The Gilded Age

Rockefeller started off as a privileged child. He was able to bring himself up in a way that gave him power. He always felt it was important for him to have some type of power growing up. When he was around the age of 20, he had already invested some of his money in the oil industry. The oil industry proved to be his rise to power, and through his investments and buying of businesses, he was able to become successful. Even though he achieved the American dream, he never really had to work extremely hard because he had alot given to him already. His life was more of a success to success story more than rags to riches.
The government was not really able to keep control over Rockefeller's oil empire. He purchased other businesses and had a monopoly over all oil, so the government couldn't really tell him what to do. The only real thing that affected Standard Oil is the anti-trust group. Then when the Sherman Anti-Trust Act demanded that Standard Oil be broken up, the empire fell. Rockefeller was still able to be very successful but he lost alot of his companies, and his monopoly in oil.