Essays and speeches written by Baruch reflect his experience in business and politics conferring with world leaders on matters of economics, atomic energy, preparation for and recovery from war; and other topics; consisting of 5 volumes documenting Baruch's speeches, publications, and other writings, recorded on 241 typescripts, carbons, memos, and printed pamphlets collected by Baruch and given in 1956 to his daughter, Belle Wilcox Baruch (d. 1964).
This biography of Bernard Baruch considered to be renowned as the definitive story about the notorious financial wizard and presidential advisor. Baruch's political policies are discussed briefly, and James Grant includes a detailed account of Baruch's trading and investment gains and losses.
The collection consists of letters sent and received to military officers and civilians, 1937-1962; naval papers, including fitness reports, 1938-1962; correspondence course and training materials, reports, directives and working papers; subject files on military topics and his civilian board work; miscellany, with photographs and slides of ships and citations and awards; the writings of Bernard M. Baruch, Jr., 1919-1956.
Baruch: My Own Story is the memoirs of Bernard M. Baruch, a man whose life spanned the late nineteenth century and over half of the twentieth century. Given the time period, he is a man who has seen much having met seven presidents, witnessing two wars and working on Wall Street for a time. In these memoirs, Baruch has tried to set forth the philosophy through which he had sought to harmonize a readiness to risk something new with precautions against repeating the errors of the past.
By anyone's standards Bernard M. Baruch was a giant among Americans of this century. Although he was never elected to public office, his influence on American public policy was staggering. A Jew who amassed a fortune from Wall Street speculation in raw materials, Baruch became one of the most powerful, interesting, and enigmatic personalities in Washington politics. The Speculator: Bernard M. Baruch in Washington, 1917-1965 is the first complete study of Baruch. President Wilson appointed him chairman of the War Industries Board in 1918 and asked for his economic advice at the Paris Peace Conference. Thereafter, Baruch adopted the roles of background political strategist and of publicist on national issues such as price stabilization. He became extraordinarily influential during the 1920s, the New Deal, and World War II. By the end of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, Baruch's fame as a presidential advisor and his network of friends had made him one of the most respected and feared men in Washington. Jordan A. Schwarz's biography not only reinterprets Baruch but also illuminates the major figures and events of his time. Through Baruch's eyes we gain an enhanced understanding of Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and other prominent Americans. Schwarz's analysis offers us insights into the persistence of Wilsonian liberalism in public policy, the drive for corporatist planning during the New Deal, the organization of war mobilization, the development of the Baruch Plan for control of atomic energy during the cold war, and the failure of anti-inflation efforts during the 1940s and 1950s. Schwarz's definitive study is the result of extensive research in Baruch's large manuscript collection and in dozens of other library collections throughout the country, including those at the Hoover, Truman, and Roosevelt libraries.
Bernard Baruch was a self-made millionaire, legendary stock trader, and venture investor. For most of the first half of the 20th century, he epitomized the "good side" of Wall Street in the public mind. Celebrated as "Adviser to Presidents" and "The Park Bench Statesman," he also became known as "The Man Who Sold out before the Crash." James Grant's much praised biography draws on a wealth of previously untapped material.
