U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld conferring with Vice President Nelson Rockefeller at the White House, April 9, 1976. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons @Rumsfeld Foundation
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Industrial Revolution gave birth to a new class of wealthy families, among them the Rockefellers. John D. Rockefeller, the patriarch, built his fortune on oil, establishing Standard Oil, which at its peak controlled 90% of all oil in the United States. The Rockefellers are a testament to how industrialization and the rise of corporations can create unprecedented wealth.
