lack of such material as that mentioned above. Rather, however,
than wait for their great-grandchildren to write a more ade-
quate life of Hearst -- by which time, it is to be presumed, he
will be as unimportant for American life as the medieval Fug-
gers -- the authors have preferred to offer their interpretation to-
day when it is needed. Not being Big-Business men, journalists,
or politicians, they have been compelled to take their material
where they found it, using the customary methods of biographi-
cal research which they have found ample to explode a number
of widely propagated Hearst myths. They do not pretend to
greater "objectivity" than is to be found in a scrupulous adhe-
rence to the facts and in giving credit where credit is due. Their
primary interest has been in understanding rather than in con-
demning, but they know no way of avoiding the implications of
such descriptive terms as "mendacity," "hypocrisy," "economic
motivation," other than by avoiding interpretation altogether.
The sole question would seem to be whether the interpretation
is borne out by the facts.

It may be helpful to consider separately for a moment the
three main phases of Hearst's life that in the subsequent ac-
count become interwoven with his personality. Governing the
general pattern of his activities is his private fortune. That he
inherited thirty million dollars, which in turn he built up to a
fortune of probably ten times that amount in holdings or con-
trol, forms in itself a chapter in American finance. It is naturally
tempting to dismiss other considerations forthwith and interpret
Hearst's actions as always a product of this economic drive. But
this would be too easy. While it would give us -- and does give
us -- the general framework within which his career could take
place, it fails to differentiate his achievements from those of
others, such as the Rockefellers and the Morgans. Hearst as a
capitalist like other capitalists would not be particularly inter-
esting. But as a capitalist unlike other capitalists he presents a
fascinating problem. From the socio-economic viewpoint the

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