Standard Oil’s methods described by Mr. Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller sits in a rocking chair and talks to a group of children–President Roosevelt, Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte, Ida M. Tarbell, Frank B. Kellogg, Thomas William Lawson, and a “muck rake” cat. A “Standard Oil” lamp lights the room. Caption: “Now, children, I’ll tell you the story of my life.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

“Spin Doctors” and the machinery of public-relations campaigns are not new to the twenty-first century. John D. Rockefeller had become well known and well off — reportedly the world’s richest man — since discovering oil in western Pennsylvania as a young man. He then discovered, as did others, what could done with oil, gas, gasoline, petroleum, and many byproducts. On his path to wealth, he controlled and often monopolized other businesses, in “vertical” and “horizontal” means; as well as people, banks, and politicians.

Despite the ubiquity of his Standard Oil products and the blessings of his enterprise, he became among the most reviled of Americans. Stock manipulation, unfair trade, and crushed rivals were part of his story, too. Around 1905 he frequently was the target of muckrakers in magazines and books, and in 1907 he and Standard Oil were defendants in more than a thousand lawsuits, prosecuted at the same time. At one point he tried to run and hide from the trial, but ultimately sat on the witness stand. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis (later the first Commissioner of Baseball) declared guilt in every case and levied $29-million in fines.

In addition to these calumnies, and his retirement from Standard Oil’s presidency, Rockefeller’s successor John D. Archbold was revealed to have colluded and corrupted public officials on Standard Oil’s behalf.

So in late 1908, the wheels of Public Relations efforts began to turn. Rockefeller’s philanthropies became known, and increased — two major cathedrals in Manhattan, museums, art galleries, and, eventually, foundations and schools.

On September 25, 1908, the magazine World’s Work commenced a serialized autobiography of John D. Rockefeller. In its October cover story, he began in avuncular style, supposedly set to thinking while a rainstorm prevented a golf game: “I am tempted to become a garrulous old man, and tell some stories of men and things which have happened in an active life.” The memoirs eventually were published as a book — Some Random Reminiscences of Men and Events.

In W. A. Rogers’s cartoon commentary — not condemnatory of Rockefeller nor suggesting that the “children” are being duped — he pictures, among others, President Roosevelt; the brilliant Muckraking journalist who exposed Rockefeller in magazine articles and a best-selling book, Ida M. Tarbell; and the Wall Street wizard Thomas William Lawson who turned on his associates in an expose, Frenzied Finance.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-20

Creator(s)

Rogers, W. A. (William Allen), 1854-1931

Language

English

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Page Count

1

Production Method

Printed

Record Type

Image

Resource Type

Cartoon

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation