Rockefeller and His Benefit to the Economy

The Glory of American Individualism

John D. Rockefeller was born in Richfield, New York July 8^th 1839. Rockefeller was not born into a wealthy family; his father was a traveling medical salesman of "miracle" cures for afflictions such as cancer. Rockefeller was later taken out of school in 1855 at the age of sixteen because of scandalous behavior of his father. Due to this behavior his father had several illegitimate children which caused obvious discontent in his family. The very year Rockefeller dropped out of school he acquired his very first job of being a bookkeeper on the day of September 26th, a day which meant so much to him that he celebrated it every year for the remainder of his life (McGill, 1). Rockefeller took his work very seriously and worked very hard at his job and received only 50 cents a day for his work. This rigorous work ethic will later shape not only the life of John D. Rockefeller but will revolutionize and invigorate the world wide economy by increasing the purchasing power of individuals in nearly every market he touched^.