Most influential entrepreneur in U.S. history

Today on electoral-vote.com they changed up their usual weekend Q&A by posing questions from readers for other readers to answer. One reader in Germany asked who the most influential entrepreneur in U.S. history was and what effect they had. My response was Eli Whitney. His invention of the cotton gin made cotton farming far more profitable by vastly reducing the time and personnel needed to manually remove cotton seeds from the bolls. This increased efficiency led to cotton replacing other agricultural crops in the South, making the area more wealthy and more dependent on slavery which expanded to fill the increased need for cotton harvesters. As slavery became more entrenched in the South, the sectional divisions in the U.S. were exacerbated, making the Civil War inevitable.

Without the cotton gin, slavery would very likely have gradually diminished organically until it reached the point where it could have been outlawed without the Civil War. Other countries like Great Britain, Brazil, Russia, and others managed to outlaw slavery or serfdom peacefully.

Top | Newest First | Oldest First

SomeMichGuy · M

Hmmmm...how about Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.?

His entrepreneurship established a dynastic trust to permit generations of Kennedys to either go into public service or disservice, being very impactful on both sides of that scale.

Of course it includes JFK, RFK, Teddy, Sargent Shriver, etc. But also the notorious vaccine disinformation spreader RFK, Jr.

JFK stared down Russia's missiles in Cuba, Russian power in divided Berlin, and gave us the great dreams of going to the Moon, of helping our country/countrymen, & helping other countries (the Peace Corps).
He has inspired generations of other public servants, incl. at least one President, and many other figures.

View 2 more replies »

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@SomeMichGuy Interesting, and puts the emphasis on influencer more than entrepreneurship unless you consider smuggling/bootlegging a form of entrepreneurship. You could include oldest son Joe, Jr., as well, who died serving on an Allied bombing run in WWII despite his father's fascist/Hitler learnings as Ambassador to England. He actually was being groomed to be the Kennedy President. JFK wanted to be a writer; RFK would have been happy continuing as a lawyer/prosecutor as he was for Senator Kefauver's Anti-Crime Committee and Attorney General. Says something for Joe Sr.'s parenting skills that each was being allowed to pursue separate skill sets. Unfortunately, JFK, RFK, and Teddy all emulated his womanizing ways as well, although Teddy seemed to embrace it the fullest.

SomeMichGuy · M

@dancingtongue JPK, Sr., was a bigger entrepreneur than "merely" any bootlegging; though my initial thoughts were like yours, you might look at the wikipedia article about him

Though despicable in some of his opinions & actions, he nonetheless set up an important dynasty. Too bad he was so awful as a human being.

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@SomeMichGuy I reviewed the wiki and I guess the consensus is that most of his liquor money came legally in the top shelf scotch markets from wise investment after Prohibition rather than allegations of smuggling during Prohibition. As for the rest of his "successors", it seems to come from venture capitalism -- being a timely buyer and seller -- beginning with using a big loan from his father to buy his first bank. I wouldn't classify this as entrepreneurship. But at least we agree that he was not a model human being when it comes to his politics, alliances, and social behavior.

justanothername · 51-55, M

I can think of several in no particular historical order

Henry Ford Private car
Howard Hughs helicopter
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs Mac computer, iPod iPhone
Bill Gates.PC for everyone

There’s probably lots more.

View 8 more replies »

justanothername · 51-55, M

@SomeMichGuy if I had to narrow it down I’d say Bill Gates for Windows and Apple for the iPhone.
Both have changed the way we live our lives, communicate and do business.

SomeMichGuy · M

@justanothername So...Shockley for developing the first solid state transistor, along with Brittain & Bardeen, and then forming his own semiconductor business...which seeded others (since he was an ass, as a person)...making both of those possible.

justanothername · 51-55, M

@SomeMichGuy Yes

SatyrService · M

pretty good pick, and Excelent reasoning for your choice.
some might suggets Ford or
the Westinghouse. but the 'Gin did make cotton the king

Northwest · M

Or maybe not the inventor, but the group of people who built the Cross-Continental railroad, opening up the West, and turning the US from a tiny nation of renegades, into a great nation, and in the process, nearly exterminating the natives. who inhabited this vast land, for tens of thousands of years.

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@Northwest I briefly considered them as well, and they certainly played a major role not only in the ways you mention but in the economic impact on all segments of the nation -- be it producer or consumer of products. But while it took entrepreneurship to create the railroads, it was usually consortiums taking advantage of the land incentives that Congress granted them and the new technologies developed by others. Perhaps Robert Fulton with the steam engine that made not only the first train engines but the paddle wheel steamers that served the same function as the trains up and down the Mississippi, Ohio, and contributory rivers prior to the trains.

Northwest · M

@dancingtongue

I briefly considered them as well, and they certainly played a major role not only in the ways you mention but in the economic impact on all segments of the nation -- be it producer or consumer of products. But while it took entrepreneurship to create the railroads, it was usually consortiums taking advantage of the land incentives that Congress granted them and the new technologies developed by others. Perhaps Robert Fulton with the steam engine that made not only the first train engines but the paddle wheel steamers that served the same function as the trains up and down the Mississippi, Ohio, and contributory rivers prior to the trains.

I am mot commenting on the good/bad aspect of it, only the impact. The process was also rife with graft, consumer ripoffs, pyramid schemes, stock market ripoffs, etc. It also produced the so-called robber barons class, who went on to found the US's top universities and charitable organizations. Stanford, Vanderbilt, etc.

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

Hard to pick just one, but you make a solid argument for Whitney. The counterpoint would be Cyrus McCormick with the combine harvest machine that made the prairie states more viable for expansion without slavery, and the attempts to block the spread of slavery to them also played into the conflict leading up to Civil War.

LeopoldBloom · M

@dancingtongue That's a good point and one I hadn't considered.

Ynotisay · M

He was hugely influential. But I might lean towards Henry Ford. The ability for the populous to drive was a game changer. In modern times I think it would be Bill Gates.

SomeMichGuy · M

Great answer!

Add a comment...