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‐ [Narrator] Previously on
the Titans That Built America,

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as World War I comes to
a close, a new generation

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of titans are on the rise.

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‐ [Man] We're in the
age of the machine.

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‐ [Narrator] Three car
makers fight for dominance.

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‐ This is my father Henry Ford.

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‐ [Man] To Pierre du Pont.

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(crowd cheers)

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‐ The Chrysler 70.

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(crowd talks over each other)

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‐ [Narrator] As a battle
rages to take down Ford,

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he and his son Edsel
have their sights set on

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a new industry.

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‐ We should get into this.

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‐ [Narrator] They
go head to head

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with a young upstart who
wants to make his name

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in aviation, William Boeing.

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‐ Very excited to tell you
about Boeing's new plane.

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(camera pops)

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‐ Pull.

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(gunshots fire)

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Hahaha, nothing like it.

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‐ [Narrator] With the warring
twenties and full swing,

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a skyscraper war
begins as Chrysler

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looks to own the skyline.

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‐ So why you building the
tallest building in the world?

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‐ So I can look down on GM.

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Ha ha.

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‐ [Narrator] But du Pont
won't be out done and plans

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a building of his own.

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‐ Same height as Chrysler's,
a bit taller than.

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‐ The Empire State building.

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(driving beat begins)

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(seagulls caw)

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‐ [Reporter] Mr. Morgan?

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(reporters chatter)

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(flashbulbs pop)

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Mr. Morgan, what are
the best investments

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and what is your
opinion on US steel?

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I'll say this, General Motors
stock is very undervalued.

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‐ [Reporter] Mr. Morgan,
one more question.

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‐ [Morgan] Thank you.

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‐ Mr. Morgan, one more please
one more question, please.

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‐ Thank you gentlemen.

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‐ [Narrator] By 1929,
Wall Street has become

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the most famous
street in America.

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And JP Morgan Jr. is its King.

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‐ There's a saying
about JP Morgan Jr.

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and his partners in the
late 1920s, they're called

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Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles

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and so that gives you
some sense of the stature

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of JP Morgan Jr. on Wall Street.

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He says in effect, I think
GM's future looks bright

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and GM stock surges in price

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and then the stock
market follows.

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‐ [Narrator] Thanks to Morgan
and his fellow bankers,

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the stock market has climbed
nearly 40% in just one year.

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To investors and even
ordinary Americans,

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there's a sense
that you can't lose.

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‐ The thing about the roaring
twenties, it was the go go.

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Everybody was optimistic,

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markets were soaring,
when it's so easy

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for anybody to go get out a
loan and then go speculate.

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‐ And not just speculation
from professional investors.

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But this was the
first time that

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Joe on the street saw the
stock market going up

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and decided I'm going to go
get myself a loan to buy stock.

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And by the way,
I'm going to make

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a handsome profit doing it.

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‐ It was like a boom
like we've never had.

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There was a belief that we
were in the Emerald City.

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‐ [Radio Announcer] Day by day
we were nearer to the final

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triumph over poverty ever before
in the history of any land.

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‐ [Narrator] One industry in
particular reaps the rewards

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from the soaring
economy, automobiles.

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In 1929, American spend a half
billion dollars on new cars.

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‐ The American automobile
industry had a larger economy

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than every country on
earth, with the exception

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of Germany, France, Britain,
maybe the Soviet Union.

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‐ [Narrator] 80% of the entire
us car market is controlled

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by just three companies.

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du Pont's General Motors
has the top spot.

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While Ford is second.

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And then there's Chrysler.

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‐ Okay, fellas,
let's take a look.

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‐ [Narrator] In the eight
years since he left GM,

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he's grown his company
into the number three

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automaker in America but he's
determined to be number one.

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‐ Let me show you this.

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‐ [Narrator] And in
order to do that,

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he's going to take
things to another level

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by raising the competition
to new heights.

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‐ You see here, this stretches
up to the third floor.

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I want it to feel like
you're stepping through

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the doorway into a city.

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‐ [Narrator] He's recently
started construction on a tower,

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that he plans to make
the tallest in the world.

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He calls it the
Chrysler building.

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‐ Business entrepreneurs
at the top of game.

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It's about personal
dynamics and relationships

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that they have with their
colleagues and their peers

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and their rivals and
they want to beat them.

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And whether it's a business
or whether it's my house

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is bigger or my building
is bigger, that's the game.

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And that's how it's all scored.

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‐ [Narrator] The
skyscraper's construction

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is a monumental feat,
30,000 tons of steel

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and more than 3 million
bricks will be needed.

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In a building this size,
every single detail matters.

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‐ One of the key innovations

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in the Chrysler building was
the world's fastest elevators.

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And the building had the longest
continuous elevator shaft

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in the world at the time.

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‐ [Narrator] But Chrysler
doesn't just want his tower

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to be the tallest, it also
must be the most beautiful.

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‐ Every entrepreneur
knows what their,

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their special sauce is, what
their, their greatest skill is.

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With Chrysler, his was
beauty and precision.

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This is Nirosta stainless
steel, it's German.

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‐ Walter Chrysler,
whatever he did,

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he was going to
be the best at it.

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‐ All right.

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‐ He was going to build the
most beautiful skyscraper.

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It was going to be the tallest.

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It was going to be
the talk of the world.

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(dramatic orchestral
music swells)

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‐ [Newsreel Announcer] High
above street level,

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about 1,000 feet high in the air

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on the Chrysler building
looking over Lexington Avenue.

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‐ [Narrator] As it
nears completion

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in the summer of 1929,

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Chrysler wants to make sure
the world takes notice.

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‐ Mr. Chrysler.

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‐ [Narrator] So he hires one
of America's top photographers

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to document the building.

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‐ Let me show you
what I have going on.

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‐ Yeah, let's see it.

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‐ Margaret Bourke‐White
is an amazing photographer

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who is known for her
photos of factories

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and city life and architecture.

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And one of the reasons
that she stands out

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is that she's
willing to go places

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that no one else will just
for that perfect shot.

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‐ [Narrator] Dangling
high above Manhattan,

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Bourke‐White captures
the spectacle

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of Chrysler's building.

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(dramatic music)

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Her death defying photos
help make Chrysler

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and his building the
biggest news of the year.

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But Chrysler has competition.

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Less than 10 blocks away,

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du Pont has grand plans for
a skyscraper of his own.

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The Empire State Building.

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They've demolished the
old Waldorf Astoria hotel

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and have raised over $40
million for the construction

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of the building, over a half
billion in today's dollars.

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But now with Chrysler so far
ahead, some are questioning

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whether the project is
worth the investment.

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‐ What do you think
we should do?

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‐ We're going to build.

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(energetic strings begin)

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‐ [Narrator] du Pont has no
interest in standing down.

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He's going to continue
until he beats Chrysler.

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So he keeps pushing
the architects

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to make the building taller.

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‐ They'll be coming
from a factory

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in Pittsburgh and they'll
be ordering 250,000 tons.

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‐ There was sort of a personal
rivalry among architects.

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So you have developers
who have these big egos,

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who are trying to
outdo each other.

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You have the architects
who are also sort

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of part of this game.

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‐ [Narrator] The newspapers
begin referring to it

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as the skyscraper race.

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‐ It's often impossible
to keep your plans

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to add height secret because
you have to file these plans

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with the buildings department.

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‐ [Narrator] But now with
competition heating up

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and construction
nearly complete,

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Chrysler is starting to worry.

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He wants to make sure
when all is said and done,

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there's no question whose
building is tallest.

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‐ So he went to his
architect and he says

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you will go back to
the drawing board

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and you add extra height,
you figure out some way

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that we can make our
building even taller.

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(car honks)

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‐ [Narrator] For months,
Chrysler's team has been working

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on a secret project.

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Tomorrow he plans to
unveil it to the world.

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‐ Let's go, let's go.

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Let's go.

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Hold on, hold on.

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‐ [Narrator] Within the
crown of the building,

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hidden from view, Chrysler's
team has constructed

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a massive steel spike.

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‐ We need the beams over there,
all the points stack left.

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‐ Hold on, hold on, hold on,

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00:11:47,686 --> 00:11:48,562
‐ Okay, we're going up,
we're going up!

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00:11:48,687 --> 00:11:50,481
Steady, steady, steady!

201
00:11:50,564 --> 00:11:55,069
(triumphant music)

202
00:11:55,194 --> 00:11:56,445
Hold on, hold on.

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‐ [Narrator] Now, in
the dark of night,

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00:12:01,242 --> 00:12:03,452
the team raises the
metal structure

205
00:12:03,535 --> 00:12:04,828
through the top of the building.

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00:12:05,621 --> 00:12:07,498
(sweeping music)

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00:12:07,581 --> 00:12:09,333
(workers talk indistinctly)

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00:12:10,334 --> 00:12:13,212
(phone rings)

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00:12:15,673 --> 00:12:16,507
‐ Hello?

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00:12:20,010 --> 00:12:22,388
‐ [Narrator] With the
first rays of the dawn,

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Chrysler's steel spire can
be seen piercing the sky.

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00:12:29,770 --> 00:12:33,440
Overnight, Chrysler has
added nearly 200 feet

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00:12:33,524 --> 00:12:37,987
to his building, surpassing
even the Eiffel Tower.

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00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:41,907
The Chrysler Building
is indisputably

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00:12:41,991 --> 00:12:45,828
the tallest structure that
humans have ever created.

216
00:12:49,164 --> 00:12:52,084
(crowd cheers)

217
00:12:52,167 --> 00:12:54,586
‐ Great job boys, great job.

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00:12:55,129 --> 00:12:57,423
‐ Chrysler was more
than willing to spend

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00:12:57,548 --> 00:13:00,217
a significant amount of
money to have his building

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00:13:00,301 --> 00:13:04,013
express his sort of modern
architectural view of the world

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00:13:04,096 --> 00:13:07,516
and to reflect his
power and his success.

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00:13:10,144 --> 00:13:12,563
‐ [Narrator] It's a huge
moment for the titan.

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00:13:14,064 --> 00:13:17,484
‐ It's the flapper buildings,
it's jazz as an edifice.

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It is all the audacity all
the bombast of the 1920s

225
00:13:22,531 --> 00:13:25,034
captured in concrete and steel.

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‐ Look at it, that's
history right there.

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00:13:32,082 --> 00:13:35,002
‐ It was so sexy and so
new looking and so fresh

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00:13:35,085 --> 00:13:38,088
and so striking that if my
building looks like this, well

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certainly the cars have gotta
be something pretty special.

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So it was the biggest billboard

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for a brand that was ever built.

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‐ [Radio Announcer] The Chrysler
building at 42nd street

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00:13:53,437 --> 00:13:56,857
and Lexington is the tallest
structure in the world.

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00:13:56,940 --> 00:13:59,151
It's gigantic tower
dominates the city

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00:13:59,276 --> 00:14:01,236
and it can be seen
from nearly everywhere.

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00:14:01,362 --> 00:14:04,031
From it the views of
Manhattan's are sublime,

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00:14:04,114 --> 00:14:07,076
it's silver spire
flashing in the sun,

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00:14:07,201 --> 00:14:10,120
a monument of wealth
and social prestige.

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00:14:11,872 --> 00:14:14,708
But New York is not
only steel and stone.

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It is people too, millions
of beating hearts,

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00:14:18,212 --> 00:14:22,341
lights and shadows, tears
and laughter, work and play,

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00:14:22,383 --> 00:14:27,554
night and day and so it moves
from the memories of yesterday

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00:14:28,263 --> 00:14:30,057
into the promise of tomorrow.

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00:14:42,653 --> 00:14:44,321
‐ [Narrator] Less than 24 hours

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00:14:44,405 --> 00:14:47,449
after Walter Chrysler
tops out his building,

246
00:14:47,533 --> 00:14:51,203
the U. S. Stock Market
is taking a nose dive.

247
00:14:52,371 --> 00:14:54,998
‐ In the year before the
Stock Market crash in 1929,

248
00:14:55,082 --> 00:14:57,251
fortunes are being made
all over the place.

249
00:14:57,376 --> 00:14:59,962
And there's this belief,
this optimism that the bull

250
00:15:00,045 --> 00:15:01,964
market will never end.

251
00:15:02,047 --> 00:15:03,757
No one could have foreseen

252
00:15:03,882 --> 00:15:06,343
what was coming in
October of 1920.

253
00:15:07,553 --> 00:15:11,014
‐ [Narrator] In an instant,
the roaring twenties are over.

254
00:15:12,766 --> 00:15:15,477
And the fortunes
of the Titans

255
00:15:16,562 --> 00:15:19,148
and the entire country

256
00:15:19,648 --> 00:15:21,024
will never be the same.

257
00:15:30,784 --> 00:15:33,745
(dark forboding music)

258
00:15:33,871 --> 00:15:34,830
(bells ringing)

259
00:15:34,913 --> 00:15:36,123
‐ What's the position
on standard oil?

260
00:15:36,206 --> 00:15:38,542
‐ Standard oil is down
by 14% and dropping.

261
00:15:38,667 --> 00:15:39,835
U.S. steel down by 200.

262
00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:41,086
‐ Sell down all the stock yet?

263
00:15:41,211 --> 00:15:43,172
Hold the position
on standard oil.

264
00:15:45,257 --> 00:15:47,342
‐ [Narrator] In just three days,

265
00:15:47,426 --> 00:15:50,637
the stock market loses
almost half its value.

266
00:15:56,768 --> 00:15:58,896
After a decade of
reckless spending,

267
00:15:59,021 --> 00:16:01,565
investors suddenly
start to get nervous

268
00:16:01,690 --> 00:16:05,944
and begin offloading shares
by the tens of millions.

269
00:16:07,070 --> 00:16:09,823
It's the biggest
sell off in history.

270
00:16:09,948 --> 00:16:11,492
‐ Traders know what
that feels like

271
00:16:11,617 --> 00:16:12,743
and they know what it means.

272
00:16:12,868 --> 00:16:14,495
It starts to feed on
itself

273
00:16:14,578 --> 00:16:17,664
and it, and the momentum just
picks up so rapidly.

274
00:16:18,540 --> 00:16:21,627
And so, when the market started
selling off in 1929,

275
00:16:21,710 --> 00:16:23,378
it snowballed.

276
00:16:26,298 --> 00:16:29,510
‐ If you're a stock broker
looking up at a board

277
00:16:29,593 --> 00:16:34,640
in 1929 and just watching
the numbers tick down minute

278
00:16:34,723 --> 00:16:39,144
by minute by minute, it'll
make your heart stop.

279
00:16:40,479 --> 00:16:41,939
I think that there
were people who just

280
00:16:42,022 --> 00:16:45,234
couldn't even fathom what
they were looking at.

281
00:16:54,326 --> 00:16:58,539
‐ JP Morgan is watching his
world crumble before his eyes

282
00:17:00,374 --> 00:17:03,669
but he knows if anyone
can pull the country out

283
00:17:03,794 --> 00:17:06,421
of the crisis, it's him.

284
00:17:08,674 --> 00:17:10,342
(crowd talks over each other)

285
00:17:10,467 --> 00:17:12,302
‐ [Reporter] Mr. Morgan,
what's happening?

286
00:17:13,554 --> 00:17:15,681
Has the stock market
stopped falling?

287
00:17:19,393 --> 00:17:23,272
‐ The worst is over,
everything's going to be okay.

288
00:17:23,355 --> 00:17:24,356
‐ [Reporter] Are you sure?

289
00:17:24,481 --> 00:17:27,150
‐ Trust me, everything's
going to be fine.

290
00:17:32,030 --> 00:17:34,199
‐ JP Morgan says,
things are fine.

291
00:17:34,324 --> 00:17:36,326
Everybody goes back and buys.

292
00:17:39,329 --> 00:17:41,039
‐ U. S. Steel up to one seven.

293
00:17:42,749 --> 00:17:43,584
‐ Good.

294
00:17:44,835 --> 00:17:47,504
‐ [Narrator] By the power
of his word alone, JP Morgan

295
00:17:47,588 --> 00:17:50,382
turns around the stock
market and makes sure

296
00:17:50,465 --> 00:17:54,344
that he buys at the lowest
point to make a huge profit.

297
00:17:56,888 --> 00:17:59,725
Most people think the Great
Depression began right

298
00:17:59,850 --> 00:18:02,019
after the stock market crash.

299
00:18:02,144 --> 00:18:04,271
‐ Though the crash of 29
is considered the start

300
00:18:04,396 --> 00:18:07,149
of the Great Depression, in
fact, it took another couple

301
00:18:07,232 --> 00:18:08,984
of years before the full depth

302
00:18:09,026 --> 00:18:11,320
of this depression hit
the American public.

303
00:18:12,904 --> 00:18:15,782
‐ So in the world of the stock
market, there's this thing

304
00:18:15,866 --> 00:18:18,243
called a V‐shaped recovery.

305
00:18:18,368 --> 00:18:21,997
You just go down real quick
and come back real quick.

306
00:18:22,122 --> 00:18:24,416
So in the brief
aftermath of the crash

307
00:18:24,499 --> 00:18:27,961
there actually was a
little V and at the time,

308
00:18:28,045 --> 00:18:29,504
they thought it was a big V.

309
00:18:33,467 --> 00:18:35,344
‐ [Narrator] With the
crash seemingly over,

310
00:18:35,469 --> 00:18:38,221
du Pont decides he's still
going to beat Chrysler

311
00:18:38,347 --> 00:18:40,682
with the tallest
building in the world,

312
00:18:40,807 --> 00:18:42,392
the Empire State building.

313
00:18:44,061 --> 00:18:46,146
‐ In the fall of 1929

314
00:18:46,229 --> 00:18:50,525
Raskob and du Pont, they're
crunching the numbers.

315
00:18:52,027 --> 00:18:53,320
From du Pont's point of view,

316
00:18:53,403 --> 00:18:55,781
it made perfect
sense to go forward.

317
00:18:55,864 --> 00:18:57,741
There was every reason
to believe at that point

318
00:18:57,866 --> 00:19:00,661
that their project would
be economically successful.

319
00:19:02,871 --> 00:19:07,125
‐ But Chrysler's new spire
has complicated du Pont's plan.

320
00:19:08,543 --> 00:19:12,297
So his architects add floors
to increase the height.

321
00:19:13,590 --> 00:19:15,509
‐ [du Pont] It will be taller.

322
00:19:15,550 --> 00:19:18,095
‐ [Builder] Yes, 1,054 feet.

323
00:19:18,220 --> 00:19:20,013
‐ [du Pont] And the
Chrysler building?

324
00:19:20,097 --> 00:19:21,556
‐ [Builder] 1,050 feet.

325
00:19:23,475 --> 00:19:25,310
‐ So we'll be four feet taller?

326
00:19:28,522 --> 00:19:29,398
‐ Yes.

327
00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,069
‐ The original plans for
the Empire State building

328
00:19:34,152 --> 00:19:36,488
was just to have a flat top

329
00:19:36,613 --> 00:19:41,076
at a height that was greater
than a Chrysler's building.

330
00:19:41,201 --> 00:19:42,160
‐ Four feet.

331
00:19:44,287 --> 00:19:45,831
Chrysler gets to stick
an umbrella on top

332
00:19:45,956 --> 00:19:47,165
and say he's taller.

333
00:19:49,418 --> 00:19:51,837
‐ But evidently that
wasn't enough comfort.

334
00:19:51,962 --> 00:19:54,673
It wasn't enough room to be
sure that they were going

335
00:19:54,798 --> 00:19:56,508
to have the world's
tallest building.

336
00:19:56,633 --> 00:19:59,594
So in December of 1929, they
announced that they have come

337
00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:04,891
up with this plan to erect
a 250 foot high structure

338
00:20:06,059 --> 00:20:09,312
which is mostly decorative,
so that is a statement.

339
00:20:09,396 --> 00:20:12,149
du Pont wanted to
literally and figuratively

340
00:20:12,232 --> 00:20:14,901
put Walter Chrysler's
building in the shade.

341
00:20:17,446 --> 00:20:19,656
‐ [Narrator] To create a
building of this magnitude,

342
00:20:19,740 --> 00:20:23,744
du Pont oversees the most
ambitious construction project

343
00:20:23,869 --> 00:20:24,870
in American history.

344
00:20:26,621 --> 00:20:31,918
Every day, 57,000 tons of
steel arrive from Pittsburgh.

345
00:20:32,794 --> 00:20:35,714
‐ All the materials,
all the steel and stone

346
00:20:35,839 --> 00:20:39,092
and the piping, everything
needed to arrive

347
00:20:39,217 --> 00:20:42,053
at the site just in time

348
00:20:42,137 --> 00:20:44,389
for when it was to
be put in place.

349
00:20:46,433 --> 00:20:49,686
And legend has it that the
steel was still warm to touch.

350
00:20:53,190 --> 00:20:55,484
‐ [Narrator] A new
floor is added each day,

351
00:20:56,693 --> 00:21:00,530
thanks in part to the talents
of a new group of workers.

352
00:21:04,576 --> 00:21:07,245
‐ Native American ironworkers
from the Mohawk tribe

353
00:21:07,370 --> 00:21:09,331
actually play a role
in the construction

354
00:21:09,456 --> 00:21:10,874
of the Empire State building.

355
00:21:10,999 --> 00:21:13,877
They're sought after ironworkers
because they're recognized

356
00:21:14,002 --> 00:21:17,672
as masters of the craft
and for being fearless

357
00:21:17,798 --> 00:21:19,382
because of their ability to work

358
00:21:19,508 --> 00:21:21,301
hundreds of feet in the air.

359
00:21:25,180 --> 00:21:28,683
‐ [Narrator] The Empire State
building is a true Colossus.

360
00:21:28,809 --> 00:21:31,353
Three times wider than
the Chrysler building

361
00:21:32,229 --> 00:21:33,522
and the first
building in the world

362
00:21:33,647 --> 00:21:35,816
to have more than 100 floors.

363
00:21:44,741 --> 00:21:47,327
For Chrysler, it's a disaster.

364
00:21:48,620 --> 00:21:50,997
His enemy's building
is overtaking him

365
00:21:51,122 --> 00:21:52,457
right before his eyes.

366
00:21:53,375 --> 00:21:56,002
Chrysler decides his only move

367
00:21:56,127 --> 00:21:58,630
is to try to stop
the construction.

368
00:22:02,342 --> 00:22:04,886
Chrysler launches
a smear campaign.

369
00:22:05,011 --> 00:22:06,012
‐ Form take two.

370
00:22:07,222 --> 00:22:08,390
‐ [Narrator] To
make people doubt

371
00:22:08,473 --> 00:22:11,059
that the Empire State building
is structurally sound.

372
00:22:12,018 --> 00:22:13,687
‐ And action.

373
00:22:14,229 --> 00:22:17,399
‐ Do you think it's possible
to build anything taller

374
00:22:17,482 --> 00:22:18,984
than the Chrysler building?

375
00:22:20,151 --> 00:22:21,611
‐ No I do not.

376
00:22:22,904 --> 00:22:26,032
‐ Skyscrapers must have
seemed strange to people

377
00:22:26,157 --> 00:22:27,409
as electricity once had.

378
00:22:27,534 --> 00:22:29,870
They saw these massive
buildings arising

379
00:22:29,995 --> 00:22:30,871
out of the landscape

380
00:22:30,996 --> 00:22:33,123
and many wondered if
they'd topple over.

381
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,210
‐ A tall structure has
the potential to develop

382
00:22:38,378 --> 00:22:42,841
stress fractures that could
lead to catastrophic failure.

383
00:22:42,924 --> 00:22:47,679
‐ So you're saying the Chrysler
building will be the tallest

384
00:22:47,762 --> 00:22:49,764
building for the
foreseeable future?

385
00:22:51,016 --> 00:22:53,226
‐ [Narrator] du Pont
knows this is just

386
00:22:53,351 --> 00:22:54,811
Chrysler being Chrysler.

387
00:22:55,770 --> 00:22:57,772
Construction continues
without delay.

388
00:22:58,815 --> 00:23:01,568
The sooner he can top
out his skyscraper,

389
00:23:01,651 --> 00:23:05,071
the sooner he can claim
victory over Walter Chrysler.

390
00:23:07,699 --> 00:23:12,662
But as it nears completion,
Chrysler takes one last swing

391
00:23:14,122 --> 00:23:18,960
saying the tower shouldn't
count, since it's decorative.

392
00:23:20,879 --> 00:23:23,506
Coming from the person who
pushed a metal spire up

393
00:23:23,632 --> 00:23:25,216
to make his building taller.

394
00:23:27,636 --> 00:23:32,432
du Pont responds by taking a
page out of Chrysler's playbook.

395
00:23:36,144 --> 00:23:39,064
He tells the press that
the tower is far more

396
00:23:39,189 --> 00:23:40,190
than just decorative.

397
00:23:44,778 --> 00:23:48,698
It's a docking station for
airships,

398
00:23:52,202 --> 00:23:55,664
and he can prove it.

399
00:23:55,747 --> 00:23:59,250
‐ They announce a plan
to erect a mooring mast

400
00:23:59,334 --> 00:24:01,461
where airships could anchor.

401
00:24:01,544 --> 00:24:03,838
The passengers would
then exit the air ship

402
00:24:03,964 --> 00:24:06,508
and then they would
go down the elevator.

403
00:24:06,591 --> 00:24:08,760
But these things
are utter fiction.

404
00:24:09,761 --> 00:24:12,472
‐ [Narrator] In fact,
no airship ever docked

405
00:24:12,555 --> 00:24:14,432
with du Pont's tower.

406
00:24:14,557 --> 00:24:15,850
The photograph he distributed

407
00:24:15,934 --> 00:24:20,480
to the newspapers was a
fake created by a specialist

408
00:24:20,563 --> 00:24:23,024
a half century before Photoshop.

409
00:24:24,651 --> 00:24:27,153
‐ They knew at the time that
the mooring mast would never

410
00:24:27,278 --> 00:24:30,699
be able to moor air ships.

411
00:24:30,782 --> 00:24:35,912
The truth is when you're
1,250 feet in the air,

412
00:24:36,913 --> 00:24:39,499
the forces of wind
are incredible.

413
00:24:39,582 --> 00:24:43,503
There did not exist a
captain who was willing

414
00:24:43,586 --> 00:24:46,840
to dock at the top of the
Empire State building.

415
00:24:46,923 --> 00:24:50,218
The mooring mast, if anything,
was a kind of exclamation point,

416
00:24:50,343 --> 00:24:52,512
a way to say
this race is over,

417
00:24:52,637 --> 00:24:54,848
there's no way you
can beat us now.

418
00:25:02,355 --> 00:25:05,692
‐ [Narrator] The Empire State
building officially opens.

419
00:25:06,609 --> 00:25:09,112
In just two years,
the New York skyline

420
00:25:09,195 --> 00:25:14,576
has been permanently altered
thanks to competing egos.

421
00:25:17,787 --> 00:25:20,790
And Pierre du Pont
can now say he built

422
00:25:20,874 --> 00:25:24,002
the tallest structure on earth,

423
00:25:25,587 --> 00:25:28,590
but it quickly
turns into a hollow victory.

424
00:25:29,382 --> 00:25:31,843
Nobody is leasing office space.

425
00:25:31,968 --> 00:25:35,889
The Empire State building
is virtually empty.

426
00:25:36,014 --> 00:25:39,392
‐ There's a bit of a myth
about what really happened

427
00:25:39,517 --> 00:25:42,270
in terms of the timing
around the Great Depression.

428
00:25:43,813 --> 00:25:46,649
It looked after 1929,
that things might be okay,

429
00:25:46,733 --> 00:25:49,652
but just for a moment,
the V shaped recovery,

430
00:25:49,778 --> 00:25:52,155
you could call it
just like a check mark

431
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,866
before a real swoon.

432
00:25:58,286 --> 00:26:02,290
‐ [Narrator] By 1931, the
Great Depression has arrived.

433
00:26:03,249 --> 00:26:07,128
And this time not even
JP Morgan can stop it.

434
00:26:14,719 --> 00:26:15,887
(forboding music)

435
00:26:16,012 --> 00:26:18,473
‐ House and property is
estimated at $7.3 million,

436
00:26:19,557 --> 00:26:22,018
commercial properties,
including the Manhattan office

437
00:26:22,143 --> 00:26:26,481
hold value at $12.6 million,
liquid cash holdings

438
00:26:26,564 --> 00:26:29,818
are approximately 256
million and change.

439
00:26:29,901 --> 00:26:32,028
‐ As the Great
Depression takes hold,

440
00:26:32,112 --> 00:26:36,449
the house of Morgan is
cut in size by half.

441
00:26:36,533 --> 00:26:38,118
‐ Furniture vehicles,

442
00:26:38,201 --> 00:26:40,495
non‐commercial ancillary
properties.

443
00:26:40,578 --> 00:26:42,664
‐ For God's sake,
get to the point.

444
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:49,212
‐ Overall assets
down by 400 million.

445
00:26:51,214 --> 00:26:54,676
‐ So it is
dramatically affected.

446
00:26:54,801 --> 00:26:57,011
‐ [Narrator] The
stock market loses 90%

447
00:26:57,137 --> 00:27:01,516
of its value and America faces
another unforeseen disaster.

448
00:27:01,599 --> 00:27:04,018
The nation's banks
begin to fail.

449
00:27:04,102 --> 00:27:06,980
‐ So we all put our deposits
in a bank and we expect

450
00:27:07,105 --> 00:27:09,149
to get that money back
with some interest.

451
00:27:09,190 --> 00:27:11,901
But if we all get scared,
then I want to run to the bank

452
00:27:12,026 --> 00:27:15,155
before you do, I want to pull
my money out before you do,

453
00:27:15,238 --> 00:27:17,699
and then everybody pulls
out, that's a bank run,

454
00:27:17,824 --> 00:27:19,242
and the bank collapses.

455
00:27:20,869 --> 00:27:24,789
‐ [Narrator] By the end of
1931, 3,000 banks have closed

456
00:27:24,873 --> 00:27:28,793
and with them, billions
of dollars simply vanish.

457
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,091
‐ To watch your net
worth disappear,

458
00:27:35,216 --> 00:27:38,970
in some cases, in a matter
of minutes and hours.

459
00:27:39,721 --> 00:27:40,722
I know they're just numbers

460
00:27:40,847 --> 00:27:43,224
but there's a
reality behind that.

461
00:27:43,349 --> 00:27:45,226
And there are so
many people who lived

462
00:27:45,351 --> 00:27:48,271
through that period
and it changed them,

463
00:27:49,355 --> 00:27:50,231
it changed them forever.

464
00:27:53,026 --> 00:27:55,653
‐ [Reporter] Half the active
manpower of the United States

465
00:27:55,778 --> 00:27:58,740
drifting helplessly
in search of work.

466
00:27:59,949 --> 00:28:04,746
Marriages off by 22%,
birth rate down sharply,

467
00:28:04,871 --> 00:28:07,290
suicide rate, 40% higher.

468
00:28:14,964 --> 00:28:17,175
‐ [Narrator] By the
beginning of 1932

469
00:28:17,258 --> 00:28:20,887
the world's strongest
economy has ground to a halt.

470
00:28:25,225 --> 00:28:26,768
‐ This becomes the deepest,

471
00:28:26,893 --> 00:28:29,437
longest lasting
economic downturn

472
00:28:29,562 --> 00:28:31,064
not just in us history.

473
00:28:31,189 --> 00:28:34,525
It's a global phenomenon
with a devastating impact.

474
00:28:36,569 --> 00:28:39,030
‐ Spending is down
across the board.

475
00:28:43,159 --> 00:28:46,829
In New York City, no one
is leasing office space

476
00:28:46,913 --> 00:28:48,456
in du Pont's new tower.

477
00:28:49,832 --> 00:28:52,919
The press is calling it,
the Empty State building.

478
00:28:55,755 --> 00:28:58,549
The news from his car
company is even worse.

479
00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,930
GM's sales are
down by two thirds

480
00:29:07,392 --> 00:29:10,812
and Walter Chrysler is
doing just as badly.

481
00:29:13,356 --> 00:29:16,109
‐ The reality is, if
you've lost everything

482
00:29:16,192 --> 00:29:18,403
and you can't even
afford to feed yourself

483
00:29:18,528 --> 00:29:20,488
the last thing on your
mind is going to be buying

484
00:29:20,613 --> 00:29:21,948
a new automobile.

485
00:29:32,333 --> 00:29:34,002
‐ [Narrator] Henry
Ford initially believes

486
00:29:34,127 --> 00:29:37,380
he's well positioned to
ride out the depression.

487
00:29:38,756 --> 00:29:41,718
‐ Henry Ford, he never
trusted Wall Street.

488
00:29:41,843 --> 00:29:44,178
He thought Wall
Street was gambling

489
00:29:44,262 --> 00:29:46,931
and that it was to
rip off the folks.

490
00:29:47,056 --> 00:29:48,599
‐ All good here, fellas?

491
00:29:48,683 --> 00:29:50,435
‐ So when the Great
Depression hit

492
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:54,731
and every company's stocks
are going downwards,

493
00:29:54,856 --> 00:29:56,482
you're watching Henry
Ford say I don't

494
00:29:56,607 --> 00:29:57,859
play the Stock Market.

495
00:30:02,363 --> 00:30:05,199
‐ [Narrator] But before
long, the depression catches

496
00:30:05,325 --> 00:30:06,409
up with him too.

497
00:30:08,328 --> 00:30:13,124
Ford hasn't seen car sales so
low since before World War I.

498
00:30:21,049 --> 00:30:24,177
Ford's airplanes are
doing even worse.

499
00:30:25,011 --> 00:30:26,554
‐ [Reporter] Hungry men
live in shacks

500
00:30:26,679 --> 00:30:27,764
reaching the braod avenues of...

501
00:30:27,889 --> 00:30:30,433
‐ Two things happened with
Ford aviation at the beginning

502
00:30:30,516 --> 00:30:31,392
of the depression.

503
00:30:32,477 --> 00:30:35,855
One is the demand for
$50,000 airplanes dried up

504
00:30:35,938 --> 00:30:38,608
almost instantly and the
other thing that happened

505
00:30:38,691 --> 00:30:40,401
was there was a
number of crashes.

506
00:30:46,324 --> 00:30:47,867
‐ Within the span
of a single year,

507
00:30:47,992 --> 00:30:51,496
there were four major
crashes of Ford Tri Motors

508
00:30:51,579 --> 00:30:53,623
that killed over 40 people.

509
00:30:53,706 --> 00:30:57,335
In several cases, everyone
aboard the aircraft died.

510
00:31:03,549 --> 00:31:06,052
(dial tones)

511
00:31:10,848 --> 00:31:12,600
‐ Of course I tried six times.

512
00:31:15,228 --> 00:31:17,188
You're welcome to
try them yourself.

513
00:31:19,023 --> 00:31:20,441
No, that's not what I meant.

514
00:31:22,610 --> 00:31:25,196
Look, nobody's flying.

515
00:31:27,448 --> 00:31:28,324
Yeah, I'm doing it.

516
00:31:29,534 --> 00:31:31,285
‐ [Narrator] There's
one person Edsel knows

517
00:31:31,369 --> 00:31:35,039
that could convince the public
the Tri Motors are safe,

518
00:31:40,294 --> 00:31:43,631
but Ford's partner in
aviation, Charles Lindbergh

519
00:31:45,883 --> 00:31:48,261
is dealing with a
crisis of his own.

520
00:31:52,515 --> 00:31:57,395
In 1932, Lindbergh's 20
month old son is kidnapped.

521
00:31:58,604 --> 00:32:01,816
‐ Everything about Charles
Lindbergh was a big story.

522
00:32:01,899 --> 00:32:04,152
The birth of his
baby was a big story.

523
00:32:04,277 --> 00:32:06,863
And then when that
child was kidnapped,

524
00:32:06,988 --> 00:32:10,116
it was the biggest story
in the United States.

525
00:32:11,534 --> 00:32:14,996
‐ [Narrator] And then
his child is found dead.

526
00:32:19,542 --> 00:32:22,253
The press refuse
to leave him alone.

527
00:32:25,214 --> 00:32:27,258
Lindbergh is devastated.

528
00:32:39,729 --> 00:32:43,774
‐ What if we, we built with the
metal, you know, like boomy.

529
00:32:51,365 --> 00:32:55,244
Dad, wasn't expecting you.

530
00:32:55,995 --> 00:32:57,246
Everything okay?

531
00:32:58,372 --> 00:33:00,166
‐ It's time to cut our losses.

532
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:04,462
‐ What are you talking about?

533
00:33:05,463 --> 00:33:07,465
‐ I'm shutting
Ford Aviation down.

534
00:33:11,052 --> 00:33:13,971
‐ We have orders,
it could be huge.

535
00:33:14,055 --> 00:33:18,059
‐ That's it, it's over.

536
00:33:21,604 --> 00:33:24,524
Can I trust you to
make this happen?

537
00:33:25,399 --> 00:33:27,443
‐ Sure, Dad,

538
00:33:28,861 --> 00:33:30,321
whatever you want.

539
00:33:31,030 --> 00:33:32,073
‐ Good.

540
00:33:36,702 --> 00:33:40,623
(downhearted music)

541
00:33:43,125 --> 00:33:45,628
‐ Edsel was devastated,
one of his friends said

542
00:33:45,711 --> 00:33:48,089
that they had never
seen him so depressed.

543
00:33:49,090 --> 00:33:51,801
Just like that Edsel
Ford's whole identity,

544
00:33:51,884 --> 00:33:53,177
his whole future,
what he thought

545
00:33:53,219 --> 00:33:55,096
it was going to be was gone.

546
00:34:09,277 --> 00:34:11,112
‐ [Narrator] But while
most titans are struggling

547
00:34:11,195 --> 00:34:15,241
to survive, the Great
Depression, one is thriving.

548
00:34:16,033 --> 00:34:17,243
William Boeing.

549
00:34:19,579 --> 00:34:21,247
‐ Even though there
was a depression going

550
00:34:21,372 --> 00:34:23,165
on for the rest of
the United States,

551
00:34:23,207 --> 00:34:25,418
there were still lucrative
airmail contracts

552
00:34:25,501 --> 00:34:29,463
from the U S government and
so it was a very good time

553
00:34:29,547 --> 00:34:32,383
especially for Boeing
and the early 1930s.

554
00:34:33,634 --> 00:34:35,803
‐ [Narrator] Americans
might not be buying cars

555
00:34:35,886 --> 00:34:40,266
or taking trips but they're
sending more letters than ever.

556
00:34:42,727 --> 00:34:47,273
And Boeing's planes
are moving them.

557
00:34:48,107 --> 00:34:51,527
(airplane engine roars)

558
00:34:53,571 --> 00:34:57,283
Boeing now controls most
of the air mail business

559
00:34:57,366 --> 00:34:59,660
but he wants all of it.

560
00:35:00,536 --> 00:35:01,412
‐ Mr. President.

561
00:35:02,830 --> 00:35:05,124
‐ [Narrator] He's come to
Washington to make his case

562
00:35:05,207 --> 00:35:07,585
to the president,
Herbert Hoover.

563
00:35:08,711 --> 00:35:11,172
‐ Now you and I both know
there is no oversight.

564
00:35:12,340 --> 00:35:14,717
Do you honestly believe
you're not being bled dry?

565
00:35:15,885 --> 00:35:17,053
I play by rules

566
00:35:17,136 --> 00:35:21,182
but these other guys they're
raking you over the coals.

567
00:35:25,227 --> 00:35:26,145
‐ Mr. Boeing.

568
00:35:26,228 --> 00:35:27,188
‐ Mr. President.

569
00:35:33,527 --> 00:35:36,530
‐ William Boeing convinced
the Hoover administration

570
00:35:36,656 --> 00:35:39,158
that these small
independent companies

571
00:35:39,283 --> 00:35:41,702
that had airmail contracts
were actually cheating

572
00:35:41,827 --> 00:35:42,912
the federal government.

573
00:35:42,995 --> 00:35:45,623
Boeing argued, you really
should be trusting, reliable,

574
00:35:45,706 --> 00:35:47,792
dependable,
trustworthy companies

575
00:35:47,875 --> 00:35:50,836
like my company with
the airmail contracts

576
00:35:50,961 --> 00:35:53,881
and amazingly the Hoover
administration agreed.

577
00:35:55,883 --> 00:35:57,718
‐ [Narrator] The new
routes are worth millions

578
00:35:57,843 --> 00:36:00,596
of dollars for Boeing's
growing business.

579
00:36:01,722 --> 00:36:04,433
While the rest of the
industry struggles to survive,

580
00:36:04,558 --> 00:36:07,520
Boeing buys up aviation
companies for pennies

581
00:36:07,603 --> 00:36:11,399
on the dollar and adds
them to his empire.

582
00:36:12,525 --> 00:36:16,320
‐ Bill Boeing makes this
incredible vertical business.

583
00:36:16,445 --> 00:36:18,864
Airplanes, engines, propellers.

584
00:36:18,989 --> 00:36:21,534
He has a school to train pilots

585
00:36:21,617 --> 00:36:25,121
and mechanics and even
builds his own airfield.

586
00:36:25,204 --> 00:36:27,790
Everything under
one corporation.

587
00:36:28,958 --> 00:36:31,210
‐ Boeing has bought nearly
every airplane company

588
00:36:31,335 --> 00:36:33,421
in the country, combining them

589
00:36:33,504 --> 00:36:36,632
into the largest airline
the world has ever seen.

590
00:36:38,134 --> 00:36:41,762
He calls the new
company, United Airlines.

591
00:36:52,273 --> 00:36:56,485
‐ [Narrator] By 1932, William
Boeing has expanded his empire

592
00:36:56,610 --> 00:36:59,405
with his newly formed
United airlines.

593
00:37:02,366 --> 00:37:03,659
But for most Americans,

594
00:37:03,743 --> 00:37:06,662
the depression is taking
a devastating toll.

595
00:37:08,706 --> 00:37:10,040
‐ When the stock market crashed,

596
00:37:10,166 --> 00:37:13,252
Herbert Hoover thought
that was just a weird spasm

597
00:37:13,377 --> 00:37:15,463
in the stock market
and we would come back

598
00:37:15,546 --> 00:37:17,214
so he didn't do anything.

599
00:37:18,215 --> 00:37:22,511
And meanwhile, people suffered
like you can't even imagine.

600
00:37:22,636 --> 00:37:25,389
People were living in
little shanty towns,

601
00:37:25,514 --> 00:37:28,142
they started being
called Hoovervilles.

602
00:37:28,225 --> 00:37:31,604
We were in deep dark shape.

603
00:37:41,906 --> 00:37:45,326
‐ Things went from bad
to worse so quickly

604
00:37:45,409 --> 00:37:49,163
that American business
was in grave peril.

605
00:37:49,246 --> 00:37:50,498
They need consumers.

606
00:37:50,581 --> 00:37:53,417
They need a sound currency.

607
00:37:53,542 --> 00:37:55,544
They need a sound
banking system.

608
00:37:55,669 --> 00:37:57,213
They need an overall economy

609
00:37:57,338 --> 00:37:59,840
that's going to function
well on a macro level

610
00:37:59,965 --> 00:38:03,552
if they're going to remain
profitable themselves.

611
00:38:03,636 --> 00:38:06,180
‐ [Narrator] du Pont
has closed GM factories

612
00:38:06,305 --> 00:38:09,141
and laid off workers and still,

613
00:38:09,225 --> 00:38:10,643
he's losing millions.

614
00:38:11,769 --> 00:38:13,521
(thunder claps)

615
00:38:17,483 --> 00:38:20,820
In New York, Wall
Street is a ghost town

616
00:38:20,861 --> 00:38:23,614
and J. P Morgan is
bleeding money.

617
00:38:24,532 --> 00:38:27,409
‐ By 1932, as the
depression tightens

618
00:38:27,493 --> 00:38:30,329
and deepens as millions
of more Americans go

619
00:38:30,371 --> 00:38:32,039
on the unemployment roles,

620
00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:34,667
as the savagery

621
00:38:34,792 --> 00:38:38,170
of the great depression
becomes more apparent,

622
00:38:38,295 --> 00:38:40,047
J.P Morgan Jr. And
the house of Morgan,

623
00:38:40,130 --> 00:38:43,050
they begin to doubt Hoover.

624
00:38:48,347 --> 00:38:50,015
‐ Many American business leaders

625
00:38:50,057 --> 00:38:52,226
thought that Herbert Hoover's
administration handled

626
00:38:52,351 --> 00:38:53,519
it so poorly.

627
00:38:54,228 --> 00:38:55,813
They needed decisive action.

628
00:38:58,774 --> 00:39:00,526
‐ [Narrator] Morgan
and du Pont decide

629
00:39:00,651 --> 00:39:03,070
the time has come for a change.

630
00:39:04,613 --> 00:39:06,156
With an election coming,

631
00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:07,324
they make it their mission

632
00:39:07,449 --> 00:39:09,785
to get President Hoover
kicked out of office.

633
00:39:10,870 --> 00:39:13,747
They found their candidate,
an elite like them,

634
00:39:13,873 --> 00:39:16,458
from one of the most
respected political families

635
00:39:16,542 --> 00:39:17,543
in America.

636
00:39:27,803 --> 00:39:28,762
‐ Governor.

637
00:39:28,888 --> 00:39:31,181
‐ [Narrator] Franklin
Delano Roosevelt.

638
00:39:31,307 --> 00:39:33,517
‐ Mr. Morgan, my
friend, Pierre du Pont

639
00:39:33,642 --> 00:39:34,518
‐ Good to meet you, sir.

640
00:39:34,643 --> 00:39:36,562
‐ Good to meet you.

641
00:39:36,687 --> 00:39:40,149
‐ Franklin Roosevelt was
a aristocratic child,

642
00:39:40,274 --> 00:39:42,735
a patrician, born
on the Hudson river,

643
00:39:42,860 --> 00:39:46,363
lived there, went to prep
school, went to Harvard.

644
00:39:46,488 --> 00:39:50,993
‐ He was very much in the
upper‐class in New York.

645
00:39:51,076 --> 00:39:54,246
He could really
communicate extremely well

646
00:39:54,371 --> 00:39:56,749
with people from all classes,

647
00:39:56,832 --> 00:39:59,668
all religions, all
races, et cetera.

648
00:39:59,752 --> 00:40:02,004
‐ [Narrator] Although he
conceals it from the public,

649
00:40:02,087 --> 00:40:05,883
FDR has lived with polio
since the age of 39.

650
00:40:07,593 --> 00:40:09,428
‐ He didn't do anything
to bring on his polio.

651
00:40:09,553 --> 00:40:10,638
Now for the rest of his life,

652
00:40:10,721 --> 00:40:12,681
he couldn't walk again unaided.

653
00:40:12,806 --> 00:40:15,184
And the essence of
the great depression

654
00:40:15,267 --> 00:40:16,393
for millions of Americans was,

655
00:40:16,518 --> 00:40:20,105
"I didn't do anything wrong,
but the sky fell in upon me."

656
00:40:20,189 --> 00:40:23,984
And Roosevelt was able to
connect with those people.

657
00:40:28,405 --> 00:40:30,908
‐ Mr. Harrison's office please.

658
00:40:31,033 --> 00:40:32,117
‐ Well, wake him up.

659
00:40:33,243 --> 00:40:35,287
‐ [Narrator] Morgan and du
Pont throw their influence

660
00:40:35,371 --> 00:40:37,748
and their money behind FDR.

661
00:40:38,832 --> 00:40:40,834
‐ Let's talk about the
Roosevelt campaign.

662
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:42,878
‐ Yes, I want to talk to you
about the Roosevelt campaign.

663
00:40:43,003 --> 00:40:45,089
‐ We're very excited
about Roosevelt.

664
00:40:45,214 --> 00:40:46,757
I think he's all right.

665
00:40:47,841 --> 00:40:49,510
‐ du Pont and the
house of Morgan,

666
00:40:49,593 --> 00:40:52,179
and turning their attention
away from Herbert Hoover

667
00:40:52,304 --> 00:40:53,722
and embracing FDR,

668
00:40:53,847 --> 00:40:55,808
supporting FDR with their money.

669
00:40:55,891 --> 00:40:58,686
This really was an example
of an early super pack.

670
00:41:05,526 --> 00:41:06,694
‐ [Narrator] On
the campaign trail,

671
00:41:06,819 --> 00:41:09,738
FDR is greeted by huge crowds.

672
00:41:09,863 --> 00:41:12,491
He blames Hoover for
the nation's misery

673
00:41:12,616 --> 00:41:16,120
and positions himself as
the candidate of change,

674
00:41:16,203 --> 00:41:19,164
promising desperate
Americans a new deal.

675
00:41:20,374 --> 00:41:23,210
‐ He was very fuzzy on what
the new deal was going to be.

676
00:41:23,335 --> 00:41:26,088
He simply promised that the
government would be more active

677
00:41:26,213 --> 00:41:27,673
and be more helpful,

678
00:41:28,590 --> 00:41:30,718
but it wasn't clear
what that meant.

679
00:41:30,843 --> 00:41:33,345
All they knew was it
sounded a whole lot better

680
00:41:33,470 --> 00:41:35,639
than be very quiet

681
00:41:35,723 --> 00:41:38,726
and seemingly too little
too late ideas of Herbert.

682
00:41:39,685 --> 00:41:40,769
‐ I am confident.

683
00:41:40,894 --> 00:41:43,397
‐ He was a great politician, FDR

684
00:41:43,522 --> 00:41:46,150
and he was able to
appeal to the unemployed,

685
00:41:46,233 --> 00:41:47,151
the working people,

686
00:41:47,276 --> 00:41:51,071
without startling the
rich industrial titans.

687
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:53,240
‐ Well we'll wait and see.

688
00:41:55,617 --> 00:41:58,704
‐ [Narrator] FDR wins the
election in a landslide.

689
00:41:59,371 --> 00:42:01,582
(cheering and applause)

690
00:42:02,708 --> 00:42:06,336
His inaugural address
brings hope to millions.

691
00:42:06,420 --> 00:42:11,133
‐ [FDR] So first of all,
let me assert my firm belief

692
00:42:12,468 --> 00:42:16,138
that the only thing we have
to fear is

693
00:42:16,388 --> 00:42:18,140
fear itself.

694
00:42:18,223 --> 00:42:21,143
(pplause and cheering)

695
00:42:23,479 --> 00:42:24,730
‐ Good morning sir.

696
00:42:25,939 --> 00:42:28,484
‐ [FDR] And there must be an end
to a conduct in banking and

697
00:42:28,567 --> 00:42:33,572
in business which too often
has given to a sacred trust

698
00:42:33,697 --> 00:42:36,950
the likeness of callous
and selfish wrongdoing.

699
00:42:37,034 --> 00:42:39,661
‐ The speech is one of the
great political speeches

700
00:42:39,787 --> 00:42:41,288
of the 20th century.

701
00:42:41,371 --> 00:42:46,001
‐ [FDR] Practices of the
unscrupulous money changers

702
00:42:47,002 --> 00:42:50,255
stand indicted in the
court of public opinion.

703
00:42:50,380 --> 00:42:52,299
‐ And the Morgan bankers,

704
00:42:52,382 --> 00:42:54,093
they're expecting
that their voice

705
00:42:54,218 --> 00:42:55,886
will be listened to
in the White House

706
00:42:56,011 --> 00:43:00,349
as it has been more
or less since 1918,

707
00:43:00,474 --> 00:43:02,559
incorrectly as it transpired.

708
00:43:02,893 --> 00:43:04,019
‐ [FDR] They have resorted...

709
00:43:04,061 --> 00:43:05,187
‐ [Narrator] In the speech,

710
00:43:05,312 --> 00:43:07,856
Roosevelt says the first
thing he's going to do

711
00:43:08,649 --> 00:43:10,567
is go after the bankers.

712
00:43:10,692 --> 00:43:13,153
‐ [FDR] This nation
is asking for action

713
00:43:14,404 --> 00:43:15,823
and action now.

714
00:43:15,948 --> 00:43:19,743
‐ [Narrator] And within two
weeks, FDR turns on Morgan

715
00:43:20,536 --> 00:43:21,870
and comes for him.

716
00:43:22,204 --> 00:43:25,207
(dramatic music)

717
00:43:32,548 --> 00:43:37,344
(ominous music)

718
00:43:38,387 --> 00:43:41,515
‐ [Narrator] J. P Morgan Jr.
helped put Franklin Roosevelt

719
00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:43,433
into office

720
00:43:43,559 --> 00:43:44,643
but now,

721
00:43:44,726 --> 00:43:46,979
the President is
coming after him.

722
00:43:47,062 --> 00:43:47,938
‐ How many?

723
00:44:00,159 --> 00:44:01,785
The hell is this?

724
00:44:01,869 --> 00:44:03,871
‐ [Narrator] To pull America
out of the depression,

725
00:44:03,996 --> 00:44:07,833
FDR is targeting the people
he thinks caused the crash.

726
00:44:08,542 --> 00:44:09,376
Bankers.

727
00:44:11,753 --> 00:44:13,672
‐ Roosevelt needed an enemy

728
00:44:13,755 --> 00:44:16,258
in order to justify the
major changes he knew

729
00:44:16,383 --> 00:44:18,969
he would have to undertake
to get the economy moving

730
00:44:19,052 --> 00:44:21,221
and he was a good enough
politician to know

731
00:44:21,346 --> 00:44:24,391
that you had to find an enemy
that many people would hate.

732
00:44:25,809 --> 00:44:28,729
‐ And J. P Morgan was
an obvious person.

733
00:44:28,854 --> 00:44:31,106
His name was synonymous
with Wall Street.

734
00:44:32,191 --> 00:44:35,319
So, just like today, if you're
upset with big business

735
00:44:35,444 --> 00:44:38,363
you call Jeff Bezos to
testify before Congress

736
00:44:38,488 --> 00:44:39,364
and Mark Zuckerberg.

737
00:44:39,489 --> 00:44:41,241
Well, J. P Morgan was that guy.

738
00:44:47,623 --> 00:44:51,418
‐ [Narrator] Now, FDR intends
to create a public spectacle

739
00:44:53,754 --> 00:44:56,089
to ensure that
J. P Morgan becomes

740
00:44:56,215 --> 00:44:59,051
the face of the
stock market crash.

741
00:45:03,055 --> 00:45:07,559
Roosevelt taps a tough New
York lawyer, Ferdinand Pecora,

742
00:45:07,684 --> 00:45:09,937
to call Morgan before Congress.

743
00:45:12,856 --> 00:45:15,984
(press clamoring)

744
00:45:32,084 --> 00:45:33,210
‐ The hearings as it turned out,

745
00:45:33,335 --> 00:45:37,339
were the subject of
extraordinary interest.

746
00:45:38,465 --> 00:45:39,299
‐ [Pecora] Mr. Morgan.

747
00:45:41,927 --> 00:45:44,179
Thank you very much
for joining us today.

748
00:45:45,597 --> 00:45:47,266
‐ It was late May early June,

749
00:45:47,391 --> 00:45:50,269
and it was unusually
hot in Washington DC

750
00:45:50,394 --> 00:45:53,188
and there was no air
conditioning in those days.

751
00:45:56,316 --> 00:45:59,194
It was Torrid in every
sense of the word.

752
00:46:00,362 --> 00:46:03,865
‐ You know what, proportion
of your total business

753
00:46:03,949 --> 00:46:07,494
and total profits rise
from your transactions

754
00:46:07,619 --> 00:46:09,746
on the stock exchange?

755
00:46:09,830 --> 00:46:10,831
‐ I wouldn't know off hand,

756
00:46:10,914 --> 00:46:15,919
it would take a long time
to find out.

757
00:46:16,044 --> 00:46:17,879
‐ What was the reason for
not keeping any minutes

758
00:46:17,963 --> 00:46:21,008
or other written record
of the proceedings?

759
00:46:21,133 --> 00:46:23,844
‐ Well, for reasons
of convenience.

760
00:46:23,927 --> 00:46:25,595
Take a man's time
to write them up

761
00:46:25,721 --> 00:46:29,099
and they'd be of no use to you.

762
00:46:38,275 --> 00:46:41,361
‐ Did you manipulate the stock
market for your own gains?

763
00:46:52,664 --> 00:46:53,415
Yes?

764
00:46:54,875 --> 00:46:56,084
‐ Yes, no.

765
00:46:56,209 --> 00:46:58,420
‐ Mr. Morgan, please
answer the question.

766
00:46:59,963 --> 00:47:01,423
Yes or no?

767
00:47:13,393 --> 00:47:15,437
‐ [Narrator] The hearings
accomplish exactly

768
00:47:15,562 --> 00:47:16,897
what FDR wanted.

769
00:47:19,191 --> 00:47:22,486
Millions of Americans now
believe that J. P Morgan

770
00:47:22,569 --> 00:47:27,407
and his Wall Street elites
led the nation to ruin.

771
00:47:30,035 --> 00:47:33,997
‐ FDR was not going
to coddle the rich.

772
00:47:34,081 --> 00:47:36,833
He genuinely believed that
the concentration of power

773
00:47:36,958 --> 00:47:39,586
in a few hands was
bad for our country.

774
00:47:42,547 --> 00:47:44,007
‐ [Narrator] But
Roosevelt is doing more

775
00:47:44,132 --> 00:47:46,927
than just pinning the
crash on J. P Morgan.

776
00:47:47,761 --> 00:47:50,055
He's drawing a line in the sand

777
00:47:51,306 --> 00:47:54,935
between the rich elites and
the rest of the country.

778
00:47:56,061 --> 00:47:58,355
‐ He picked his
enemies carefully

779
00:47:58,438 --> 00:48:01,400
and he cast them
as these dinosaurs

780
00:48:01,525 --> 00:48:04,736
who have only their own
moneyed interests at heart

781
00:48:04,861 --> 00:48:07,280
and we need to get
them out of the way,

782
00:48:07,364 --> 00:48:09,157
so that the American
people could live up

783
00:48:09,282 --> 00:48:10,492
to the American dream.

784
00:48:11,827 --> 00:48:15,747
‐ [Narrator] To prove once and
for all which side he's on,

785
00:48:15,872 --> 00:48:18,917
FDR is going to take
down another titan

786
00:48:19,042 --> 00:48:21,086
who got him elected.

787
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:25,090
Pierre du Pont

788
00:48:28,718 --> 00:48:29,845
And to do it,

789
00:48:29,928 --> 00:48:31,346
FDR will capitalize

790
00:48:31,471 --> 00:48:34,516
on a best‐selling book
about world war one.

791
00:48:36,393 --> 00:48:38,061
‐ The idea behind the
"Merchants of Death"

792
00:48:38,186 --> 00:48:40,188
was that if the United
States government

793
00:48:40,313 --> 00:48:42,858
and the American people
were dragged into

794
00:48:42,941 --> 00:48:44,901
or duped into war

795
00:48:45,026 --> 00:48:47,654
by bankers, by industrialists,

796
00:48:47,737 --> 00:48:50,240
by people who are going
to profit from war.

797
00:48:51,867 --> 00:48:53,869
And one of the chief villains

798
00:48:53,994 --> 00:48:56,997
that they arrive at is du Pont.

799
00:49:00,917 --> 00:49:02,836
Pierre du Pont and
the du Pont company

800
00:49:02,919 --> 00:49:05,380
were deeply offended by this.

801
00:49:05,505 --> 00:49:08,008
They really
genuinely did not see

802
00:49:08,133 --> 00:49:11,011
that they had done
anything criminal.

803
00:49:12,429 --> 00:49:14,514
‐ [Narrator] du Pont
soon finds himself

804
00:49:14,639 --> 00:49:17,267
the subject of a
congressional inquiry.

805
00:49:23,106 --> 00:49:25,317
‐ You charged the
government $100 million

806
00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:27,194
to build your
smokeless powder piles

807
00:49:27,319 --> 00:49:30,071
and then another 200 million
in operating expense.

808
00:49:30,197 --> 00:49:31,990
The du Pont company
pocketed at a profit

809
00:49:32,115 --> 00:49:33,325
of nearly $50 million.

810
00:49:33,450 --> 00:49:36,661
While thousands of soldiers
were sent to their deaths.

811
00:49:36,745 --> 00:49:39,414
(clock ticking)

812
00:49:49,966 --> 00:49:52,260
You are quite simply
a war profiteer

813
00:49:52,344 --> 00:49:55,889
but now, operating not in
accordance with the interests...

814
00:49:56,014 --> 00:49:57,182
‐ [Brand] For du Pont,

815
00:49:58,391 --> 00:50:02,729
everything he's trying to
leave behind resurfaces.

816
00:50:04,314 --> 00:50:06,983
‐ du Pont and the du Pont
company get the label

817
00:50:07,108 --> 00:50:09,152
of being the "Merchant of Death"

818
00:50:09,277 --> 00:50:10,570
which is catchy

819
00:50:11,530 --> 00:50:12,739
and horrific.

820
00:50:50,527 --> 00:50:55,490
‐ Franklin Roosevelt was a
very, very gifted politician.

821
00:50:57,117 --> 00:51:00,245
And he saw this as
a real opportunity

822
00:51:01,037 --> 00:51:03,498
to appeal to American voters.

823
00:51:05,292 --> 00:51:08,128
If du Pont was vilified
in the process,

824
00:51:10,797 --> 00:51:12,382
that's the price of politics.

825
00:51:14,050 --> 00:51:15,677
‐ [FDR] This Nation is
asking for action,

826
00:51:17,095 --> 00:51:18,805
and action now.

827
00:51:18,888 --> 00:51:20,807
(applause)

828
00:51:22,017 --> 00:51:22,934
‐ [Narrator] For du Pont,

829
00:51:23,059 --> 00:51:24,978
his family name and reputation

830
00:51:25,061 --> 00:51:26,813
have been dragged
through the mud.

831
00:51:28,023 --> 00:51:32,235
But for Morgan, his entire
empire is being threatened.

832
00:51:37,073 --> 00:51:40,076
Congress passes a law
that sets new rules

833
00:51:40,160 --> 00:51:42,287
for how Morgan can operate.

834
00:51:49,336 --> 00:51:52,255
His banking empire
will be broken up.

835
00:52:00,889 --> 00:52:02,515
‐ You have these titans

836
00:52:02,641 --> 00:52:05,185
who are used to
calling all the shots.

837
00:52:05,268 --> 00:52:07,979
Who are used to having
things go their way.

838
00:52:08,813 --> 00:52:11,650
They didn't like
government interference.

839
00:52:13,151 --> 00:52:14,694
‐ [Narrator] Unable
to conduct business

840
00:52:14,819 --> 00:52:16,988
how he wants in America,

841
00:52:17,113 --> 00:52:18,782
Morgan turns his focus

842
00:52:18,865 --> 00:52:21,451
to an area FDR can't touch,

843
00:52:22,702 --> 00:52:24,621
outside of the U. S.

844
00:52:25,580 --> 00:52:27,999
‐ J. P Morgan Jr. loaned
millions of dollars

845
00:52:28,083 --> 00:52:32,003
to various countries to
finance all kinds of regimes.

846
00:52:32,045 --> 00:52:34,005
It was financing
the British Empire.

847
00:52:34,130 --> 00:52:36,383
It was financing
the French Republic

848
00:52:36,508 --> 00:52:40,345
and it was financing
Japan and Germany as well.

849
00:52:48,395 --> 00:52:50,980
‐ But Germany now
has a new leader.

850
00:52:54,109 --> 00:52:54,901
Adolf Hitler.

851
00:52:58,988 --> 00:53:00,532
Loaning them money is a decision

852
00:53:00,657 --> 00:53:02,992
that Morgan will come to regret.

853
00:53:15,213 --> 00:53:17,757
(ominous music)

854
00:53:19,592 --> 00:53:22,345
‐ [Narrator] After cracking down
on Morgan and du Pont,

855
00:53:22,387 --> 00:53:25,932
FDR turns to phase two
of his recovery plan.

856
00:53:27,809 --> 00:53:29,936
Getting the country
back to work.

857
00:53:33,106 --> 00:53:34,649
‐ President Roosevelt
told the nation

858
00:53:34,733 --> 00:53:36,401
that the project
would set an example

859
00:53:36,526 --> 00:53:39,362
of funding for all the
generations to come.

860
00:53:41,239 --> 00:53:43,158
‐ Roads and trails are
being made safe and easy

861
00:53:43,241 --> 00:53:44,284
for motor cars.

862
00:53:45,243 --> 00:53:47,662
‐ Democracy had
stepped on the gas.

863
00:53:49,372 --> 00:53:53,918
‐ FDR went in fast mode
with his new deal programs

864
00:53:54,002 --> 00:53:55,295
where you would build bridges

865
00:53:55,378 --> 00:53:57,630
and roads and infrastructure

866
00:53:57,714 --> 00:54:02,177
to constantly put some form
of funding into middle‐class

867
00:54:02,302 --> 00:54:05,305
poor and unemployed
people's hands.

868
00:54:07,307 --> 00:54:10,769
‐ [Narrator] FDR chooses one
project to be the centerpiece

869
00:54:10,894 --> 00:54:11,853
of his new deal.

870
00:54:15,315 --> 00:54:17,901
It will require a
massive workforce

871
00:54:17,984 --> 00:54:20,570
and four million cubic
yards of concrete.

872
00:54:21,613 --> 00:54:23,782
A project this big
would be a perfect fit

873
00:54:23,865 --> 00:54:27,076
for industrial type means
like Ford or du Pont,

874
00:54:28,953 --> 00:54:30,705
but FDR doesn't trust them.

875
00:54:34,751 --> 00:54:37,086
So he gives it to an unknown.

876
00:54:38,463 --> 00:54:41,007
His name is Henry Kaiser.

877
00:54:43,510 --> 00:54:45,261
‐ Henry Kaiser starts
out at the bottom

878
00:54:45,386 --> 00:54:47,347
of the construction industry.

879
00:54:47,430 --> 00:54:48,389
He's the son of immigrants.

880
00:54:48,515 --> 00:54:49,766
He comes from humble origins.

881
00:54:49,849 --> 00:54:52,894
He doesn't go to
Ivy league schools.

882
00:54:55,688 --> 00:54:58,107
But the one thing he
learns early on is that,

883
00:54:58,191 --> 00:55:00,318
he was always willing
to work harder

884
00:55:00,360 --> 00:55:02,153
and longer than anyone else.

885
00:55:02,237 --> 00:55:04,239
‐ [Kaiser] We need to know if we
can get those foundations in..

886
00:55:04,322 --> 00:55:05,406
‐ [Narrator] One day,

887
00:55:05,490 --> 00:55:06,950
he'll have so many
people working for him

888
00:55:08,201 --> 00:55:09,744
that he starts a
healthcare company

889
00:55:09,869 --> 00:55:11,162
for his workers.

890
00:55:11,246 --> 00:55:12,580
Kaiser Permanente.

891
00:55:13,790 --> 00:55:16,417
‐ All of this here, all of
this is gonna have to...

892
00:55:16,501 --> 00:55:17,919
‐ [Narrator] But right now,

893
00:55:18,044 --> 00:55:18,878
he's a nobody.

894
00:55:25,635 --> 00:55:28,847
Now Kaiser has been given
the job of his life.

895
00:55:30,390 --> 00:55:33,518
Far out West in the
hot barren desert.

896
00:55:34,435 --> 00:55:36,938
Kaiser's project is
already underway.

897
00:55:42,318 --> 00:55:43,528
If completed,

898
00:55:43,653 --> 00:55:46,072
it will be the most
ambitious engineering project

899
00:55:46,155 --> 00:55:47,740
America has ever built.

900
00:56:00,086 --> 00:56:01,045
The Hoover dam.

901
00:56:09,470 --> 00:56:12,682
Initial construction
began under Herbert Hoover.

902
00:56:12,765 --> 00:56:15,685
Blasting enormous tunnels
through solid rock

903
00:56:15,768 --> 00:56:17,937
to divert the Colorado river.

904
00:56:18,897 --> 00:56:21,065
Now more than two
years into the project,

905
00:56:21,858 --> 00:56:23,943
the river bed is dry and ready

906
00:56:24,861 --> 00:56:27,530
but the dam itself
hasn't been started.

907
00:56:29,198 --> 00:56:30,366
The press is calling it,

908
00:56:30,491 --> 00:56:33,161
"The $50 million
hole in the ground."

909
00:56:39,918 --> 00:56:42,837
‐ It was an unimaginably
hostile environment.

910
00:56:47,216 --> 00:56:49,093
Desert heat of dust.

911
00:56:54,515 --> 00:56:55,600
‐ Where's my engineer?

912
00:56:56,935 --> 00:57:00,688
‐ Men who worked on it said
that conditions were harsher

913
00:57:00,730 --> 00:57:02,941
than anything they
had ever experienced.

914
00:57:05,860 --> 00:57:09,280
‐ [Narrator] But Kaiser has
run into a serious problem.

915
00:57:09,364 --> 00:57:11,658
Constructing the largest
dam in the world,

916
00:57:11,699 --> 00:57:15,161
requires a massive
amount of concrete.

917
00:57:15,286 --> 00:57:17,664
‐ 120, this is way too hot.

918
00:57:17,789 --> 00:57:19,791
Enough to pave a
two lane highway

919
00:57:19,874 --> 00:57:22,585
from San Francisco to New York.

920
00:57:23,503 --> 00:57:25,046
‐ What's it at?

921
00:57:25,171 --> 00:57:27,340
‐ 120 after 72 hours.

922
00:57:27,423 --> 00:57:28,257
It's not enough.

923
00:57:31,552 --> 00:57:32,929
What do you think we should do?

924
00:57:33,054 --> 00:57:34,555
‐ I need you to
monitor this closely

925
00:57:34,639 --> 00:57:36,849
and let me know as soon
as anything changes.

926
00:57:36,933 --> 00:57:38,893
You can take the
temperature down.

927
00:57:41,187 --> 00:57:43,481
‐ [Narrator] Pouring this
much concrete can result

928
00:57:43,564 --> 00:57:45,274
in a very dangerous outcome.

929
00:57:47,360 --> 00:57:48,236
Cracking.

930
00:57:49,237 --> 00:57:51,489
‐ Concrete emits
heat as it cures

931
00:57:51,572 --> 00:57:53,408
and if it's not cooled properly,

932
00:57:53,533 --> 00:57:55,493
you'll get cracks
in the concrete

933
00:57:55,576 --> 00:57:58,162
and the entire structure
will be much weaker

934
00:57:58,246 --> 00:58:00,039
and in fact, it might fail.

935
00:58:02,250 --> 00:58:04,877
There was so much concrete
going into Hoover dam,

936
00:58:05,003 --> 00:58:07,338
experts estimated that
it would take more

937
00:58:07,422 --> 00:58:09,298
than a century to
fully cool down.

938
00:58:14,220 --> 00:58:15,638
In 1928,

939
00:58:16,806 --> 00:58:20,184
just a couple of years before
Hoover dam project began,

940
00:58:20,226 --> 00:58:23,855
the St. Francis dam in
California had failed.

941
00:58:23,980 --> 00:58:28,693
The reservoir behind St.
Francis emptied in 11 minutes

942
00:58:28,776 --> 00:58:30,903
and then swept toward the coast,

943
00:58:30,987 --> 00:58:34,949
taking people, and houses,
and livestock with it.

944
00:58:38,453 --> 00:58:41,581
450 people lost their lives.

945
00:58:43,249 --> 00:58:46,294
‐ [Narrator] Kaiser needs to
figure out a solution quickly

946
00:58:47,128 --> 00:58:49,714
or he could jeopardize
FDRs new deal

947
00:58:52,300 --> 00:58:56,179
and his project will be one
of the most expensive failures

948
00:58:56,262 --> 00:58:57,722
in American history.

949
00:59:05,313 --> 00:59:08,232
(dramatic music)

950
00:59:10,401 --> 00:59:11,819
‐ [Narrator] In the
Nevada desert,

951
00:59:12,820 --> 00:59:14,655
the biggest most
important project

952
00:59:14,781 --> 00:59:17,742
in FDR's new deal is underway

953
00:59:25,458 --> 00:59:27,251
but Henry Kaiser has a problem.

954
00:59:28,753 --> 00:59:32,423
He needs to find a way to
cool four million cubic yards

955
00:59:32,507 --> 00:59:34,258
of concrete as it hardens

956
00:59:36,552 --> 00:59:38,054
or the Hoover Dam will fail.

957
01:00:07,542 --> 01:00:09,001
‐ Henry Kaiser was
someone who said

958
01:00:09,127 --> 01:00:11,838
"Get the job done no
matter what it takes."

959
01:00:11,921 --> 01:00:13,881
And a good example of
that is the challenge

960
01:00:13,965 --> 01:00:15,133
they have when they
have to figure out

961
01:00:15,216 --> 01:00:17,510
how to cool the concrete
used in the construction

962
01:00:17,552 --> 01:00:18,845
of the Hoover dam.

963
01:00:18,928 --> 01:00:20,513
He and his team figure
out they can do this

964
01:00:20,638 --> 01:00:22,807
by cooling it from
the inside out.

965
01:00:25,059 --> 01:00:27,562
‐ [Narrator] Kaiser
embeds nearly 600 miles

966
01:00:27,687 --> 01:00:29,856
of piping into the concrete

967
01:00:29,939 --> 01:00:33,734
and then pumps chilled
river water through it.

968
01:00:33,818 --> 01:00:37,321
‐ Henry Kaiser built a
whole refrigeration plant

969
01:00:37,405 --> 01:00:40,366
to cool the water that would
be pumped through the dam

970
01:00:40,491 --> 01:00:41,826
to help it cool properly.

971
01:00:43,578 --> 01:00:44,829
‐ [Narrator] With
chilled water running

972
01:00:44,912 --> 01:00:46,873
through every
section of the dam,

973
01:00:46,998 --> 01:00:50,710
the concrete cools in
a fraction of the time.

974
01:01:01,721 --> 01:01:03,931
‐ I think one of the
critical components

975
01:01:04,015 --> 01:01:06,434
to being successful in
business is being decisive

976
01:01:07,435 --> 01:01:08,811
because you're going to
have a lot of naysayers,

977
01:01:08,895 --> 01:01:09,979
so you're going to
have to be decisive

978
01:01:10,062 --> 01:01:11,772
and know, "I believe
this is going to work.

979
01:01:11,856 --> 01:01:14,108
I'm going to put all
my energy behind it."

980
01:01:15,443 --> 01:01:18,946
‐ [Narrator] Over 20,000 people
will work on the Hoover dam

981
01:01:19,989 --> 01:01:22,074
but that's just the
tip of the iceberg.

982
01:01:22,992 --> 01:01:26,078
All across America,
FDR's new deal programs

983
01:01:26,204 --> 01:01:28,998
are creating millions
of well‐paying jobs

984
01:01:30,124 --> 01:01:31,959
and for the first time in years,

985
01:01:32,043 --> 01:01:35,254
people start to feel
optimistic about the future.

986
01:01:37,215 --> 01:01:39,508
‐ Money is circulating
in the hands of people

987
01:01:39,550 --> 01:01:40,718
and the assumption is

988
01:01:40,843 --> 01:01:43,179
that this might actually
stimulate the economy.

989
01:01:59,904 --> 01:02:00,696
‐ Good morning, Mr. Boeing.

990
01:02:00,780 --> 01:02:01,781
‐ Morning.

991
01:02:07,036 --> 01:02:09,538
Ladies and gentlemen,
thank you for coming.

992
01:02:10,539 --> 01:02:12,041
You are the first Americans

993
01:02:12,166 --> 01:02:15,253
to witness the
future of aviation.

994
01:02:18,047 --> 01:02:20,007
‐ [Narrator] By late 1933,

995
01:02:20,132 --> 01:02:21,926
Boeing rules the skies

996
01:02:22,927 --> 01:02:24,762
and he's even built
a passenger plane

997
01:02:24,845 --> 01:02:26,931
like no one's ever seen before.

998
01:02:27,890 --> 01:02:29,976
‐ The Boeing 247 is faster

999
01:02:30,059 --> 01:02:32,019
than any other civilian plane.

1000
01:02:32,103 --> 01:02:35,648
Boasting a top speed of
over 200 miles per hour.

1001
01:02:35,731 --> 01:02:37,233
You can have
breakfast in New York

1002
01:02:37,316 --> 01:02:40,069
and be in Los Angeles in
time to catch the sunset.

1003
01:02:41,362 --> 01:02:44,490
‐ The Boeing 247 was
a huge step forward

1004
01:02:44,615 --> 01:02:47,118
in aviation both in design,

1005
01:02:47,201 --> 01:02:49,412
as well as aviation technology.

1006
01:02:49,495 --> 01:02:53,582
It's sleek, single wing,
all metal, art deco design.

1007
01:02:53,708 --> 01:02:56,460
It just looks like
a modern airplane.

1008
01:02:57,378 --> 01:02:58,713
‐ [Narrator] Boeing
is betting that soon

1009
01:02:58,838 --> 01:03:00,506
the public will be flying again

1010
01:03:01,674 --> 01:03:05,344
and he's completely changing
the entire flying experience.

1011
01:03:06,262 --> 01:03:09,181
‐ Bill Boeing's airline
hired eight nurses

1012
01:03:09,265 --> 01:03:10,891
to care for the passengers,

1013
01:03:11,017 --> 01:03:12,852
ease their fears and
take care of them

1014
01:03:12,935 --> 01:03:15,104
if they're sick
during the flight.

1015
01:03:18,649 --> 01:03:22,111
These were the first flight
attendants in the world.

1016
01:03:23,154 --> 01:03:25,156
‐ Smile for the camera's ladies.

1017
01:03:25,281 --> 01:03:26,699
‐ [Narrator] With his new plane

1018
01:03:26,824 --> 01:03:29,660
and growing control
of the skies,

1019
01:03:29,785 --> 01:03:31,954
who could possibly stop him now?

1020
01:03:36,876 --> 01:03:38,127
Just one man.

1021
01:03:38,961 --> 01:03:40,004
The President.

1022
01:03:42,715 --> 01:03:46,969
He believes the government
should be in charge of mail,

1023
01:03:47,053 --> 01:03:48,012
not Boeing.

1024
01:03:49,180 --> 01:03:52,558
A scandal gives FDR his opening.

1025
01:03:55,728 --> 01:03:57,396
‐ Mr. Boeing, Mr. President.

1026
01:03:58,564 --> 01:04:02,651
‐ The air mail scandal was a
disaster for William Boeing.

1027
01:04:02,735 --> 01:04:04,153
It really took the shine off

1028
01:04:04,278 --> 01:04:07,239
of his company's reputation
because newspapers across

1029
01:04:07,365 --> 01:04:09,825
the country were running
front page stories

1030
01:04:09,950 --> 01:04:12,328
about corruption, and
bribery, and graft,

1031
01:04:12,411 --> 01:04:16,248
and suddenly William Boeing's
entire aviation empire

1032
01:04:16,332 --> 01:04:18,918
is now under the
scrutiny of the public.

1033
01:04:24,382 --> 01:04:27,468
‐ FDR believed that there
was an unfair advantage given

1034
01:04:27,551 --> 01:04:30,346
to these large corporate
titans to make profits

1035
01:04:30,471 --> 01:04:32,640
at the expense of
the American people.

1036
01:04:33,724 --> 01:04:36,852
And so the charges of monopoly
really drove Roosevelt

1037
01:04:36,936 --> 01:04:38,020
to act.

1038
01:04:45,694 --> 01:04:46,612
‐ William Boeing?

1039
01:04:47,530 --> 01:04:48,322
‐ Yes?

1040
01:04:51,867 --> 01:04:52,993
What's this?

1041
01:04:58,332 --> 01:04:59,959
‐ [Narrator] FDR terminates all

1042
01:05:00,042 --> 01:05:02,586
of Boeing's air mail contracts.

1043
01:05:02,670 --> 01:05:06,632
(dramatic music)

1044
01:05:17,226 --> 01:05:20,146
‐ [Narrator] In the wake of
a scandal, FDR takes away

1045
01:05:20,229 --> 01:05:23,774
all of William Boeing's
air mail contracts.

1046
01:05:23,858 --> 01:05:26,444
For Boeing, it's a catastrophe.

1047
01:05:26,527 --> 01:05:29,238
(dramatic music)

1048
01:05:31,323 --> 01:05:33,534
‐ William Boeing was
counting on that revenue

1049
01:05:33,617 --> 01:05:37,037
and income to continue to invest
in and expand his business.

1050
01:05:37,121 --> 01:05:40,666
So without those airmail
contracts, he has now lost one

1051
01:05:40,749 --> 01:05:45,588
of the only sources of
guaranteed income in the 1930s.

1052
01:05:45,713 --> 01:05:48,424
(dramatic music)

1053
01:05:53,304 --> 01:05:55,181
‐ [Narrator] Roosevelt
believes that just like

1054
01:05:55,264 --> 01:05:57,933
with the Hoover Dam,
airmail is best left

1055
01:05:58,058 --> 01:06:00,186
in the trusted hands
of the government.

1056
01:06:01,729 --> 01:06:04,064
‐ There had been corruption
and bribery involved.

1057
01:06:04,190 --> 01:06:08,652
And so President Roosevelt
decided the U. S. Army Air Corps,

1058
01:06:08,694 --> 01:06:12,156
the early American Air Force,
would deliver the mail.

1059
01:06:13,449 --> 01:06:15,618
‐ The Army Air Corps
now have to pick up

1060
01:06:15,701 --> 01:06:18,829
for these very experienced
pilots who had been

1061
01:06:18,913 --> 01:06:20,080
flying every day

1062
01:06:20,164 --> 01:06:23,375
over well‐proven routes
and scheduled airlines.

1063
01:06:23,501 --> 01:06:27,046
They now have to pick it
up and carry that forward.

1064
01:06:28,714 --> 01:06:30,925
‐ [Narrator] The army
realizes immediately

1065
01:06:31,050 --> 01:06:34,011
just how unprepared
they are for the job.

1066
01:06:34,094 --> 01:06:37,097
Their planes are
leftovers from World War I

1067
01:06:37,223 --> 01:06:40,267
and most of the pilots
are inexperienced.

1068
01:06:40,392 --> 01:06:41,519
‐ They don't have the planes.

1069
01:06:41,644 --> 01:06:43,521
They don't have the
infrastructure in terms of

1070
01:06:43,562 --> 01:06:45,981
flying day and night
around the clock

1071
01:06:46,023 --> 01:06:49,068
in all types of
weather operations

1072
01:06:50,361 --> 01:06:52,821
‐ [Narrator] For the young
pilots flying old planes,

1073
01:06:52,905 --> 01:06:55,157
it's a disaster
waiting to happen.

1074
01:06:55,282 --> 01:06:58,202
(ominous music)

1075
01:06:59,453 --> 01:07:03,082
‐ In a span of six weeks,
you have more than 60 crashes

1076
01:07:03,165 --> 01:07:05,751
killing many young
airmail pilots.

1077
01:07:08,212 --> 01:07:11,090
It was a public relations
nightmare for FDR.

1078
01:07:12,633 --> 01:07:15,219
(somber music)

1079
01:07:17,263 --> 01:07:20,015
‐ [Narrator] Roosevelt
realizes he has no choice.

1080
01:07:20,057 --> 01:07:24,144
He reverses his decision and
gives the airmail business

1081
01:07:24,228 --> 01:07:26,230
back to private industry.

1082
01:07:29,358 --> 01:07:32,027
‐ It was a big
humiliation for Roosevelt.

1083
01:07:32,152 --> 01:07:35,114
He had just been
elected a year before

1084
01:07:35,197 --> 01:07:37,491
and he was flying high.

1085
01:07:37,575 --> 01:07:40,327
He was very popular
because of the New Deal.

1086
01:07:40,369 --> 01:07:43,372
And this was his first
real political defeat.

1087
01:07:46,250 --> 01:07:48,877
‐ [Narrator] But when FDR
does give air mail back,

1088
01:07:48,961 --> 01:07:50,379
there's a huge catch.

1089
01:07:51,589 --> 01:07:53,841
The government will no
longer permit companies to

1090
01:07:53,966 --> 01:07:56,927
both build planes and fly them.

1091
01:07:57,011 --> 01:07:59,930
Boeing's empire is broken up

1092
01:08:00,014 --> 01:08:02,141
but the president
doesn't stop there.

1093
01:08:03,183 --> 01:08:05,561
As punishment for
creating a monopoly,

1094
01:08:05,644 --> 01:08:08,272
FDR specifically
bans William Boeing

1095
01:08:08,355 --> 01:08:13,068
for life from ever
flying air mail again.

1096
01:08:13,152 --> 01:08:16,280
(plane engine whirs)

1097
01:08:17,364 --> 01:08:20,284
It's a staggering blow
to the aviation titan.

1098
01:08:21,493 --> 01:08:25,414
‐ Bill Boeing was very
angry, disappointed

1099
01:08:26,290 --> 01:08:29,293
to be attacked by the government

1100
01:08:29,376 --> 01:08:32,838
and be accused of
being a criminal.

1101
01:08:32,880 --> 01:08:36,258
It crushed him.

1102
01:08:36,383 --> 01:08:39,595
(somber piano music)

1103
01:08:42,097 --> 01:08:44,308
It was more than
he could accept.

1104
01:08:46,268 --> 01:08:48,896
‐ [Narrator] In just two
decades, William Boeing turned

1105
01:08:49,021 --> 01:08:50,689
a small plane‐making business

1106
01:08:50,814 --> 01:08:54,068
into the largest aviation
empire in the world,

1107
01:08:54,151 --> 01:08:57,321
taking out industrial
giants along the way.

1108
01:08:57,404 --> 01:09:00,491
Now, while the company bearing
his name will restructure

1109
01:09:00,574 --> 01:09:05,204
and live on, William Boeing
is forced into retirement.

1110
01:09:07,039 --> 01:09:10,459
FDR has taken down
another titan.

1111
01:09:13,879 --> 01:09:17,508
After the Boeing scandal,
FDR wants to make sure

1112
01:09:17,591 --> 01:09:20,719
all American businesses
play by the rules.

1113
01:09:20,844 --> 01:09:25,557
So he passes a sweeping
new law forcing companies

1114
01:09:25,683 --> 01:09:27,017
to allow unions.

1115
01:09:27,101 --> 01:09:29,395
(ominous music)

1116
01:09:29,520 --> 01:09:31,397
‐ This was an
extraordinary moment.

1117
01:09:31,522 --> 01:09:33,982
This shifted the power structure

1118
01:09:34,066 --> 01:09:36,318
of American industry entirely.

1119
01:09:36,402 --> 01:09:39,446
‐ It became clear that
business leaders didn't

1120
01:09:39,530 --> 01:09:42,950
know what workers wanted
or workers needed.

1121
01:09:43,033 --> 01:09:44,368
And this was Roosevelt's way

1122
01:09:44,493 --> 01:09:46,537
of trying to show
the American public

1123
01:09:46,620 --> 01:09:48,872
that he could maintain
capitalism,

1124
01:09:48,956 --> 01:09:50,040
but improve the lives

1125
01:09:50,165 --> 01:09:51,792
of those who were
stuck in the system.

1126
01:09:51,875 --> 01:09:54,920
Often in horrible jobs, by
making their jobs better.

1127
01:09:58,257 --> 01:10:00,175
‐ [Narrator] To
industrial giants,

1128
01:10:00,217 --> 01:10:03,429
the law is an attack
on capitalism.

1129
01:10:03,554 --> 01:10:05,597
‐ It was a huge change.

1130
01:10:05,723 --> 01:10:07,599
Government is going to
tell you to some degree

1131
01:10:07,725 --> 01:10:09,727
how to run your own business.

1132
01:10:09,852 --> 01:10:12,062
People become entrepreneurs
because they don't

1133
01:10:12,187 --> 01:10:13,689
like other people
telling them what to do.

1134
01:10:13,814 --> 01:10:15,315
And now all of a sudden,
the government's trying

1135
01:10:15,441 --> 01:10:16,608
to tell them what to do.

1136
01:10:16,692 --> 01:10:18,277
They didn't like it a bit.

1137
01:10:20,404 --> 01:10:23,198
‐ [Narrator] No one hates
it more than Henry Ford.

1138
01:10:23,323 --> 01:10:25,993
‐ Yes, no. I've only just heard.

1139
01:10:26,076 --> 01:10:28,996
My God, this is exactly
what I was trying to avoid.

1140
01:10:29,079 --> 01:10:31,540
No, I'll talk to him, myself.

1141
01:10:34,334 --> 01:10:36,670
‐ What FDR was basically
saying was

1142
01:10:36,754 --> 01:10:41,091
yes, you guys have huge power
but that power needs

1143
01:10:41,216 --> 01:10:42,593
to be balanced.

1144
01:10:43,761 --> 01:10:47,306
‐ The early Henry Ford of
the Model T era was seen as

1145
01:10:47,389 --> 01:10:49,433
the ultimate people's person

1146
01:10:49,558 --> 01:10:52,352
because of his $5
a day to workers,

1147
01:10:52,436 --> 01:10:55,439
but he didn't believe in
the union movement.

1148
01:10:55,522 --> 01:10:58,233
And so if you were a
union activist working

1149
01:10:58,358 --> 01:11:00,611
in Henry Ford's facility

1150
01:11:00,694 --> 01:11:03,697
you weren't going to keep
your job for very long.

1151
01:11:05,532 --> 01:11:08,327
‐ [Narrator] Ford calls
Roosevelt a tyrant

1152
01:11:08,410 --> 01:11:10,871
and says he'll never
negotiate with unions.

1153
01:11:14,208 --> 01:11:16,960
‐ Henry Ford felt
threatened by FDR.

1154
01:11:17,044 --> 01:11:18,253
The problem for Henry Ford

1155
01:11:18,378 --> 01:11:20,714
and many industrialists
at the time was

1156
01:11:20,839 --> 01:11:22,800
that they saw the
federal government trying

1157
01:11:22,883 --> 01:11:25,761
to dictate how they
ran their businesses.

1158
01:11:26,720 --> 01:11:28,639
And this did not sit
well with Henry Ford.

1159
01:11:28,722 --> 01:11:30,516
Nobody was going
to tell Henry Ford

1160
01:11:30,599 --> 01:11:32,601
how to run his own business.

1161
01:11:32,684 --> 01:11:35,312
‐ Heads of businesses
never want regulations.

1162
01:11:35,395 --> 01:11:37,356
They never want
rules. No one does.

1163
01:11:37,481 --> 01:11:39,942
But at that time in history,
the everyday American

1164
01:11:40,025 --> 01:11:42,486
the everyday worker
wanted better rights.

1165
01:11:42,569 --> 01:11:43,654
In the middle of a depression,

1166
01:11:43,779 --> 01:11:47,491
these titans' cries
fell on deaf ears

1167
01:11:47,616 --> 01:11:50,077
because they weren't the
most important voice.

1168
01:11:57,042 --> 01:12:00,087
(dramatic music)

1169
01:12:00,963 --> 01:12:02,381
‐ [Narrator] By 1935,

1170
01:12:02,506 --> 01:12:05,551
Franklin Roosevelt is
as popular as ever

1171
01:12:07,010 --> 01:12:09,513
and out west,
the president celebrates

1172
01:12:09,555 --> 01:12:11,682
a major victory
for his New Deal.

1173
01:12:12,933 --> 01:12:15,853
The dedication of
the Hoover Dam.

1174
01:12:15,936 --> 01:12:20,816
‐ [FDR] Rising 726 feet above
the bedrock of the river,

1175
01:12:22,985 --> 01:12:26,071
bordering the geography
of a whole region,

1176
01:12:27,030 --> 01:12:29,825
we are here to
celebrate the completion

1177
01:12:29,950 --> 01:12:32,828
of the greatest
dam in the world.

1178
01:12:35,581 --> 01:12:37,958
‐ The Hoover Dam changed
the United States

1179
01:12:38,041 --> 01:12:41,378
and brought electricity
to thousands and thousands

1180
01:12:41,503 --> 01:12:42,671
of American families.

1181
01:12:42,754 --> 01:12:45,507
And it put tens of
thousands of people to work

1182
01:12:45,591 --> 01:12:47,384
not just in the
building of the dam

1183
01:12:47,509 --> 01:12:49,219
but then in the
management of the dam.

1184
01:12:49,344 --> 01:12:52,306
Hoover dam was in some ways
the perfect New Deal project.

1185
01:12:52,389 --> 01:12:55,350
It brought light to people,
it brought hope to people.

1186
01:12:55,475 --> 01:12:57,519
And it also brought confidence.

1187
01:12:57,603 --> 01:12:58,854
We could do new things.

1188
01:12:58,979 --> 01:13:02,983
We could achieve things
again, we could overcome fear.

1189
01:13:03,108 --> 01:13:04,318
(upbeat guitar music)

1190
01:13:04,401 --> 01:13:07,529
‐ [Narrator] Remarkably
absent from the dam's opening

1191
01:13:07,654 --> 01:13:11,658
is the man who built
it, Henry Kaiser.

1192
01:13:11,742 --> 01:13:15,621
FDR has already sent him
off to oversee more projects

1193
01:13:15,704 --> 01:13:19,708
like the Oakland Bay bridge
and the Grand Coulee dam.

1194
01:13:19,833 --> 01:13:23,045
Two jobs worth a quarter
billion dollars alone.

1195
01:13:23,962 --> 01:13:26,506
It's a massive
investment in America,

1196
01:13:27,841 --> 01:13:32,179
which FDR pays for by
significantly raising taxes

1197
01:13:32,262 --> 01:13:34,514
on America's richest titans.

1198
01:13:35,390 --> 01:13:38,143
(ominous music)

1199
01:13:38,226 --> 01:13:40,354
‐ The Roosevelt administration
needed to find ways to

1200
01:13:40,395 --> 01:13:41,813
fund the New Deal.

1201
01:13:42,814 --> 01:13:44,900
One of those was a wealth tax.

1202
01:13:46,568 --> 01:13:50,280
‐ Roosevelt had the audacity
to raise the wealth tax

1203
01:13:50,364 --> 01:13:52,741
up to as much as 75%.

1204
01:13:52,866 --> 01:13:57,537
And he scared the bejesus
out of industrial titans.

1205
01:14:00,207 --> 01:14:02,918
(flames crackle)

1206
01:14:04,544 --> 01:14:07,214
(ominous music)

1207
01:14:13,720 --> 01:14:15,472
‐ Morgan is so angry
with Roosevelt

1208
01:14:15,555 --> 01:14:16,890
that it becomes personal

1209
01:14:16,974 --> 01:14:20,852
and he can't stand to read
or hear anything about FDR.

1210
01:14:30,320 --> 01:14:31,697
‐ [Butler] Wait.

1211
01:14:38,453 --> 01:14:41,665
‐ [Man] In fact, there's a
story that Morgan's servants

1212
01:14:41,748 --> 01:14:45,252
are instructed to cut
out all references to FDR

1213
01:14:45,377 --> 01:14:46,128
in the paper.

1214
01:14:50,799 --> 01:14:52,009
‐ [Butler] Thank you.

1215
01:14:53,218 --> 01:14:56,304
‐ Morgan himself saw
FDR as a class traitor,

1216
01:14:56,388 --> 01:14:59,182
as a charlatan, as
a left wing hack

1217
01:14:59,266 --> 01:15:03,270
who betrayed his own class
in order to help the masses.

1218
01:15:04,938 --> 01:15:06,857
This to him was a cardinal sin.

1219
01:15:08,150 --> 01:15:10,861
(ominous music)

1220
01:15:16,700 --> 01:15:19,786
(footsteps click)

1221
01:15:19,870 --> 01:15:21,663
‐ [Narrator] For
du Pont, whose reputation

1222
01:15:21,747 --> 01:15:24,833
has already been
destroyed by FDR,

1223
01:15:24,875 --> 01:15:27,294
the wealth tax is
the last straw.

1224
01:15:29,963 --> 01:15:32,340
He calls on other
titans of industry

1225
01:15:32,424 --> 01:15:33,884
to do something about it.

1226
01:15:38,555 --> 01:15:43,518
‐ Gentlemen, we
have been vilified

1227
01:15:43,602 --> 01:15:45,312
for all the country's ills.

1228
01:15:47,230 --> 01:15:48,273
We've become pariahs

1229
01:15:51,026 --> 01:15:53,153
and it's all because
of this president.

1230
01:15:57,365 --> 01:15:58,909
So,

1231
01:16:02,162 --> 01:16:05,165
we all know
what we have to do.

1232
01:16:07,042 --> 01:16:10,003
‐ All of these guys hated FDR.

1233
01:16:10,128 --> 01:16:13,215
He was raising
75% taxes on them.

1234
01:16:13,340 --> 01:16:19,304
He was a fan of labor
unions, and he openly talked

1235
01:16:19,387 --> 01:16:21,890
about how he hated the banks.

1236
01:16:22,015 --> 01:16:23,809
They thought he was a socialist.

1237
01:16:25,602 --> 01:16:26,603
‐ [Narrator] Together, they form

1238
01:16:26,686 --> 01:16:28,772
the American Liberty League.

1239
01:16:28,855 --> 01:16:31,817
It's a bold move with
one clear mission.

1240
01:16:31,900 --> 01:16:34,736
Stop FDR from getting reelected.

1241
01:16:34,820 --> 01:16:37,614
‐ Many different industry
leaders, even competitors

1242
01:16:37,697 --> 01:16:39,825
within the auto
industry came together

1243
01:16:39,908 --> 01:16:41,868
in the Liberty League
because they shared a concern

1244
01:16:41,993 --> 01:16:43,870
about the way Roosevelt
was using his political

1245
01:16:43,995 --> 01:16:46,832
power to limit what
they wanted to do.

1246
01:16:49,167 --> 01:16:51,336
Nothing brings competitors
together better

1247
01:16:51,461 --> 01:16:52,712
than a common enemy.

1248
01:16:53,880 --> 01:16:56,424
‐ [Narrator] They back a
candidate to run against FDR,

1249
01:16:56,508 --> 01:16:57,884
Alf Landon.

1250
01:16:58,009 --> 01:17:01,179
They know if elected, Landon
would do what they want.

1251
01:17:01,263 --> 01:17:04,141
So they bankroll
his entire campaign.

1252
01:17:05,559 --> 01:17:06,643
‐ Let's drink.

1253
01:17:06,726 --> 01:17:09,437
‐ [Narrator] With du Pont
fronting almost a third of it.

1254
01:17:10,355 --> 01:17:14,025
By election night,
they hope it's enough.

1255
01:17:18,196 --> 01:17:21,783
‐ [FDR] This Baseball
park is a good place

1256
01:17:21,867 --> 01:17:24,619
to talk about box scores.

1257
01:17:24,703 --> 01:17:27,289
(crowd cheers)

1258
01:17:30,750 --> 01:17:34,713
From where I stand, it
looks as if the game

1259
01:17:34,838 --> 01:17:37,632
was pretty well in the bag.

1260
01:17:37,716 --> 01:17:40,343
(crowd cheers)

1261
01:17:41,511 --> 01:17:43,054
‐ [Reporter] President
Roosevelt was cheery as ever

1262
01:17:43,180 --> 01:17:45,390
when he went into the booth
to record his own vote

1263
01:17:45,515 --> 01:17:48,685
and a few hours afterwards,
his optimism was justified.

1264
01:17:48,768 --> 01:17:51,188
Broadway went mad as
the former president was

1265
01:17:51,271 --> 01:17:52,981
returned again with the
biggest majority ever

1266
01:17:53,023 --> 01:17:54,566
known in American politics.

1267
01:17:54,691 --> 01:17:57,611
(crowd cheers)

1268
01:17:57,694 --> 01:18:00,113
In an election of
42 million votes,

1269
01:18:00,197 --> 01:18:02,240
the president wins the
most overwhelming victory

1270
01:18:02,365 --> 01:18:05,660
in the country's history and
the greatest popular election

1271
01:18:05,744 --> 01:18:07,329
in the history of the world.

1272
01:18:11,875 --> 01:18:14,502
(ominous music)

1273
01:18:15,503 --> 01:18:17,589
‐ [Narrator] FDR has
been reelected president

1274
01:18:17,714 --> 01:18:18,506
in a landslide.

1275
01:18:20,634 --> 01:18:22,969
He carries all but two states.

1276
01:18:24,012 --> 01:18:27,182
The Liberty League's
efforts are for nothing.

1277
01:18:27,265 --> 01:18:30,018
‐ The Liberty league failed
for one very simple reason.

1278
01:18:30,101 --> 01:18:32,354
Roosevelt's policies
were working.

1279
01:18:32,479 --> 01:18:35,565
The Liberty League had
a very weak argument.

1280
01:18:35,690 --> 01:18:36,775
What were they defending?

1281
01:18:36,858 --> 01:18:40,320
Going back to Herbert Hoover?
Who would support that?

1282
01:18:41,404 --> 01:18:44,115
‐ [Narrator] FDR's reelection
means four more years

1283
01:18:44,199 --> 01:18:46,534
of fighting with
the White House.

1284
01:18:47,702 --> 01:18:52,040
At this point, the titans and
FDR are bitter adversaries.

1285
01:18:53,333 --> 01:18:55,460
But what none of them realize is

1286
01:18:57,837 --> 01:19:01,216
the real enemy is
4,000 miles away.

1287
01:19:02,217 --> 01:19:04,094
He's building up his army and

1288
01:19:04,219 --> 01:19:06,930
is growing more
powerful every day.

1289
01:19:12,978 --> 01:19:15,438
(dramatic music)

1290
01:19:16,022 --> 01:19:19,317
(airplane engine hums)

1291
01:19:24,030 --> 01:19:26,199
‐ [Narrator] Since the
devastating loss of his son,

1292
01:19:29,869 --> 01:19:32,080
Charles Lindbergh
has been in hiding.

1293
01:19:35,250 --> 01:19:39,254
But now he's back in the pilot
seat, testing a new plane.

1294
01:19:45,010 --> 01:19:45,969
For Hitler.

1295
01:19:51,141 --> 01:19:54,019
‐ Charles Lindbergh had
been living in Europe

1296
01:19:54,102 --> 01:19:56,187
since the early thirties.

1297
01:19:56,271 --> 01:19:58,398
Lindbergh had had
it with the press

1298
01:19:58,481 --> 01:20:02,360
after his child was
kidnapped and murdered.

1299
01:20:03,570 --> 01:20:05,322
‐ [Narrator] Hitler has
spent the last five years

1300
01:20:05,363 --> 01:20:07,365
building a massive military.

1301
01:20:09,576 --> 01:20:12,662
His Luftwaffe air force
is the crown jewel

1302
01:20:14,039 --> 01:20:16,124
and he wants the world to know.

1303
01:20:17,334 --> 01:20:19,919
‐ While living in Europe,
Lindbergh was invited

1304
01:20:20,045 --> 01:20:23,506
to come to Germany
by Herman Goehring,

1305
01:20:23,548 --> 01:20:24,674
head of the Luftwaffe.

1306
01:20:26,593 --> 01:20:29,012
‐ [Narrator] Lindbergh is
the first American to see

1307
01:20:29,095 --> 01:20:32,015
the German war machine up close.

1308
01:20:34,893 --> 01:20:38,021
(ominous music)

1309
01:20:38,104 --> 01:20:40,607
‐ This is part of his legacy.

1310
01:20:40,690 --> 01:20:43,610
Charles Lindbergh went
from being an American hero

1311
01:20:43,693 --> 01:20:45,570
to a friend of the Nazis.

1312
01:20:48,031 --> 01:20:50,200
‐ [Narrator] To Hitler,
the American hero

1313
01:20:50,325 --> 01:20:54,037
is the perfect pawn to
deliver Germany's message.

1314
01:20:56,289 --> 01:21:00,335
‐ Hitler hopes that Lindbergh
would be incredibly impressed

1315
01:21:00,418 --> 01:21:02,879
with the progress that
the Germans had made

1316
01:21:03,004 --> 01:21:05,090
in terms of aircraft production.

1317
01:21:05,215 --> 01:21:07,467
And he proved to be right.

1318
01:21:08,551 --> 01:21:11,346
(dramatic music)

1319
01:21:14,057 --> 01:21:16,768
(cameras click)

1320
01:21:20,438 --> 01:21:22,357
‐ [Narrator] Upon
returning to America,

1321
01:21:22,482 --> 01:21:25,193
Lindbergh brings a dire warning.

1322
01:21:26,403 --> 01:21:27,987
‐ The Messerschmidt is
not like any other plane.

1323
01:21:28,071 --> 01:21:29,322
It's in a different league.

1324
01:21:29,406 --> 01:21:31,991
And trust me, I
have flown the best.

1325
01:21:32,117 --> 01:21:33,493
‐ What makes it so good?

1326
01:21:35,370 --> 01:21:38,248
‐ It's fast, 380 miles an hour.

1327
01:21:38,331 --> 01:21:40,166
The fastest in the book.

1328
01:21:40,250 --> 01:21:43,086
It can fly higher than any
other plane, 20,000 feet.

1329
01:21:45,088 --> 01:21:46,631
‐ [Man] How many do they have?

1330
01:21:46,714 --> 01:21:50,844
‐ Around 5,000, but
they are building more.

1331
01:21:50,927 --> 01:21:51,761
Bombers, too.

1332
01:21:53,304 --> 01:21:57,142
If there was a war,
no country in Europe

1333
01:21:57,225 --> 01:21:59,519
would stand a chance
against Germany.

1334
01:22:02,647 --> 01:22:06,359
Come to think of it,
neither would America.

1335
01:22:11,406 --> 01:22:14,367
‐ Lindbergh was incredibly
impressed by the new bombers,

1336
01:22:14,492 --> 01:22:17,162
the new fighters that
Germany had developed.

1337
01:22:17,203 --> 01:22:20,582
He did exactly what
Hitler wanted him to.

1338
01:22:20,665 --> 01:22:23,084
He basically told
the rest of the world

1339
01:22:23,209 --> 01:22:25,420
that he thought
Germany was invincible.

1340
01:22:27,046 --> 01:22:29,757
‐ [Narrator] By
1937, Hitler's army

1341
01:22:29,883 --> 01:22:31,551
is a half a million strong

1342
01:22:31,676 --> 01:22:36,181
and is on track to quadruple
in size in less than two years.

1343
01:22:36,264 --> 01:22:38,349
And there's more bad news.

1344
01:22:38,475 --> 01:22:41,394
Japan has just invaded China

1345
01:22:41,519 --> 01:22:44,814
and also has built
up a huge army.

1346
01:22:45,773 --> 01:22:47,484
‐ Suddenly you have
two super power armies

1347
01:22:47,567 --> 01:22:50,445
and it's obvious
they're on the March.

1348
01:22:52,989 --> 01:22:55,658
‐ [Reporter] In Tokyo, there
is widespread rejoicing.

1349
01:22:55,742 --> 01:22:59,329
Now, say the Japanese
generals, it is our turn.

1350
01:23:00,955 --> 01:23:04,125
Japan marches in
China against...

1351
01:23:04,209 --> 01:23:07,629
‐ [Narrator] FDR realizes
war is inevitable.

1352
01:23:08,796 --> 01:23:12,675
‐ As he saw Japan going
to war against China,

1353
01:23:12,759 --> 01:23:14,427
Roosevelt thought,
okay, this is trouble.

1354
01:23:14,552 --> 01:23:17,764
The United States will suffer

1355
01:23:17,889 --> 01:23:21,434
if the Japanese gain
control of East Asia.

1356
01:23:21,559 --> 01:23:24,979
As Germany rearmed
for war, he saw how

1357
01:23:25,063 --> 01:23:27,941
the United States would
inevitably get involved,

1358
01:23:28,024 --> 01:23:30,360
drawn into a war in Europe.

1359
01:23:31,361 --> 01:23:33,488
‐ [Narrator] But
there's a huge problem.

1360
01:23:34,531 --> 01:23:37,075
During the depression,
FDR has been focusing

1361
01:23:37,158 --> 01:23:39,202
on rebuilding America's economy

1362
01:23:39,285 --> 01:23:42,997
and infrastructure and
spent virtually no money

1363
01:23:43,081 --> 01:23:45,333
on its own military.

1364
01:23:45,416 --> 01:23:48,753
‐ America's situation,
as far as being prepared

1365
01:23:48,836 --> 01:23:51,839
for fighting a modern
war, was pretty abysmal.

1366
01:23:51,923 --> 01:23:55,301
We had maybe the 18th largest
military in the world.

1367
01:23:55,385 --> 01:23:57,428
Holland had a bigger
military than we did.

1368
01:23:57,554 --> 01:23:59,973
Hungary had a better
military than we did.

1369
01:24:01,808 --> 01:24:04,394
‐ [Narrator] FDR knows
he must quickly build up

1370
01:24:04,477 --> 01:24:06,145
America's military.

1371
01:24:06,229 --> 01:24:10,942
Tanks, ships, planes, munitions

1372
01:24:12,402 --> 01:24:15,363
on an industrial scale
never before attempted

1373
01:24:15,488 --> 01:24:16,823
in American history.

1374
01:24:18,533 --> 01:24:19,826
‐ America's going to
need to build hundreds

1375
01:24:19,909 --> 01:24:23,580
of factories and hire
millions of workers.

1376
01:24:24,539 --> 01:24:26,040
And there are really
only a few people

1377
01:24:26,165 --> 01:24:28,293
in the country equipped
in that moment to be able

1378
01:24:28,376 --> 01:24:29,168
to do that.

1379
01:24:29,294 --> 01:24:30,670
Titans like Ford,

1380
01:24:30,753 --> 01:24:32,171
du Pont,

1381
01:24:32,297 --> 01:24:33,631
Morgan,

1382
01:24:33,715 --> 01:24:34,882
Chrysler

1383
01:24:35,008 --> 01:24:36,217
and Boeing.

1384
01:24:36,301 --> 01:24:38,344
‐ I think there's an
irony that Roosevelt has

1385
01:24:38,428 --> 01:24:40,597
to turn to some of the
people he vilified,

1386
01:24:40,722 --> 01:24:43,349
but that's how American
capitalism works.

1387
01:24:44,392 --> 01:24:48,313
‐ [Narrator] And now
FDR needs these titans,

1388
01:24:48,396 --> 01:24:52,734
the very people he's
condemned, to help

1389
01:24:52,859 --> 01:24:54,027
save the world.

1390
01:24:56,863 --> 01:24:59,907
Next time on the Titans
That Built America.

1391
01:25:01,409 --> 01:25:02,619
(gun blasts)

1392
01:25:02,702 --> 01:25:03,745
As World War II
begins in Europe,

1393
01:25:03,870 --> 01:25:06,164
FDR needs help
preparing for battle.

1394
01:25:06,205 --> 01:25:08,625
‐ You're asking me to start
producing munitions again?

1395
01:25:08,708 --> 01:25:10,752
‐ The president is
asking, as well.

1396
01:25:11,669 --> 01:25:13,963
‐ The same President who labeled
me the merchant of death.

1397
01:25:14,047 --> 01:25:15,840
‐ [Narrator] After years
of the Great Depression,

1398
01:25:15,965 --> 01:25:18,718
Americans have no appetite
for another crisis.

1399
01:25:18,801 --> 01:25:24,015
‐ You can tell FDR that
Ford makes cars, not planes.

1400
01:25:24,515 --> 01:25:26,059
If he wants planes,
you can tell him

1401
01:25:26,142 --> 01:25:27,852
to go to a damn plane maker.

1402
01:25:29,187 --> 01:25:32,190
‐ [Narrator] But a surprise
attack at Pearl Harbor

1403
01:25:32,315 --> 01:25:33,358
(bomb blasts)

1404
01:25:33,483 --> 01:25:35,318
changes everything.

1405
01:25:35,401 --> 01:25:37,195
‐ Sir, please come quickly.

1406
01:25:37,320 --> 01:25:39,822
‐ [Radio] The bombing of Pearl
Harbor by enemy planes...

1407
01:25:39,906 --> 01:25:42,283
‐ [Narrator] It will take
America's industrial might

1408
01:25:42,367 --> 01:25:45,328
to build the greatest
war machine on earth

1409
01:25:45,411 --> 01:25:46,788
and the stakes
couldn't be higher.

1410
01:25:46,871 --> 01:25:48,665
‐ We're moving as
fast as we can.

1411
01:25:48,706 --> 01:25:50,583
Every adjustment means
a delay in the assembly.

1412
01:25:50,667 --> 01:25:52,502
‐ We have a problem
with the M‐3.

1413
01:25:52,627 --> 01:25:54,921
They're a complete disaster.

1414
01:25:55,046 --> 01:25:56,172
(dramatic music)

1415
01:25:56,255 --> 01:25:58,675
‐ [Narrator] Now the Titans
must put aside their differences

1416
01:25:58,716 --> 01:26:01,678
with each other
and FDR and unite.

1417
01:26:01,761 --> 01:26:03,388
‐ Their goal is to create

1418
01:26:03,513 --> 01:26:07,266
a sustained nuclear
chain reaction.

1419
01:26:07,392 --> 01:26:11,437
‐ [Narrator] The fate of the
world rests in their hands.

1420
01:26:11,562 --> 01:26:13,022
‐ It's only a matter of time.

1421
01:26:14,023 --> 01:26:16,734
(dramatic music)