Susie J. Pak. Gentlemen Bankers: The World of J. P. Morgan.

Abstract

In Gentlemen Bankers, historian Susie J. Pak offers an intriguing and generally well-written social history of the partners of storied investment bank J. P. Morgan & Co. and associated companies (the “House of Morgan”) and one of its major competitors, Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Based on secondary sources, new interpretations of standard primary sources, and hitherto rarely consulted archival sources, this book can be considered part of an emerging literature that an April 2013 article in the New York Times labeled “the history of capitalism.” Pak's volume certainly shares many of the strengths and weaknesses common to that new subfield, especially those parts of it that privilege individuals over processes, or in other words that conflate capitalists with capitalism. The introduction makes clear that the book is about how the business and social networks of Morganites (J. P. and Jack Morgan and their sixty-five partners) changed over time. Chapter one provides historical context on gentlemen bankers and their code of conduct before the Pujo Money Trust investigations. Chapter two describes Morganites' social spheres, including where they lived and the social clubs they belonged to, on the eve of the Great War. Chapter three explores their antisemitism, which was palpable in both private correspondence and club memberships even though Morganites often cooperated with Jewish bankers on business deals. Chapter four shows how World War I disrupted the business, family, and social networks of the Morganites while simultaneously damaging German bankers, especially German-Jewish ones like the partners of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Chapter five explores the increasing importance of Harvard University to J. P. Morgan & Co., especially in its partner recruitment efforts. In chapter six, Pak discusses the relationship between J. P. Morgan and imperial Japan, with emphasis on the efforts of female-led pro-China groups to disrupt the flow of money from U.S. investors to Japanese projects in Manchuria/Manchukuo. The dissolution of the House of Morgan is the subject of chapter seven: New Deal regulations forced the company to split into two (known today as JPMorgan Chase and Co. and Morgan Stanley), while changing economic conditions led to abandonment of the partnership form in favor of public ownership.