Vanderbilt, by Anderson Cooper (2021)
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is the great-great-great grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, known as Commodore, the shipping and railroad magnate who amassed the great Vanderbilt fortune. His book recounts his family history from the Commodore’s meagre beginnings to his great fortune and how subsequent generations squandered that money. While it may be true that Cooper didn’t inherit the mass fortune of his ancestors, he did live a life of privilege that most of us never experience.
The book begins with a prologue recounting how Gladys Vanderbilt, a great-great grandchild of the Commodore was forced out of The Breakers in 2018. This was the home where she had been living in the third-floor apartment for years. Soon after the opulent mansion was built, its maintenance and upkeep became oppressive, not to mention the passage of the 16th Amendment that imposed income taxes on the wealthy. The Vanderbilt’s found The Breakers too costly and slowly it was turnover to a Preservation Society.
Then, we turn to the Commodore. He became obsessed with making money but wasn’t concerned with the finer aspects of society. When he died, he was said to have been the richest man in America. Although he had 12 children who survived to adulthood, only three were son. He didn’t consider is daughters, as they would marry and cease to be known as Vanderbilts’. His youngest surviving son died young, and his middle son, Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt had epilepsy, so the Commodore discounted him when it came to inheritance. The bulk of the Commodore’s fortune was left to his eldest son, William Henry Vanderbilt.
William Henry doubled his father’s fortune, allowing his children to grow up in great wealth and lots of leisure. William Henry’s children grew up with great wealth and lots of leisure. Cornelius II, William Henry’s son, built The Breakers. No expense was spared.
William Henry’s elder son, William Kissam Vanderbilt, known as Willie, married Alva Erskine Smith, who was a social climber. She forced her way into New York society by hosting lavish parties. Again, she spared no expense, often spending tens of thousands of dollars of just flowers for her parties.
By the 1920s, times had changed, but the Vanderbilt reputation for having money lingered. Family members spent like they still owned the fortune. The family spent money on yachts (Harold Sterling Vanderbilt competed in the America’s Cup), and horses, hobbies that ate away at the family fortune.
Cooper’s mother, Gloria Vanderbilt was the daughter of Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and Gloria Morgan. Reginald, who was 45 years old when she was born, and died before she was 2. When he died, he was greatly in debt and most of his property was sold to pay off his debt. A trust fund for Gloria was safe from her father’s creditors, but her 20-year-old mother was left virtually penniless. A court decree granted her mother a large “allowance” from Gloria’s trust, ostensibly to be used for Gloria’s care. Her mother, however, still wanted to live in her jet-setting style. Ultimately, Gloria became the center of a “trial of the century” between Gloria’s mother and her aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney over Gloria’s welfare and her money.
Gloria Vanderbilt, herself, grew up in wealth and continued spending money throughout her life, all the way up to the end.
This book was a very fast and fascinating read. Having recently read The Social Graces (by Renée Rosen), which recounts Alva’s feud with Carolina Astor and her struggle to break into New York Society, it was interesting to read Cooper’s take on these events. Cooper also discussed New York Society women in the 1950s and their relationship with Truman Capote. These events were also depicted in Melanie Benjamin’s novel The Swans of Fifth Avenue (by Melanie Benjamin).
The rich are different.
Read: January 8, 2022
5 Stars
