America has never had a royal family but the Vanderbilts come as close to it as this country has ever known. Our fascination with them is endless. So much so that many books, non-fiction and historical fiction, have been written about their history. But for famed CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, the story is personal. This is his family and now that he is a father, Cooper felt compelled to dig deep into the history of his ancestors to write this fascinating book along with novelist and historian Katherine Howe.
Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty takes us back to when Jan Aerstein van der Bilt came to New Netherland (New York State) from Holland. The book tells of the rise of Cornelius Vanderbilt (the Commodore) and his descendants including his son William, who took the family wealth to an even higher level. The family became consumed with spending and building their social stature. Cooper and Howe tell of the mansions, parties, marriages, most in pursuit of even more wealth, and affairs. And sadly, untimely deaths including suicides and a tragic loss on the ship Lusitania.
The sections devoted to Cooper’s mother are the most poignant. The story of Gloria Vanderbilt, the “poor little rich girl” has been widely told and you may recall the 1980s book and miniseries “Little Gloria… Happy at Last.” But this book gets to the truth in a way that only a son can tell, although his mother kept her traumatic past from him while he was growing up. Although the Vanderbilt money was long gone once she grew up, Gloria made and lost her own fortunes several times over. Her successful jeans business gave the name Vanderbilt a whole new meaning in the 1970s.
If you enjoy the history of New York City, have an interest in learning more about the Vanderbilts or are simply a fan of Anderson Cooper, Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty is worth checking out. I read the book although I suspect it is even better being narrated in audio form by Cooper.
Rated 4.25 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty This book rocks. I promise. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty As a reader of historical fiction, I’ve read a few novels involving some members of the Vanderbilt dynasty. And when I came across this nonfiction book, I decided to learn more about this famous dynasty, especially their beginnings and what caused the fall.
This fascinating story stars with Jan Aertsen van der Bilt, born in 1627 in Holland (not known when he arrives in America), who as an indentured servant arrives in New Amsterdam (NYC), further the story explores the traits of some members of this dynasty including the famous Commodore, who is born two generations later, and the dynasty glamour ends with Gladys at The Breakers in Rhode Island, who isn’t officially served a notice of eviction, but in a way she is.
Cornelius Vanderbilt is born on May 27, 1794 on a farmstead on Staten Island. He leaves school at the age of eleven for his first job on the water – transporting passengers and vegetables between Staten Island and Manhattan. Within a few years, he stars his own ferry business. The older boatmen nickname him “the Commodore” - a joke, which sticks. He is headstrong, manipulative, and willing to risk almost anything to make money. During the 1812 British blockade of Americans’ trade with France, the young Commodore sees a moneymaking opportunity. He has no qualms about striking a deal with the British. He is shrewd in breaking monopolies (God bless him for that, we need much more of that in the US).
His son Billy takes over management of the railroad empire. He more than doubles the Commodore’s fortune. He is the only one of the Vanderbilt descendants to add to the wealth they’d been handed. But he also initiates the fall of the wealth as he spends it in excess for which the Vanderbilt would become famous.
His son Cornelius II (Commodore’s favorite grandson) finishes building The Breakers in 1895, and William Kissam qualifies for inclusion into the NY society, exactly Mrs. Astor’s rules.
Written with depth, a unique perspective, and honesty, we get a fresh viewpoint of not only this dynasty, but also of this mythical American success - that success is available to anyone who works hard. The reality is there is so much more behind this mythical success.
The story vividly captures the time period, beginning with New York as it evolves from a tiny settlement to a thriving city of wealth, further exposing the Gilded Age Fifth Avenue society, their Newport summer mansions, and lavish European excursions. This compelling story focuses on the members that give power to the rise and fall of this dynasty. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty A mildly interesting look at several members of the Vanderbilt family over the generations. Cooper declares his mother, Gloria, to be the last of the dynasty that was squandered. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty It's going to be awesome. Trust me. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
Goodness, what a disappointment this book was! Rise and fall is a bit of a misnomer, given that this book is literally all over the place. We know the Commodore made a bunch of money; we know his son Billy made more; and we know the rest of them squandered it on building opulent mansions which no one could afford to keep up. But is that it? Is that really the whole story? I guess maybe the words rise and fall being in the title, I was expecting more exposition on that part of it. Perhaps I'd have lowered my expectations if this book had instead been called a bunch of random Vanderbilt family anecdotes.
The in-depth sailing chapter? What was the goal there? SO MUCH on Truman Capote? While he was a friend of Gloria, I'm just not sure why that was such a large part of this book. I'm not sure what his time in Kansas writing In Cold Blood has to do with the Vanderbilts rise and fall. Also, while I know this wasn't meant to be written in a linear timeline, maybe it should have been? It was really confusing at some points, especially since the family tree didn't have dates attached to it. For example, opening with Gloria going on a date at age 17 with Howard Hughes, to then backing WAY up to the Morgan Sisters, and hopping aroud unti Gloria was an adult made for a really unenjoyable experience. It was also (outside of the chapers about Alva), just....boring content. And when I was coming to the end of boring content, it seemed like they'd instead back up FURTHER to tell me the source of that boring content.
There was also a REALLY disjointed section in the book about a mine collapse in Illinois. While I understood that it was meant to compare the amount of money offered to miners' families in direct contrast to the massive sums Alva spent on her party.....there was no connection to the family. I was half-expecting the chapter to end with a note that the mine was owned by a Vanderbilt. It just felt like really weird, shoddy writing, and a mismatched way to connect two events that were so far from being connected. I actually read it, and re-read it to see if I had missed anything because it just seemed so out of place.
I love Anderson Cooper, and I love stories about the Gilded Age, and I'm fascinated by the old money families wreaking golden havoc on Manhattan. The one (small) slice of the book dedicated to talking about where, in modern day Manhattan all of these grand homes once stood was wonderful! But on the whole, this book was just a patchwork of mismatched fabric squares sewn together in the wrong pattern. There are better books on this era (and frankly, about this family) that make this one a waste of precious reading time. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
This is the second of Anderson Cooper’s books that I’ve listened to, the first being ’The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love and Loss’ which I still remember the pleasure of listening to a couple of Octobers ago, while driving through New England. I loved the back and forth of listening to him share his thoughts along with his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, who occasionally shared some personal history of her life, and could almost feel him squirm - but there was so much obvious love between them. It was that much more poignant as it had only been a few months since she had passed away.
This shares the history of the Vanderbilt family beginning with Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the more famous multi-millionaires of the 19th century. The son of a man who ferried cargo from Staten Island and Manhattan, eventually making a name for himself among the largest steamship operators in the 1820’s. Later on, he would add the railroad industry and his fortune grew. As the years passed and other generations were added to the family, that fortune dwindled over time as did the family’s standing.
Coauthored by Katherine Howe, this was fascinating to listen to. The eras that this covers is part of that, but also there’s so much honesty in how this is shared that it was made for a compelling story, one that almost seems fictional. The excesses, the family drama behind the scenes, the losses, the famous friends - it’s all fascinating, if a bit heartbreaking at times. Some stories of those people who were friendly with the Vanderbilts would have been considered scandalous at the time, and perhaps still. But there’s so much real-life history beyond this family, as well that anchors this in place and time, as well.
At the heart of this story of this family is the idea that anyone willing to work hard enough could improve their life, and how that idea has gradually become twisted over time to include those who would take advantage of others, including family, in order to obtain wealth, fame or just notoriety - good or bad.
Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
This book is stultifyingly dry and slow until around the 70% mark, when Little Gloria enters the story. Then it becomes much more interesting. I'm puzzled, though, as to why there is a whole chapter devoted to the downfall of Truman Capote, who was, you'll be astounded to learn, not a Vanderbilt. Yes, he and Gloria were friends, but she makes only minor appearances in the chapter. I have to admit I was tickled to learn that Katherine Anne Porter publicly called Truman the pimple on the face of American literature. He was talented, but he was such a little troll. He hurt a lot of people with his gossip and manipulative behavior.
I also thought the book could have done without very detailed chapters about the 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania and the 1934 World Cup yacht race. And I do mean very detailed. To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that passing references would have been enough, to explain the fates and fortunes of the Vanderbilt men affected by these events.
The Vanderbilt heirs pissed away an unimaginable fortune on dissolute living and extravagant expenditures on trifles. Most of them never bothered to learn how to manage all that money to make it last and have something to pass on to their progeny. I think it's fitting that almost all of the oversized, elaborate mansions and hotels built and occupied by the Vanderbilts and Astors and their ilk have been razed and replaced with more practical edifices.
If you like history and you don't know much about the Gilded Age or the Vanderbilt family, the book is worth a look. It's generally well written. Just sloooooow. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
Journalist Anderson Cooper, scion of the (once) fabulously wealthy Vanderbilt family, was silent about his heritage for most of his life. Then, when Anderson's mother Gloria Vanderbilt reached her nineties, Cooper published the book The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss - which details his mother's fascinating history.
Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
The Vanderbilts are a larger-than-life clan that made and squandered huge fortunes over the generations. After the death of his mother, Cooper was going through her boxes of journals, documents, letters, and other memorabilia, and he 'began to hear the voices of his ancestors.' Wanting to know more, Cooper decided to research his heritage. This book, written with historian Katherine Howe, is the result.
Cooper's ancestors arrived in the New World in the 1600s, when a Dutch farmer named Jan Aertsen van der Bilt ('from the Bilt'), arrived in New Amsterdam (the future New York).
New Amsterdam in the 1600s
By the 1700s Jan Aertsen's descendant Jacob van der Bilt lived in Staten Island, and this branch of the family gave rise to Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt - the man who made the family's initial fortune. Cornelius started out by running ferry boats on the Staten Island waterfront in the early 1800s, when he was eleven years old.
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt
Young Cornelius ran ferries on the Staten Island waterfront in the 1800s
Cornelius then graduated to running steamboats between New York and New Jersey at the age of twenty-three, and went on to establish a vast shipping and railroad empire.
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt built a railroad empire
Cooper and Howe write, Commodore Vanderbilt was a master manipulator, disseminator, and inventor of his own legend [who] reveled in attention, in being feared by men in business with him and, certainly by men in business against him. He was feared also by his children, whose lives he dominated. More than anything else, however, the Commodore thrived on money. When his final breath escaped his body, this man would leave behind a veritable monument of money. In fact the Commodore left $100 million, the equivalent of more than $2 billion today.
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt was obsessed with money
The Commodore left most of his estate to his favorite son Billy the blatherskite Vanderbilt, to the dismay of the other siblings.
Billy ('the blatherskite') Vanderbilt, the Commodore's favorite son
The dark side of wealth had already started to plague the family, as shown by the Commodore's namesake Cornelius II, who was a terrible businessman, habitual gambler, and big spender who was always in debt.
Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the Commodore's namesake
The Commodore wanted to leave his money to a son that would make his fortune grow, not fritter it away. And Billy the blatherskite did just that, which helped him shoehorn the Vanderbilts into New York's elite.
In the 1800s, New York high society was governed by snobs and nobs who didn't welcome the nouveau riche into their ranks. The authors write, The Commodore, despite his wealth, had been a boor. His manners had been coarse. He chewed tobacco; he could barely read. Though the Commodore built his house near New York's most fashionable neighborhood, Washington Square, he never tried to soften his calloused edges to gain acceptance by the city's oldest and wealthiest families. Billy changed all this.
Billy increased the Vanderbilt fortune, and was determined to use his wealth to infiltrate New York's beau monde. Denied a box at the Academy of Music, where high society attended the opera and important balls, Billy organized the construction of the Metropolitan Opera House, which opened in 1880.
Metropolitan Opera House in New York
Cooper and Howe observe, The Met pulled out all the decorative stops, presenting a plush riot of gilding, gas-lit crystal, and warm red velvet, like the rich lining of a jewelry case, designed to maximize the sparkle of the gems presented within. Next to the newly built opera house, the Academy looked downright shabby. Pretty soon the old New York families rented boxes at the Met, and the Academy of Music shut down. The Vanderbilts had joined the ranks of the smart set.
Elegantly dressed patrons of the Metropolitan Opera House
Billy the blatherskite was the last Vanderbilt to add to the family fortune, with subsequent generations diddling the money away. Vanderbilts built mansions, palazzos, and chateaus - exemplified by The Breakers in Rhode Island; raised horses; purchased yachts; threw lavish parties; and so on. And the men (of course) supported mistresses.
The Breakers in Rhode Island (a Vanderbilt mansion) is now a tourist attraction
A postcard of the Cornelius Vanderbilt III steam yacht, North Star
For example, the authors describe a surreal costume ball thrown by Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt, Billy the blatherskite's daughter-in-law.
Alva Vanderbilt (Billy the blatherskite's daughter-in-law)
In 1883, Alva was in the midst of a campaign to rule New York society, and planned a lavish party for 1200 guests in her and her husband Willie's Fifth Avenue mansion.
Alva and Willie Vanderbilt's 'petit chateau' at 660 Fifth Avenue
Cooper and Howe note, The palatial house at 660 Fifth Avenue would be full to overflowing with hothouse orchids out of season and American Beauty roses by the thousands.....At two in the morning, an eight-course supper created by the chefs from Delmonico's was served in the gymnasium on the third floor, which had been festooned into a riotous imagination of a tropical forest....At either end of the grand apartment babbled two artificial fountains, filling the air with the plashing of freshwater under the clink of crystal and fine china and silver.
The guests arrived dressed as Joan of Arc, Christopher Columbus, Louis XVI, Queen Elizabeth I, the goddess Diana, Daniel Boone, a bumblebee, kings, queens, fairies, toreadors, gypsies, and more. Alva herself was arrayed in the regalia of a Venetian princess, complete with a fabulously expensive rope of real pearls that (purportedly) had belonged to Catherine the Great.
Some costumes worn to Alva Vanderbilt's costume ball
Alva Vanderbilt dressed as a Venetian princess for her costume ball
Alva also engaged two orchestras, and chosen guests danced themed quadrilles, including the Hobbyhorse Quadrille, the Mother Goose Quadrille, the Dresden China Quadrille, and so on.
A Quadrille Dance
The cost of Alva Vanderbilt's festive ball was a quarter of a million dollars, about $6.4 million in today's money.
Alva was also notorious for being the first New York society doyenne to divorce her cheating husband Willie Vanderbilt.
Willie Vanderbilt (Alva Vanderbilt's husband)
According to Alva, a wealthy man of the time would marry a carefully groomed society woman for sex, children and respectability. Then, when physical passion waned, the wife was set aside, relegated to a stupid domestic sphere, while the man strayed. Thus Willie freely entertained other women, anyone he wished, on his yacht or wherever he chose. Alva would have none of it, and - though it would result in her being (temporarily) snubbed by society - Alva took Willie to divorce court. Alva's nerve broke the logjam, and other socialites soon followed her example and divorced their husbands.
Alva was not a 'nice' woman. She admitted to mistreating slaves and forced her daughter Consuelo to marry a British aristocrat Consuelo didn't love.
Consuelo Vanderbilt (daughter of Alva and Willie)
Though Alva had her faults, she was a force of nature that went on to push for women's equality and women's suffrage.
In her later years, Alva Vanderbilt supported women's rights and women's suffrage
Cooper and Howe feature additional memorable Vanderbilts in chapters about the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 (Alfred Vanderbilt went down with the ship);
Sinking of the Lusitania
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt went down with the Lusitania
the America's Cup yachting race of 1934 (Harold Vanderbilt competed);
America's Cup Race (1934)
;
Harold Vanderbilt competed in the 1934 America's Cup race
and the social rise and fall of the famous writer Truman Capote (Gloria Vanderbilt was a friend). Capote exposed the foibles of his high society friends in his 1965 Vanity Fair story 'La Côte Basque'....and the smart set never forgave him. The Capote chapter - with numerous famous names - is chock full of great gossip. Some of the tangential sections stray from the strict subject of the Vanderbilt family, but they're interesting and illuminating.
Writer Truman Capote
Truman Capote's 1965 story was his downfall in high society
Towards the latter part of the book, the authors write about Cooper's mother Gloria Vanderbilt, who was at the center of 'the custody battle of the century'; had a series of high profile husbands and lovers; was a model, fashion designer, and artist; lost and gained fortunes; endured sad tragedies; and was loved by her sons. Gloria's life is covered more thoroughly in Cooper's book 'The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Lost', so I'll leave it at that.
Gloria Vanderbilt
Though the Vanderbilt name still evokes visions of wealth and power, the dynasty has fallen. Cooper and Howe sum it up as follows, The United States, a country founded on antiroyalist principles, would, only twenty years after its revolutionary burst into existence, produce the progenitor of a family [Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt] that would hold itself up as American royalty, with the titles and palaces to prove it. But their empire would last for less than a hundred years before collapsing under its own weight, destroying itself with its own pathology.
In addition to being a gossipy tale of the Vanderbilts, the narrative is brimming with entertaining anecdotes about other notable people as well as the culture of the times, ranging from early settlers of the New World to the 21nd century. The authors include a partial Vanderbilt family tree at the front of the book, which helps keep the family members straight.
This is an excellent book that I'd recommend to celebrity watchers and readers interested in American history.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Not as Original as I Thought it Would be.
I’ve heard it all before. Barely anything is original. About 20%, I would say, is what I would deem as informative.
I’ve read most of the stories in this book many times before, in other books about the Vanderbilts, or about the gilded age.
Based on the lack of original material…I give this book three stars. ✨✨✨ Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
New York Times bestselling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty—his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.
When eleven-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies in New York Harbor at the beginning of the nineteenth century, no one could have imagined that one day he would, through ruthlessness, cunning, and a pathological desire for money, build two empires—one in shipping and another in railroads—that would make him the richest man in America. His staggering fortune was fought over by his heirs after his death in 1877, sowing familial discord that would never fully heal. Though his son Billy doubled the money left by “the Commodore,” subsequent generations competed to find new and ever more extraordinary ways of spending it. By 2018, when the last Vanderbilt was forced out of The Breakers—the seventy-room summer estate in Newport, Rhode Island, that Cornelius’s grandson and namesake had built—the family would have been unrecognizable to the tycoon who started it all.
Now, the Commodore’s great-great-great-grandson Anderson Cooper, joins with historian Katherine Howe to explore the story of his legendary family and their outsized influence. Cooper and Howe breathe life into the ancestors who built the family’s empire, basked in the Commodore’s wealth, hosted lavish galas, and became synonymous with unfettered American capitalism and high society. Moving from the hardscrabble wharves of old Manhattan to the lavish drawing rooms of Gilded Age Fifth Avenue, from the ornate summer palaces of Newport to the courts of Europe, and all the way to modern-day New York, Cooper and Howe wryly recount the triumphs and tragedies of an American dynasty unlike any other.
Written with a unique insider’s viewpoint, this is a rollicking, quintessentially American history as remarkable as the family it so vividly captures. Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty