#247 Henry Flagler (Rockefeller's partner)

**David Senra** (0:00)
I want to tell you about a one-time only limited event that I don't think you're going to want to miss. I am doing a live show with Patrick O'Shaughnessy from the Invest Like the Best podcast in New York City on October 19th. Patrick has interviewed over 300 of the world's best investors and founders for his podcast. I've read over 300 biographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs for my podcast. We'll be talking about what we learned from seven years of podcasting, sharing our favorite ideas and stories and doing a live Q&A. There will also be special event-only swag. If you live in New York City, I think it's a no-brainer, but if not, I think it's a great excuse to fly in. I've already heard from a bunch of people that bought tickets, they're flying in from other cities. Some people are flying in from other countries. That's setting the bar really high, so I will have at least four shots of espresso or four energy drinks before or during the show so we can make it a night that you'll never forget. If you're interested in attending this unique live event, I will leave a link down below. I highly recommend you get your tickets today and I hope I get to see you in New York on October 19th. When Henry Flagler, co-founder of Standard Oil and one of the world's most famous and powerful men, announced that he would extend his far-flung empire by building a railroad across the ocean, few could have anticipated how things would ultimately turn out.
Many immediately dismissed Flagler's intentions as impossible.
They were hard-headed scientists, engineers, and businessmen who thought what Flagler proposed, to build a railroad 153 miles from Miami to Key West, much of it over open water was a crackpot notion on the face of it.
Flagler's folly, the press dubbed the project, though the man who proposed it was undeterred. He would press on.
The story behind the very being of this railroad may be its most amazing aspect.
It is a story that concerns one of the world's richest men, one of the most difficult engineering feats ever conceived, and the most powerful storm ever to strike American shores.
In a sense, this railway is what remains of one of the last great gasps of the era of manifest destiny and an undertaking that marked the true closing of the American frontier.
The building of the railroad across the ocean was a colossal piece of work, born of the same impulse that made individuals believe that pyramids could be raised, cathedrals erected, and continents tamed.
The highway is a ghost, really, all that remains of an era where men still lived who believed that with enough will and energy and money that anything could be accomplished.
That is an excerpt from the book that I'm gonna talk to you about today, which is Last Train to Paradise, Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean, and it was written by Les Standiford. Okay, before I jump back into the book, I just wanna tell you how this fits into everything else that you and I have been talking about. I've had this book for a very long time. I haven't gotten around to reading it. And I think now's the perfect opportunity to do so because I'm rereading. And the very next podcast I'm working on is I'm rereading the fantastic biography of John D. Rockefeller called Titan. I read it for all the way back on podcast number 16, but I didn't really know how to make a podcast back then. And that book is way too important. And so I figured before I reread that biography, let me go ahead and find a biography on Rockefeller's partner. And I'm glad I did because this book is absolutely incredible. And I should have known it was good because I had read one of Les's books in the past. In fact, one of my favorite books I've ever read for the podcast was all the way back on Founders number 73 It's called Meet You in Hell, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and The Bitter Partnership That Transformed America. That was part of a three part series I did on Andrew Carnegie and his partner, Henry Clay Frick. And that was my favorite book. It's absolutely fantastic story. So what this book is about is exactly what that excerpt said. It's about one of the world's richest men at the time. So that's Henry Flagler, one of the most difficult engineering feats, which is the second career that he does after Standard Oil. He becomes a developer and builds essentially like most of the state of Florida. And then the most powerful hurricane to ever strike the American shores. So I'm gonna focus mainly on Henry Flagler and the work he's doing, but it's an absolute fantastic book. So if you like the podcast, make sure you pick up the book.