John D. Rockefeller Jr.

(1874 - 1960)

John D. Rockefeller Jr., heir to John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil fortune, never assumed complete management of his father’s company, instead focusing on philanthropy. In his lifetime, he gave more than $500 million to myriad causes, including for the purchase of land for the United Nations headquarters in New York City, and left $240 million to his family. After Rockefeller called the National Guard to break up an ongoing strike at a company-owned mine in Colorado, Congress asked Rockefeller if he would continue opposing labor “if it costs all your property and kills all your employees.” He replied, “It is a great principle.” The same month, the National Guard and private-company gunmen killed miners and their families in what became known as the Ludlow Massacre.