A Disposition to Be Rich
How a Small-Town Pastor's Son Ruined an American President, Brought on a Wall Street Crash, and Made Himself the Best-Hated Man in the United States
Geoffrey C. Ward
- Ferdinand
- Ward
- was
- the
- greatest
- swindler
- of
- the
- Gilded
- Age.
- Throughhis
- unapologetic
- villainy,
- he
- bankrupted
- Ulysses
- S.
- Grant
- and
- ran
- roughshod
- over
- the
- entire
- world
- of
- finance.
- Now,
- his
- compelling,
- behind-the-scenes
- story
- is
- told—told
- by
- his
- great-grandson,
- award-winning
- historian
- Geoffrey
- C.
- Ward.
Ward
- was
- the
- Bernie
- Madoff
- of
- his
- day,
- a
- supposed
- genius
- at
- making
- big
- money
- fast
- on
- Wall
- Street
- who
- turned
- out
- to
- have
- been
- running
- a
- giant
- pyramid
- scheme—one
- that
- ultimately
- collapsed
- in
- one
- of
- the
- greatest
- financial
- scandals
- in
- American
- history.
- The
- son
- of
- a
- Protestant
- missionary
- and
- small-town
- pastor
- with
- secrets
- of
- his
- own
- to
- keep,
- Ward
- came
- to
- New
- York
- at
- twenty-one
- and
- in
- less
- than
- a
- decade,
- armed
- with
- charm,
- energy,
- and
- a
- total
- lack
- of
- conscience,
- made
- himself
- the
- business
- partner
- of
- the
- former
- president
- of
- the
- United
- States
- and
- was
- widely
- hailed
- as
- the
- “Young
- Napoleon
- of
- Finance.”
- In
- truth,
- he
- turned
- out
- to
- be
- a
- complete
- fraud,
- his
- entire
- life
- marked
- by
- dishonesty,
- cowardice,
- and
- contempt
- for
- anything
- but
- his
- own
- interests.
Drawing
- from
- thousands
- of
- family
- documents
- never
- before
- examined,
- Geoffrey
- C.
- Ward
- traces
- his
- great-grandfather’s
- rapid
- rise
- to
- riches
- and
- fame
- and
- his
- even
- more
- dizzying
- fall
- from
- grace.
- There
- are
- mistresses
- and
- mansions
- along
- the
- way;
- fast
- horses
- and
- crooked
- bankers
- and
- corrupt
- New
- York
- officials;
- courtroom
- confrontations
- and
- six
- years
- in
- Sing
- Sing;
- and
- Ferdinand’s
- desperate
- scheme
- to
- kidnap
- his
- own
- son
- to
- get
- his
- hands
- on
- the
- estate
- his
- late
- wife
- had
- left
- the
- boy.
- Here
- is
- a
- great
- story
- about
- a
- classic
- American
- con
- artist,
- told
- with
- boundless
- charm
- and
- dry
- wit
- by
- one
- of
- our
- finest historians.
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