NARRATOR: The 20th
century dawns and America holds a prominent place on the
world stage for the first time. The country is now a
land of opportunity. As millions flood in
from around the globe, drawn by stories of men who have
risen from meager beginnings to build empires. Men like Andrew Carnegie
and John D. Rockefeller. [MUSIC - BLUES SARACENO, "SAVE
MY SOUL"] BLUES SARACENO: (SINGING)
When I got to Memphis to put my old baby down, he
said I can't take you to heaven. I can't save your soul. I can't promise forever. Hey, yeah, got my
heart in your hands. I can't feel my soul. STEVE CASC: The
great entrepreneurs that really have had a
significant impact in the world take a long term view. They really think about it in
terms of decades, not years or months. They really believe
that in the long run, they're going to have
a tremendous impact. NARRATOR: President
William McKinley is re-elected to a second term. And aspiring trust
buster Theodore Roosevelt is installed as Vice
President, a clever play to silence his influence. With McKinley in office for
another four years, John Rockefeller and J.P.
Morgan have the freedom to expand their empires
to unprecedented heights. In September of 1901,
President McKinley travels to Buffalo to
give a speech heralding America's prosperity. But that prosperity
hasn't reached everyone. Many are still
struggling to survive, and they're fed up with
McKinley's close relationship with big business. Leon Czolgosz is a former
factory worker who recently lost his job at a company
J.P. Morgan took over during the creation of US Steel. As Czolgosz struggled, he took
refuge in the growing anarchist movement. He becomes convinced that
the government is helping the rich exploit the poor. And he's determined
to put an end to it. [dramatic music] [gunshots] [screaming] Eight days after the
shooting, William McKinley succumbs to his
injuries, becoming the third American president
to be killed in office. For America's most powerful men,
it's the worst case scenario. An assassin's bullet
has robbed them of their president, a man they
spent millions to get elected. And with his death, their
worst enemy comes to power. Teddy Roosevelt
is about to become the leader of the free world. Mr. Roosevelt. Very
good to meet you, sir. The plan of having Roosevelt
buried, in effect, in the vice presidency completely backfired,
because who could have predicted what would happen,
and what would happen so quickly after the election of 1900? Theodore Roosevelt,
raise your right hand. Do you, Theodore
Roosevelt, solemnly swear that you will faithfully
execute the Office of President of the United States and to the
best of your ability preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States? And thus I swear. Now, let's get started. H.W. BRANDS: Roosevelt insisted
that the big capitalists recognize that they
were mere capitalists and that the elected
officials of the country were the ones that
the people had chosen. Nobody elected J.P.
Morgan to anything. Nobody elected John D.
Rockefeller to anything. But the people had,
well, indirectly elected Theodore
Roosevelt president. He was going to
make the most of it. NARRATOR: Roosevelt
quickly launches a campaign against the nation's
largest trusts, and his first target is a
railroad conglomerate owned by J.P. Morgan. H.W. BRANDS: Morgan demanded
to see the president. So he stormed down from
New York to Washington, went into the White House. And he said, I don't understand. He said, if we've got a problem,
send your man to my man, and they'll fix it up. And Roosevelt said,
this is exactly the problem with Morgan. He acts as though I'm just
a rival boss or something. And Morgan, who thought that
he could manipulate Roosevelt, discovered that Roosevelt could
not be manipulated at all. NARRATOR: Roosevelt refuses
to back down from Morgan. He sues his company
in federal court. The first government
anti-trust case filed against a
major corporation. Roosevelt goes on to win, and
Morgan's railroad monopoly is broken up. It's a stunning setback
for J.P. Morgan, one he'll agonize
over for years. And it's a sign of things to
come for his fellow titans. Roosevelt is elected
to a second term, and over the course
of his administration, he filed suit against
dozens of trusts. It's a time of great
change for the nation. J.P. Morgan, John Rockefeller,
and Andrew Carnegie suddenly find themselves
as members of an old guard, aging titans forced to
defend their fading empires. But as other monopolies fall,
one target refuses to go down. John D. Rockefeller's
Standard Oil has managed to
hold off a breakup over multiple administrations. But Rockefeller won't
be able to hide forever. Standard Oil
got the reputation as the most hated
company in America. It became literally the
symbol for big business evils. It was an example of big
businesses getting way too much power and nothing or no
one available to restrain them. NARRATOR: The government filed
suit against Standard Oil in what promises
to be the biggest antitrust case of all time. And the government is
hoping their lead witness will be John D.
Rockefeller himself. The feds issue a
subpoena and Rockefeller goes on the run from California
to Maine to Key West. The most powerful man in
America has become a fugitive from justice. He went all over the country
escaping served subpoenas. He was constantly
running from the law. NARRATOR: Rockefeller avoids
the subpoenas for months, but life intervenes. [baby crying] His son, John Jr. and his wife,
welcome the first Rockefeller grandson into the world. Still on the run
from the subpoena, Rockefeller is unable to
travel to see his grandchild, and the absence is unbearable. I'm only here for one day. And once I'm gone, I am gone. I may not be back. NARRATOR: Rockefeller knows
what it's like to be abandoned. Never trust anybody, son. Not even me. NARRATOR: And he's not going to
let this case tear his family apart. He turns himself in, agreeing
to testify in court in defense of Standard Oil and in defense
of an entire way of business he helped create. The case will be the
biggest challenge of Rockefeller's life. A fight that will determine
the future of the country. As Rockefeller is forced
to defend a company he built from nothing into
one of the most powerful corporations on Earth. Buy now. Everything. Buy the whole company. [background chatter] The United States
versus Standard Oil. This hearing is now in session. Please state your name. John Rockefeller. Mr. Rockefeller,
can you tell the court how in just one year in 1872
you acquired all the refineries in Cleveland? I don't remember. It was 36 years ago. JUDGE: You used intimidation
to wipe out the competition, did you not? I mean, so ruthlessly
that it became known as the Cleveland Massacre? I don't remember any massacre. JUDGE: Are you aware
of payments made by Standard Oil to a senator
$15,000 to block a bill hostile to Standard Oil? I don't remember. JUDGE: We have a list of
bribes made by Standard Oil to politicians between 1903. I stepped down
as Chief Executive of Standard Oil in 1902. I can't answer for any incidents
that occurred after that date. You are still President of
Standard Oil, are you not? It's an honorary title,
much like that of President of the United States. [laughter] JUDGE: Can I remind
you, Mr. Rockefeller, of the seriousness of the
charges brought against you? NARRATOR: As John
Rockefeller fights to keep his monopoly intact, a
new generation of businessmen is facing a new
set of challenges, as they struggle to get their
companies off the ground. I have set out to build the
best motorcar for popular use. The Ford Motorcar is
durable and light, weighing only 1,000 pounds. It has a four
cylinder engine and is capable of speeds up
to 45 miles an hour. It is priced at $900,
compared to $1,500 for the average licensed car,
which makes it the first car affordable for the common man. NARRATOR: Young
entrepreneur Henry Ford has created a new kind of car. But in order to sell it,
he needs to get permission from the Association of Licensed
Automobile Manufacturers, also known as ALAM. ALAM owns the patent
on the automobile, giving them complete control
over who can manufacture and sell cars. They are, in a sense,
a giant car monopoly. And Ford's future now
rests in their hands. Thank you, Mr. Ford. We'll be in touch. Thank you, gentlemen. NARRATOR: Ford is hopeful he'll
be approved by ALAM, allowing him to start his own
business and to pursue his dream for the future
of the car industry. When Ford entered the
automobile business, people didn't drive
their own cars. They had drivers. And so cars were seen
as this luxury item. Ford's insight was that cars
could be an everyday item. They could be very utilitarian. So that it was within the
reach of ordinary people. NARRATOR: Ford has spent
years developing his car for the common man. He builds his first
model at the age of 33 and calls it the quadricycle. But the vehicle is
expensive to produce and prone to breaking down. Ford's second
attempt, the Model A, is much more suited to the
needs of modern America. But he can't begin selling it
without permission from ALAM. STEVEN WATTS: ALAM was
successful in blackmailing other automobile
companies saying, you have to be licensed
by us, or we will sue you, and we own this patent. NARRATOR: After months
of deliberation, the ALAM board
reaches its decision. Henry Ford's
application is rejected. It's a crushing blow. The auto cartel has
stopped him in his tracks. But Henry Ford is determined to
show the world that to succeed in America, all you need
is integrity and ingenuity. America has emerged onto
the world stage, rebuilt over the past five decades
by John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan. They've reigned
uncontested for years. Only now the government is
cracking down on big business in a big way. But the next generation of
businessmen is on the rise. Henry Ford is battling a
powerful cartel for the right to make a car he believes in. The Association of Licensed
Automobile Manufacturers owns the patent
on the automobile, and budding car
makers like Henry Ford need its permission
to sell cars. After being rejected by ALAM,
Ford is left with few options. But he isn't about to
give up on his dreams. STEVEN WATTS: Ford thought that
the whole thing was ridiculous, that there could not be a patent
on the idea of the automobile, but the automobile
was not the property of one single individual. NARRATOR: Ford is determined to
get around ALAM's stranglehold on the auto industry. But he's just one man going
up against a virtual monopoly. If he's going to be a
success without ALAM, he's going to need to
make a name for himself. DONNY DEUTSCH: It's a very
simple thing on the make or break decisions.
It's the gut. And that's what separates
the great leaders and the great successes. And if you can't listen to
it and you don't have it, you're never going to get
it, because it's never going to come from someplace else. NARRATOR: Henry Ford challenges
the owner of the biggest car company in the
country to a race. Alexander Winton is also
known as the fastest driver in America and a
prominent member of ALAM. Beating Winton with a
car of his own design has the potential to give
Ford the boost he needs to start his own company. There's just one problem. Henry Ford has never
raced a car before. It's a David
and Goliath scene. Winton's famous world record
holder has this fancy race car, Ford the local boy made good. [dramatic music] NARRATOR: Henry Ford's upset win
over the fastest man in America makes him instantly famous. Ford is a hero, and this
is really the first big time I think that he
becomes a celebrity. The Ford name gets out there,
and he milks it for everything that it's worth. And it was a very crucial
part for getting investors for the Ford Motor Company. NARRATOR: Ford raises
$28,000 or $700,000 today, enough money to build
his first factory in Highland Park, Michigan. And before long, he's
producing 15 cars a day, priced low enough for
almost any American. STEVE CASC: When it
finally does break through, it is sort of gratifying,
because you're starting to see the reality of what
you always believe, that the vision you had that
someday the world would be different is starting to
move in that direction. NARRATOR: Henry Ford's early
success puts him on the map. But ALAM takes notice and
hits him with a lawsuit, claiming he's breaching their
patent on the automobile. MARK CUBAN: You see all
these huge conglomerations suing people over patents. The big guys are taking
advantage of the little guys, trying to find whatever
angle they could and using their might, and those
with the best tricksters win. NARRATOR: While Henry Ford
prepares to bring his fight for the little guy
to a Detroit court, the trial to bring down Standard
Oil is starting to get ugly. JUDGE: Mr. Rockefeller,
we have evidence that you priced several
refineries out of business. Not to my knowledge. JUDGE: Do you accept that
Standard Oil has enjoyed a profitability higher
than most industries? Our profitability is no
higher than that of US Steel. I haven't heard of anyone
attempting to break up US Steel. NARRATOR: While Rockefeller is
fighting to save his company, J.P. Morgan has been able
to keep his steel monopoly off the government's hit list. He's used his power
and influence to broker a number of deals
for the nation, applying the might of US Steel
to strengthen the country's infrastructure. But Morgan's biggest
deal is just getting started in Central America. For years, attempts
have been made to build a canal linking the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Such a canal would cut east
to west travel time in half, saving ships over
8,000 miles per trip. But no one's had the
power to make it happen. J.P. Morgan acts as the
middleman for the government and raises $40 million,
or $7 billion today, to get the project started. The Panama Canal is the most
ambitious construction project the United States
has ever undertaken. Over 75,000 workers
labor in brutal heat, fighting off deadly
diseases, digging a canal 51 miles from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. To assemble the manpower and
the material and the finances to cut a swath through
the middle of Panama and join the Atlantic Ocean
with the Pacific Ocean, only an industrially
sophisticated nation could do that. NARRATOR: The Panama
Canal embodies everything that makes America the most
powerful country on the planet. Built on steel,
powered by electricity, and running on gasoline. And it's all made possible due
to the financial might of one of the country's
most powerful men. But the age of monopoly
is still on trial, and the unchallenged
power the titans have used to amass their empires
is not going to last forever. Decades of unprecedented
growth have transformed America into an industrial superpower. The change has been driven by
some of the largest companies the world has ever seen. US Steel, Standard Oil,
and General Electric. But it also comes with a cost. Workers are outraged
over dangerous conditions at factories across the country. Nobody will break us, nobody! NARRATOR: And the gap
between the rich and the poor is bigger than it's ever been. Many are convinced that
America's largest companies are holding the country back. The age of monopoly
is under threat. SUMMER REDSTONE: I
hate monopolists. I fought monopolies all my life. I always wanted an
even playing field, but I had to fight for an
even playing field for myself. NARRATOR: Over a 40 year
career, John Rockefeller used innovation and ingenuity
to create a corporate empire unlike any the
world has ever seen. But he was also
notoriously ruthless, and many believe
he went too far. For John D. Rockefeller,
judgment day is here in what's become
the trial of the century, The People versus Standard Oil. The picture painted
of Standard Oil is a depressing one. No trust in the
history of America has been so destructive
in its pursuit of profit. Time and time again, we have
heard how Standard Oil has used secret kickbacks from the
railroads, been routinely engaged in predatory
pricing, used intimidation and exclusive sales territories
to put refineries out of business. For over 30 years,
Standard Oil has been on a mission took
crush its competition and establish itself as
a monopoly to hoist up the price of kerosene. Mr. Rockefeller, before the
court renders its decision, do you have anything
you wish to say? JOHN ROCKEFELLER: When I
came into the oil industry, there was chaos. I brought order. I took a second rate,
inefficient market and built an industry. It was done the way
it was because that's the way it had to be done. No one complained when I
brought light into every home. No one complained when
I provided thousands of jobs or millions of
dollars from exports. Oil is what this
country runs on. You call it monopoly. I call it enterprise. Now, you tell me, why am I here? [crowd murmuring] NARRATOR: As the court
adjourns to deliberate, Rockefeller can only
await his company's fate. Hundreds of miles away, a
new kind of businessman, Henry Ford, also waits. A panel of federal judges
will decide whether Ford can continue to freely
manufacture and sell his Model A car. The Association of Licensed
Automobile Manufacturers is suing Ford for a royalty
on every car he sells. Ford knows those royalties would
drive up the cost of his car, putting it out of reach
for the average consumer. For most early car
makers, the lawsuit would be a devastating
setback, but for Ford, it's something different. An opportunity. STEVE CASC: People react to
failure in one of two ways. Either they get
scared and give up or they take that failure
as a learning experience, and they kind of
use that experience to redouble their efforts. NARRATOR: Ford is convinced
the era of unchecked monopolies is over. So as his lawsuit winds
its way through court, he openly defies
the order from ALAM and continues building
and selling his cars. He believes there's a better way
to conduct business in America, and he's determined
to make it a reality. STEVEN WATTS: Henry Ford
was able to position himself as an anti-monopolist
really in a certain way as a kind of antithesis of the
Rockefellers and the Carnegies. He is the kind of heroic
individual entrepreneur who believed in
competition, who believed in developing a product and
bringing it to the people. NARRATOR: Ford begins paying
his workers a livable wage, $5 per day, more than double
the rate of most US factories. But Ford isn't just
paying his workers better. He's also getting
more out of them. He innovates a new system
for producing cars. Rather than hand crafting
each car one at a time, his are assembled by a line
of workers piece by piece. It's called the assembly
line, and it completely changes manufacturing forever. H.W. BRANDS: Ford didn't
invent mass production, but he perfected
mass production. He understood that a complicated
product like an automobile could be simplified
and could be made less expensive if the same thing
was produced again and again and again. NARRATOR: Using
the assembly line, Ford workers can build
cars up to eight times faster than any other
automobile factory in the world. What once took 12
hours to assemble now takes an hour and a half. The innovation allows Ford
to standardize the eight hour workday, five days per week. But for Ford to
continue to innovate, he'll need to win his lawsuit. His fate, like John
Rockefeller's, now rests in the hands
of a federal court. Henry Ford and
John D. Rockefeller are two American icons
from different generations on opposing sides of a battle
for the country's future. As the verdicts come
in, American business will never be the same. America is becoming the most
powerful nation on Earth, transformed from a post
Civil War wasteland into a budding superpower by
a group of visionaries who battled the impossible to build
unimaginable empires that have brought the country
into the 20th century. STEVE CASC: With all
the great entrepreneurs, it was a mix of
believing in an idea, but they also
recognized that they had to do some things to take
that idea and make it real. NARRATOR: After decades of
doing whatever it took to crush the competition,
John D. Rockefeller is fighting to save the company
he built from nothing into one of the largest and most
dominating corporations on the planet. MAURY KLEIN: Big business
is a dangerous thing in the eyes of many because
of the power it wields. NARRATOR: The biggest
anti-trust trial of all time is about to reach a verdict. 444 witnesses have
taken the stand. 12,000 pages of testimony
have been recorded. But in the end,
it all comes down to the testimony of one man. JOHN ROCKEFELLER:
You call it monopoly. I call it enterprise. NARRATOR: John
Rockefeller has done all he can to keep
his monopoly intact. But the fate of Standard
Oil is out of his control. [bangs gavel] In the case of the United
States against the Standard Oil Company, this hearing
has reached a decision. This court determines against
the Standard Oil Trust on account of its unreasonable
business practices, which are in violation of the
Sherman Anti-trust Act. The Standard Oil Trust must be
broken up within six months. [bangs gavel] [crowd yelling] Mr. Rockefeller, is this
the end of Standard Oil? NARRATOR: John Rockefeller's
Standard Oil is completely dismantled, broken up
into 34 smaller companies. The age of monopoly is over. The takedown of Standard Oil
bodes well for the rising guard of a new generation of
businessmen, most of all, Henry Ford. Ford awaits the
future of his company after the powerful auto cartel
ALAM charged him with breaching their patent on the automobile
and tried to shut him down. It's a potentially life changing
moment, not just for Ford but for the future of every
industry in the country. In a surprise
decision, the court rules in favor of Henry Ford. ALAM has no legal claim
to the design of the car. Henry Ford is free to
innovate without repercussion. Well guys, that was it. Let's go sell some cars. NARRATOR: Ford's dream
is made a reality. The car belongs to everyone. STEVEN WATTS: Ford's success
put him forward in American life as a new kind of business
man, but in crucial ways, unlike Rockefeller
and Carnegie, he wasn't trying to
gain a monopoly. He was trying to bring
a product to the people. The American
population ate this up, and they made Henry Ford
a kind of folk hero. NARRATOR: Ford
seizes the momentum, and his factories
go into overdrive. His assembly lines
start producing a revolutionary new
car at a record rate. It's called the Model T,
and it costs only $825. For the first time, a car
the common man can afford. MAURY KLEIN: Henry
Ford created what became the most
important industry in the American economy. He had no idea of
the enormous impact it would have on almost every
sector of American life. He literally changed America. The way we live, the way we
do things, and the way we go about our business. NARRATOR: Ford's reputation
won't always be so positive, but his revolution inspires
an entire generation of visionaries
who will transform the fabric of American life. Childhood friends William
Harley and Arthur Davidson attach an engine to a bicycle
and begin selling motorcycles to the masses. Milton Hershey applies Henry
Ford's assembly line model to the mass production
of chocolate. Chicago merchant William Wrigley
takes his chewing gum national. And in Hollywood, Polish
immigrant Max Factor begins distributing cosmetics
for movie stars to drug stores across the country, inventing
a completely new consumer product, makeup. This new breed of businessman
is doing things a different way. They're creating
products for the masses while paying their employees a
livable wage with safe working conditions and a standard
40 hour work week. The era of Rockefeller,
Carnegie, and Morgan looks like it may
have come to an end. But America's three
most powerful men are just as relevant
as ever before. Standard Oil gasoline stations
appear across the country, fueling Henry Ford's cars, cars
that are built using Carnegie's steel in factories powered
by J.P. Morgan's electricity. The new breed of businessman
may be doing things differently from their predecessors,
but their innovations wouldn't be possible without
the groundwork laid by men like Cornelius Vanderbilt,
Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller. The result is broad prosperity
shared throughout the country and perhaps America's
greatest innovation yet, a thriving and
prosperous middle class. CHARLES SCHWAB: The
Industrial Revolution created the development
of the middle class. It created wealth that we never
would have imagined possible before. NARRATOR: John Rockefeller
may have lost his court case, but the smaller companies
created from Standard Oil will go on to become corporate
giants, with names like Exxon, Mobil, and Chevron. And John Rockefeller
is a shareholder in each new company. It's ironic, isn't it? I mean, it's a great
moment in American history, and it established the principle
that monopolistic practices should not be for the future. And that sounds really good,
except now they were all separate, and my great
grandfather had large amounts of stock and every one of them. He made more money than
he ever made in his life. The effect on John
D. Rockefeller was absolutely blissful
from his point of view. NARRATOR: Even in
defeat, John Rockefeller becomes the richest man in
the history of the world, with a net worth of almost
660 billion in today's money. With the stranglehold
of the monopolies over, Americans now realize
that anything is possible as long as they work together. The nation is more
powerful than ever, and that power will
soon be needed. On a brisk spring morning
two years after the breakup of Standard Oil,
John Rockefeller joins his old rival
Andrew Carnegie to mourn the loss of one of their own. Less than a month from
his 76th birthday, J.P. Morgan dies in his sleep. Morgan leaves such a
mark on American finance that the New York Stock
Exchange shuts down, an honor normally reserved for
the passing of a president. RICHARD PARSONS:
J.P. Morgan certainly was the foremost name
in banking in terms of creating modern finance. And you can't have
modern economy without a modern effective,
functioning banking system. He was as influential as any
of the titans of that day. NARRATOR: While
the old rivals once saw each other as
cutthroat competitors, now in their twilight years, the
fathers of American business have found a mutual respect. For Rockefeller and Carnegie,
Morgan's passing is a reminder. Time is running short. And the realization
triggers a new contest. No longer is there competition
about who makes more money. Now the question is,
who can give more away? H.W. BRANDS: Andrew
Carnegie was the first of the big capitalists
of this era to be bitten by the philanthropy bug. He decided that he was going to
use his wealth to good purpose. And he said that a man who
dies rich dies disgraced. Andrew Carnegie was
not a very popular man among his millionaire
friends, because he demanded that the millionaire has to
give away all of his money. T. BOONE PICKENS:
There's nothing wrong with making a lot of money. Making money is fun. I enjoy that very much. But I enjoy giving away
money even more so. NARRATOR: Carnegie gives
away more than $350 million, $67 billion today. Most goes to education and
his favorite cause, libraries. As more than 2,500
Carnegie libraries are built in 49 states
and around the world. But even in this
contest, Carnegie will be bested by his old rival. John Rockefeller will
outlive Carnegie by 13 years. That time and his
greater worth allows him to give away more money
than Carnegie is ever able to. Throughout his life,
Rockefeller has donated millions to his church and
numerous universities. At the age of 73, he creates
The Rockefeller Foundation with a personal endowment
of $100 million, the equivalent of
$38 billion today. That money will go on to advance
public health around the world for decades. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV: My great
grandfather, he went full bore into philanthropy. Whether that was a duty under
sort of a Baptist stricture or whether it just came pouring
out of him, I'm just not sure, but it doesn't make
any difference. He did it. NARRATOR: John Rockefeller
will live to be 97 years old and gives away more than $530
million in his lifetime, gifts that today would
total over $1 billion. I look at Carnegie, I look
at what Rockefeller did, and I revere these people for
the second half of their lives. And they certainly are
inspirations to people who manage to be able to
accumulate some wealth and want to be able to
say, you know what, I now want to help others. NARRATOR: As the nation heads
deeper into the 20th century, millions of Americans
for the first time ever are able to take part in
the American dream, employed in well-paid and safe jobs,
manufacturing products they themselves can now afford. The country is united with a
robust economy that benefits not just the rich, but everyone. It's the beginning of one of the
longest periods of prosperity America will ever see. RICHARD PARSONS: It wasn't by
accident that the 20th century became the American century. America made the greatest
strides in terms of harnessing these new technologies. We simply could outproduce
any other nation in this world by the time the 20th
century rolled around, and that clearly
put us in a position to drive the global agenda. It's on the back of the
Industrial Revolution. NARRATOR: But as World War
I breaks out in Europe, the world looks for help. It looks to America. Just 50 years removed from
the ashes of the Civil War, America has become
a global superpower. By April of 1917, the
country enters the war, sending troops, supplies, and
weapons, resources that will help bring peace to the world. But those resources
would have never been possible without the
contributions of a small group of visionary men, men who
sparked a revolution that forever changed America. America was transformed
by the vision, the incredible hard
work and determination, and the willingness to take big
risks that these men displayed. There is also no question
that these men could not have done what they did
anywhere else but America, because this place
allows more people to dream than any other
place in the world. All that matters is how
big do you want to dream and how hard do
you want to work? NARRATOR: From a broken country
into the most powerful nation on Earth. They didn't discover
this modern America. They built it.
