined,would have enhanced the work. ca. The book also contains a fine The place offraternal orders and by Judith R. Erlich and Barry J. sketch ofSidney Weinberg, known related organizations in the Pitts- Rehfeld for breaking through religious and burgh vicinity has yet to be deter- Boston: Little,Brown, 1989. Pp. 444. class barriers on Wall Street; Wein- mined. What is known is that Ma- Illustrations, notes, bibliography, berg directed the trading depart- $19.95 sonry served as a paragon during the index. ment at Goldman Sachs, sat on late eighteenth and early nineteenth boards of numerous corporations, century, recruiting men from vari- thelate nineteenth was even offered diplomatic posts, ous strata ofthe middle- and upper- century, an elite group of and was perceived by executives of classes. Similar to Joseph RishePs DURINGJews ofGerman extraction both Protestant and Jewish invest- conclusions in his Founding Fami- played a prominent role inthe world ment firms as being "Mr. Wall lies ofPittsburgh: The Evolution ofa ofAmerican investment banking. As Street." Regional Elite (Univ. of Pittsburgh Stephen Birmingham demonstrates The authors as well make a case Press, 1990, 59-61, 181), my find- (The Great Jewish Families ofNew for other financiers connected with ings about Masons inearly Steuben- Tor*[NewYork,1967]), the Schiffs, the newcrowd. The son ofa Russian ville,Ohio, in Enlightened Men: A Kuhns, Goldmans, and Lehmans immigrant who did well inOklaho- History ofSteubenville Lodge #45 F. constituted the basis of this crowd ma in the clothing business, "Ace" and A.M. (Standard Press, 1967, and were intimately involved in the Greenberg joined Bear, Stearns in 15-42), suggest that between 1818 financing of both American and 1949. Known as a gambler, he made and the CivilWar, members for the European industries; these and oth- considerable profits for his firmfrom most part consisted ofmilitary and er members of that crowd became his trading, and later became itshead. political leaders, lawyers, physicians, the great Jewish families of New The book also contains an interest- merchants, bankers, and a few me- York and, more importantly, took ing profile of Lewis Glucksman; a chanics and farmers. Such men evi- pride in their reputations as major man with the unyielding stare of a dently were attracted to Masonry contributors to cultural and philan- bulldog, Glucksman gave capable because ofits ritualistic appeal and thropic causes. Incontrast, Erhlich direction to the commercial paper social opportunities. During the late and Rehfeld show that by the 1980s, division of Lehman Brothers and nineteenth century and well into a new crowd of Jewish investment was named to the firm's board of this one, members ofmylodge were bankers emerged on Wall Street directors. The authors explain, how- middle- and working-class men. which was ofEastern European her- ever, how Glucksman was socially However, since the early 1960s, de- itage. rejected and how old crowd aristo- monstrative of the national pattern The authors believe that mem- crats Frederick Ehrman and Pete inMasonry, membership inmylodge bers ofthe newcrowd were compet- Peterson thwarted his rise to the top as wellas inothers inthis region has itive,mobile, innovative, and chari- position within the firm.Incontrast, greatly declined. table. Gutfreund, Milken, Wasser- the experiences of John Gutfreund Studies ofother male and female stein, and many other investment at Salomon Brothers were some- fraternal orders inthe Western Penn- barons of the new crowd were in- what different than those ofGlucks- sylvania region are greatly needed. volved withmergers, leveraged buy- man. Gutfreund developed an ame- Neither are there many works about outs, and arbitrage, and ultimately nable relationship with Billy women's societies orreligious/eth- helped to promote a new financial Salomon, helped to revitalize nic organizations. Ritualistic lan- environment inAmerica during the Salomon Brothers, and ultimately guage and doctrines, philanthropi- '80s. became its president. Combative and cal activities, and gender and ethnic The book is a collective biogra- tough, Gutfreund developed vast bonding probably were among the phy and abounds withvividprofiles contacts withinstitutional investors, major reasons that residents in the of executives from the new crowd. enabling him to sell withease large Pittsburgh vicinity once gravitated The son ofPolish Jews, Sandy Weill, amounts of underwritings and to to these organizations ingreat num- who exuded aggressiveness, climbed transform Salomon Brothers into bers. \u25a0 the ladder at Shearson Hayden and the largest firm on Wall Street. eventually bought controlling inter- Ehrlich and Rehfeld examine oth- est in the firm. Moreover, Weillin er major investment roles ofpromi- 1979 fused his firm with Loeb nent members of the new crowd. Rhoades and thus absorbed the last Felix Rohatyn, who escaped the per- of the Wall Street firms which had secution of the Nazis, is depicted as been owned and directed by Amer- adeal-maker; Rohatyn became asso- ican Jews ofGerman descent. Ehrli- ciated with Lazard Freres and re-
42 Reviews
««I fk ny ArtofAmerican nated in the last 100 years by large- the common, some less typical hold- Livestock Breeding scale producers, many animals orig- ings are described, such as Alleghe- inallybred to forage& for the meager ny' County's. Besides giving the Pittsboro, N.C.: American Minor ,, , ,°. j jj c / .. orr small and subsis- names and addresses orr i? i Breeds Conservancy 1991 Pd xiii' supplies these places, 79 Introduction acknowledge- tence farming operations are far less their main resources are also listed. ments, illustrations. $15 paperback, valuable today. Some issues raised in Another section describes the re- plus $2 postage, from American Minor the book: because animals don't sources and their strong points. Fi- Breeds Conservancy, Box 477, roam freely for their food, much of nally, key journals, serials, books, Pittsboro, NC 27312 the meat in our food stores is fatter and articles are listed, with separate than need be; the health ofmodern lists for works on individual archi- HISlittlebook is acatalogue livestock herds is ensured with ex- tects and buildings. I for a traveling exhibition of pensive drugs unhealthy forhumans; -A. paintings ofrare and endan- are • many animals raised inconfined, n f rj^- jr:frUt>
cruited to his firm such clients as tors involved withmergers and lever- financial strategies and achievements David Rockefeller, Samuel Bronf- aged buy-outs during the dynamic ofBruce Wasserstein. After earning man, and David Sarnoff. Rohatyn, '80s. There are stimulating accounts degrees from Harvard's law and moreover, engaged in deals topro- ofSaul Steinberg, who succeeded in business schools, Wasserstein as- vide financial assistance toAvis,ITT, the takeover of Pergamon, and of sumed amanagement position with and many other corporations. The Carl Icahn, known for his raids on First Boston, developed great inter- authors devote considerable atten- Phillips Petroleum and TWA.There est in corporate mergers, and mas- tion to Jewish financiers and inves- is an instructive chapter about the ter-minded the takeover of Pet by
43 Pittsburgh History Spring 1993
ICIndustries and that ofConoco by about the American Establishment inition of the Early American fron- DuPont. After these and other take- and also establishes the place ofJews tier. McConnelPs study ofthe Ohio overs, Wasserstein left First Boston ofEast European origins within the Country illustrates how the region during the late '80s to establish his power structure of Wall Street. \u25a0 developed from inter-colonial and own investment group. inter- cultural contact ofpeoples and The authors also demonstrate that William Weisberger interests: traders, settlers, headmen, other members of the new crowd Butler County Community College warriors, missionaries, and diplo- were at the nexus of Wall Street mats. finance during the dynamic '80s. McConnell rescues the Upper Michael Milken, who did his mas- A Country Between: The Ohio Valley from the margins of ter's thesis on "highyield"bonds at history. Because ofa lack ofhistori- the University of Pennsylvania, is Upper Ohio Valley and its cal and archaeological records from depicted as the "Junk Bond King." Peoples, 1724-1774 the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- After graduating from Penn, Milken by Michael McConnell turies, modern histories have labelled headed the junk bond department Lincoln,Neb.: University ofNebraska the Upper Ohio Valley poorly of Drexel Burnham, utilizing these Press, 1992. Pp. 359. Illustrations, known; furthermore, the region has high yielding debt instruments to maps, bibliography, notes, index. $50 been minimized by two perspec- finance many corporate take-overs tives. One perspective was a Euro- and transforming this small firminto centric bias. Since Francis Parkman's a leading star on Wall Street. The A Country Between, Michael Montcalm and Wolfe (1909), schol- authors also explainhow IvanBoesky McConnell offers an insightful ars interested inthe French and In- and Dennis Levine derived enor- INand comprehensive analysis of dian War period have tended topush mous profits from arbitrage activi- the Ohio Country during the colo- Indians to the margins of frontier ties and illegal insider information nial and revolutionary periods. Mc- history. Historians have assumed, and how these scandals, along with Connell analyzes how Ohio Coun- incorrectly, that since Indians even- other ones during the late '80s, were try Indians "confronted the chal- tually lostcontrol ofthe Upper Ohio embarassing tomembers of the new lenges oflivingbetween competing Valley, their history could be readily crowd. Inthe epilogue, Ehrlich and colonies and empires from their ini- summarized or diminished. Refheld conclude that Jewish in- tialsettlement of the Ohio Country The other perspective whichmin- vestment bankers during the 1980s through Dunsmore's War."(p. 3) imized the region was an Indian greatly changed the operations of McConnell examines— how these na- bias. Ohio Country Indians have American finance. tive societies —Delaware, Shawnee, been overshadowed by the Iroquois This study has much to recom- and Seneca struggled to main- Confederacy. Although Francis Jen- mend it.The major thesis regarding tain their cultural and political sov- nings's works, including The Am- the behavior and roles ofEast Euro- ereignty. A Country Between illus- biguous Iroquois Empire: The Cove- pean Jews in American finance is trates how the Ohio Country Indi- nant Chain Confederation ofIndi- consistently developed throughout ans "were flexible in their dealings ans Tribes with English Colonies the book. Ehrlichand Rehfeld effec- with outsiders, developing a range (1984) has helped toerode the "im- tivelyuse the technique ofcollective of creative strategies from armed perial myth" of the Iroquois, the biography, based on many inter- resistance to accommodation in re- historical image of the early Ameri- views, and include extensive foot- sponse to ever-shifting" threats and can frontier is still shaped by the notes and a solid bibliography. The opportunities . (3) history and diplomacy of the con- book, however, is repetitious inplac- Historically, there has been a ten- federacy. Scholars have tended to es, suffers from some organizational dency within the field of colonial assign other Indian societies, includ- problems, and says littleeither about history to separate "Indian" history ing the Ohio Country Indians, a the features of "financial anti- from "colonial" history; however, subordinate status inrelation to the Semitism" orabout the implications recent historical studies such as James Iroquois Confederacy. ofillegalinsider trading. Insum, this Merrell's The Indians* New World: InA Country Between, McCon- book, which is intended for both Catawbas and their Neighbors from nell successfully steps outside these general readers and scholars, is im- European Contact through the Era of two perspectives which limit the portant, for itgives further credence Removal{\9%9)2in& Daniel Unser's analysis of the Ohio Country. Mc- and clarity to the theories ofE. Dig- Indians,Settlers, and Slaves ina Fron- Connell approaches developments by Baltzell and G.WilliamDomhoff tier Exchange Economy: The Lower in the region from a western, fron- (Baltzell, The Protestant Establish- Mississippi ValleyBefore 1783 {1992) tier perspective which reveals "how ment: Aristocracy &Caste inAmer- illustrate how "Indian" and "colo- littleoutsiders, particularly the Brit- ica [New York, 1964]; Domhoff, nial" history are intwined. With A ish government and its Six Nations The Higher Circles: The Governing Country Between, McConnell adds allies were able to impose their will Class inAmerica[NcwYork, 1971]) the Upper OhioValley to this redef- on the frontier and native societ-
44