Saturday, November 21, 1964, a cold, sunny day in New York City. Thousands of New Yorkers gathered on both the Brooklyn and the Staten Island sides of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony that would mark the grand opening of the span. It took over five years to construct this 6,690-foot bridge that carried a price tag of about $325 million. The towers on this bridge soared seventy feet into the sky.
Among the citizens of New York that were attending this occasion were other great men such as President Lyndon Johnson; Mayor Robert F. Wagner; nelson Rockefeller, governor of New York; Ambassador Sergio Fenoaltea of Italy; Abe Stark, borough president of Brooklyn; Francis Cardinal Spellman of the Archdiocese of New York; and the modest but shy, eighty-five-year-old designer of the bridge, Othmar H. Ammann. Let's not forget that also among these invited guests were also new York real estate developer Fred C. Trump and his eighteen year old son Donald.
As the band played its patriotic melodies, Robert Moses, chairman of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, walked up to the microphone to give the opening speech:
"I now ask that one of the significant great men of our time -- modest, unassuming, and too often overlooked on such grandiose occasions -- stand up and be recognized."
Ammann reluctantly rose out of his seat and faced the crowds self-consciously.
After a few moments of appraisal, the bewildered gentleman returned to his seat. If the crowd failed to identify this great engineer prior to Mr. Moses' speech, it was no better informed after it.
This was because Robert Moses had failed to mention his name.
For Donald Trump observing the proceedings at his fathers side, it was a vivid learning experience that he would refer to many times during the next couple of decades. To a great extent it helped shape his philosophy and his style of operation. Donald made a decision that day to make sure his name was prominently stamped on everything he built. No one would ever forget his name at a dedication ceremony.
Frederick Charles Trump and his wife Mary lived in New York on Midland Parkway. Their household consisted of five children. There was Maryanne, Frederick Charles Trump jr., Elizabeth, and Robert. Their fifth child was born in August of 1946. They named him Donald.
Donald was a very intriguing young boy. He refused to play second fiddle to his older siblings. He insisted on being the center of attention. He would howl for no reason just so that his father would know that he was there. He loved to get his shoes muddy by tromping through construction sites, playing with bricks, planks, nails, and other things of the trade.
Donald's father admired his energy and drive--recognizing it as a genetic gift from himself. He felt that it had to be channeled in the proper direction. Self-discipline was an important part of a successful man's makeup. Without it, a gifted individual with power and money could develop into a monster. This was easier said than done. For his brother Freddie, all it took was a disappointing look from his father. Donald wasn't so easily intimidated. The more his father scolded him, the more he rebelled. He didn't seem to be afraid of anyone. "I used to fight back all the time. My father was one tough son-of-a-gun. My father respects me because I stood up to him."(Trump pg. 38) He was a bright student but enjoyed teasing the girls and flinging erasers rather than studying for exams. Her younger sister Elizabeth was an easy target for pranks. She didn't lose her temper easily but Donald could torment her to a level of fury. As far as she was concerned, "he would always be the brat no matter how rich or famous he became later on."(Trump, pg. 39) He was a hyper kid despite his extracurricular activities such as soccer, baseball, and football. He could not wait for his childhood years to end so that he could get on with the real business of life.
Donald went to school at the New York Military Academy but would return on summer breaks to work with his father at the office. He would help Fred negotiate a number of deals while he learned the business. Donald practically lived at the construction sites when he wasn't attending school. He loved the look of the gaping holes in the ground, the grind of heavy earth- moving machines as they tore through boulders and tree stumps. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind who Fred Trump's number one son was. Freddie was born too soon. The natural heir to the family business was Donald. He could not wait to finish school and do the work he was destined to do.
After his schooling and getting his degree, Donald Trump was now in his element. His first job after embarking upon a full-time participation in the Trump organization was to take a careful look at his father's books. Over the decades, the houses and apartment buildings that his father built had appreciated dramatically. He asked his father to refinance the properties to free up the millions of dollars that were laying dormant in them. In most cases, the mortgages had been paid down completely, and the buildings could be refinanced at 90 to 100 percent of their market value. When Donald was made president of the Trump organization, his position as the heir to his father's position became official. Donald had visions of soaring skyscrapers, if at all possible named after himself.
By 1973, fifty years after Fred Trump built his first house in Queens, Trump properties in New York were valued at about $150 million with an additional $50 million in out-of-town Trump holdings. Fred Trump had built thousands of one- and two-family homes during his career. He and Donald owned dozens of apartments under a network of fifty-eight separate corporations. The rent from their apartments in New York City alone came to more than $50 million a year. By Donald's calculations, the worth of the Trump organization had grown from $40 million to $200 million during the five years he had been working full time with his father. That is a 500 percent increase.
By this time, Fred had turned over the major development decisions to Donald. "I gave Donald free rein," Fred said years later in an interview. "He has great vision and everything he touches seems to turn to gold. As long as he has this great energy in abundance, I'm glad to let him do it. Donald is the smartest person I know," he added proudly.(Fortune Magazine)
Through the years, Donald would put up apartment buildings in areas that other real estate tycoons wouldn't dare go for. They would question whether or not real estate prices would be in their favor therefore missing opportunities of advancement in real estate. Donald hit the market head on. No deal was too complicated for his talents. His father stated that even though Donald was eager and he took risks without thinking twice when others would have, he rarely made any mistakes and none of them were major. By the time Donald turned thirty in August of 1976 he found himself the most talked about real estate developer in the country. He estimated his personal worth at something a little more than $200 million. Not too bad for someone who only started working full-time only eight years earlier. By the end of 1976, the Trump organization comprised of sixty separate partnerships and corporations and employed more than a thousand people.
On march 15, 1982, the Casino Control Commission in New Jersey approved a gambling license for the Trump organization in a record time of two hours. This marked the hotel-casino industry for Trump. He planned to put up a 39-story hotel-casino in Atlantic City.
Among the construction of Trump Tower in 1982 in New York City, he also began another major project. He planned to put a 37-story apartment building on a 29,000-square-foot site containing 1990 cooperative apartments and a glass-sheathed retail concourse on the ground level. His intention was to call this project Trump Plaza.
The Trump empire by 1984 encompassed over a billion dollars' worth of property. This figure would yet be increased by half as soon as the casino in Atlantic City is completed. One of the reasons for our success," Donald said to a reporter, "was that while others were building over the last three or four years at 10 percent interest, we were buying at 5 ½ percent mortgages. And the units they produced in their new buildings were much smaller than the ones we were buying."(Trump pg. 128)
The Trump organization remained an umbrella for a large number of subsidiary corporations and partnerships, including Trump Enterprises, Trump Corporation, Trump Management, Trump Development, Wembly Realty, the Park South Company, the Land Corporation of California, Trump-Equitable Fifth Avenue, Trump Construction, Trump Equities, and countless others. Trump even had partial ownership of the Jets.
"I love real estate because there's something about creating something that's visible. There's an artistic merit," he said.(Trump pg. 153) He was the most controversial real estate baron of his time. He was thought of being the creator of the most dramatic new structures being built anywhere in the country, perhaps the world.
Bibliography
Hylton, Richard D. Fortune "Is Trump On The Comeback Trail?" April 10, 1992. (pg. 13-14).
Purnick, Joyce. The New York Times "The never-failing optimism of Donald Trump". July 27, 1995. v144 (microfilm).
Tuccille, Jerome. Trump--The Saga of America's Masterbuilder. Donald I. Fine Inc., New York. !985.
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