Robert L. Heilbroner
Dr. Robert L. Heilbroner is the author of The Worldly Philosophers, The Future as History , and The Great Ascent .
For further reading: God’s Gold: The Story of Rockefeller and His Times , by John T. Flynn (Harcourt, Brace, 1932); Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist , by Allan Nevins (Scribner’s, 1953); Random Reminiscences of Men and Events , by John D. Rockefeller (Doubleday, 1933)
Articles by this Contributor
August 1960
Who dies rich, dies disgraced, said Andrew Carnegie. An economist re-examines his brash career in the light of that noble philosophy
December 1964
When it was raining porridge, Lucy Rockefeller said, John D.’s dish was always right side up
September/october 1988
It’s never a bad thing question how well you’re doing; the problem is to find a judicious observer who is determined neither to flatter nor to condemn

American Heritage is proud to host the
National Portal to
Historic Collections
Recently added:
- American Revolution Center
- National Museum of Civil War Medicine
- National Museum of the U.S. Navy
- Manassas National Battlefield
- Maryland State House
In association with the
American Association for State and Local History
Why do we need a national nonprofit membership society for American history?
-
“Save America’s Treasures” has been totally eliminated—the largest Federal program supporting preservation of such treasures as the original Star Spangled Banner and George Washington’s tent.
-
65% of Americans don’t know what happened at the Constitutional Convention, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
-
The “Teaching American History” grants—the largest Federal program supporting history education—have been completely eliminated.
-
Visits to the Top 20 Civil War battlefields have dropped in half from 1970 to 2009 according to official National Park Service statistics.
-
40% of Americans can’t identify whom we fought in World War II, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
-
A quarter of Americans believe Congress shares power over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations, according to a recent Annenberg survey.
-
“There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know than the history and traditions of his country,” John F. Kennedy wrote in American Heritage.
-
The “We the People Program,” which touched some 30 million students and 90,000 teachers over 25 years, has been completely eliminated.
-
Two-thirds of Americans could not correctly name Yorktown as the last major military action of the American Revolution, according to a recent national Gallup survey.
-
The National Heritage Areas and Scenic Byways program, the only major Federal program encouraging visits to historic places, has been completely eliminated in Congressional committee.




