WITH THE BUSINESS TRENDS of the 1980s--mergers, leveraged
buy-outs, deregulation of the trucking and airline industries, and the loos-
ening of government restrictions on business--the general public now
seems to have a renewed interest in the American economy. In fact, for the
first time, business history seems to have come into its own. The change in
the general attitude toward business history may be symbolized by the Pu-
litzer prizes for history recently awarded to business historians Alfred D.
Chandler and Thomas McCraw. ¹ Maybe, in a strange sort of way, people
are taking the oft-quoted phrase "the business of America is business" to
have new historical significance. Certainly, the number of textbooks on
American business history is growing. ²

In keeping with this renewed interest--if not trend--it is time to reevalu-
ate the workings of late nineteenth-century American business. This book
will attempt this through a biographical approach to one of John Rocke-
feller's business associates, Henry Flagler. In doing so, it is my goal to add
to the information heretofore available on Flagler's business career, while
giving new meaning to his activities at Standard Oil and on the Florida east
coast.

Saint or Sinner? Robber Baron or Industrial Statesman? Philanthropist
or Exploiter? These, and other questions of a similar nature, are usually
asked of the biographer of a late nineteenth-century businessman. More
disturbing than such questions is that most of what has been written on the
career of Henry Flagler has tended to be in that "either / or" vein. Since

-ix-