The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire (Paperback)

~ (Author) "ON OCTOBER 17, 1885, a thin, gangly sixteen-year-old boy watched from the rail of the SS Eider as it approached the island of Manhattan..." (more)
Key Phrases: Donald Trump, Fred Trump, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As she did in Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News, journalist Gwenda Blair examines a historical trend through an individual story--or in this case, three--profiling a trio of very different men who happened to be grandfather, father, and son. Friedrich Trump (1869-1918), a German-born barber who got rich providing lodging, food, and female companionship to Klondike gold miners, founded the family real estate empire in Queens, New York. Fred Trump (1905-99) took advantage of new government programs to build affordable urban housing and make lots of money for himself. Donald, born in 1946, was just as interested in being famous as in being wealthy. His first big coup, the Grand Hyatt hotel, opened in 1980, launching a decade of extravagant acquisitions (including two Atlantic City casinos and the Plaza Hotel) that made "the Donald" a byword for '80s excess. Blair conscientiously covers Donald's flamboyant personal life, from the womanizing through the stormy marriage to Ivana and the notorious romance with Marla Maples. Her sometimes portentous prose suits the pumped-up style of the man who promoted his projects by promoting himself with everything from a ghostwritten autobiography, The Art of the Deal, to a board game bearing his name. But the author's main interest, and her book's principal fascination, lies in tracing the evolution of American real estate development over the course of the 20th century, as bare-knuckled individual entrepreneurship gave way to business in partnership with government, which was in turn replaced by high-stakes financial manipulation using image to shape reality. Blair may well be right when she claims that the Trumps' saga constitutes "a singular history of American capitalism itself." --Wendy Smith --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

This well-balanced, serious examination of the Trump family business proves its mettle by not mentioning The Donald's love life until it approaches page 300, and even then Blair is more concerned about Ivana's influence on Trump's business sense than on his hormones. While Donald is the star of Blair's work, his father and grandfather emerge as colorful characters in their own right. Arriving from Germany in 1885, Friedrich Trump spent a brief time in New York before striking out for Alaska, where he operated combined saloon-restaurant-brothels in several gold rush towns. When things went sour, Trump returned to New York, where he opened a modest real estate office in Queens that his son, Fred Jr., would greatly expand. Taking advantage of government programs designed to spur construction during the Depression, the middle Trump made his reputation by constructing well-built houses and apartments for the middle class. Following WWII, when the government was eager to find ways to ease the housing shortage, he used his contacts in city government to become a multimillionaire and one of the biggest landlords in Brooklyn and Queens. But his son wasn't interested in the boroughs; Donald used his father's money to make his fortune in Manhattan and then in Atlantic City. Blair documents the painstaking process whereby Trump transformed the Commodore Hotel to the Grand Hyatt and made his first mark in New York. With access to the Trump family and their business associates, Blair (bestselling author of Almost Gone) gives a first-rate, firsthand account of Donald Trump's rise, fall and resurrection as a business tycoon, while also exploring the motivation that drove him to risk it all to seek even more fame and fortune. Agent, Gloria Loomis. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (November 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743210794
• ISBN-13: 978-0743210799
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,106,979 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE FOUNDER, THE BUILDER AND THE STAR, October 19, 2000

By	Dorothy Weiss (ORLANDO, FLORIDA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire (Hardcover)

Did you ever wonder how Donald Trump could have been so knowledgable and astute at so young an age. How did he do it? Who taught him? Family that's who. Unbelievably true. Ms Blair's research spans three generations. Friedrich who eventually earned a fortune in Alaska; his son Fred Jr. who made millions from U.S. government housing programs and his grandson, "the Donald" real estate developer and promoter. The book gives us an up close view of Donald Trump's ego, his wives and their role, his survival after near-bankruptcy, his eagerness for publicity and his "midas" touch. The man can close a deal. Well written and fascinating. Once upon a time there was the Rothchilds and the Rockefellers. This era it seems belongs to the Trump Dynasty.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interest Is Not Where You Might Expect, June 26, 2002

By	taking a rest - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire (Hardcover)

The first generation you will read about was never allowed to reach its conclusion, due to an unfortunate early death. The second and third generations of this grandfather, father, and son trio are much longer. The second generation too has recently come to a close after a very long and successful life, in excess of 93 years, and the verdict on the third is still evolving. There is no question where the business acumen was at its greatest, the talent rested with Mr. Fred Trump, the second of the three men, and his story is the one of substance. The grandfather never had a chance to play out what likely would have been a very successful life, but during the time he was a businessman he was creative, bold, and gutsy as any pioneer.

Donald Trump is certainly the most well known, for marketing himself is a large part of whom he is and what he does. He is a man who can only speak in superlatives about anything he is involved in, even if some grand and prominent project bears his name and little else. The name on a building has very little to do with who owns it, who paid for it, or who made it happen. Donald Trump's primary business is Donald Trump. His flair for promotion and obsession with how he is perceived has become his career. There is no question he has had his successful projects, but the question of would they ever have happened without his father is a legitimate one. And he probably would have had much more success and a much larger fortune had he stuck to the business he knew, developing real estate. He got sidetracked with buying an airline, paying absurd prices for casinos that still are far from trophy properties, and while he may have benefited, the holders of stock and various bond issues have not.

Fred Trump is the man you would have given your money to and slept soundly at night. He was an astute man of business, he was self-made, and he spent no time promoting who he was. In this manner he was like many other long time major developers in the NYC area that developed massive amounts of real estate and fortunes to match without having any interest in the world knowing what they were worth.

Forbes Magazine often documents the calls they receive from Donald Trump complaining about where he is listed on their richest people list. This is not something his father or grandfather ever would have contemplated, nor would they brag to anyone listening how they increased their net worth by failing to honor financial commitments. In the end his charismatic style allowed him to get financial institutions so grossly over invested in his view of the world that he could never be allowed to go bankrupt, as the lenders could not afford it.

His predecessors in the family rate much higher on substance, and the newest Mr. Trump rates highly on style. But for all of the perceived satisfaction he would have the public believes he enjoys, in the end the author portrays a man that craves publicity to the detriment of his personal life. Squiring around beautiful women makes for nice pictures, but he and it and getting a bit old.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New York through the lives three fascinating Characters, September 28, 2000

By	Dr. Max Goldensohn (Bethesda, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book. Ms. Blair has taken a complex and difficult subject and made it exciting and fascinating. The Trumps have always deserved analysis beyond the scandal-sheet treatment they usually get in the press. Ms. Blair has provided an account of all the real adventures behind their successes and failures: political, financial and even personal. After reading this book, one feels that the links between strong individuals and the unfolding of history beome clear and alive. The writing is great, the story even better.