The rhetoric of arrogance: The public relations response of the Standard Oil Trust

Public Relations Review

Volumn 27, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 163-178

  Boyd, Josh ^a  

^a PURDUE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0346490466     PISSN: 03638111     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0363-8111(01)00078-9     Document Type: Article

References (108)

1. B. Bringhurst, Antitrust and the Oil Monopoly: The Standard Oil Cases, 1890-1911, Westport, CT, Greenwood, 1979, pp. 109-111.
2. The progeny of Standard Oil, The Wall Street Journal (2 December 1998), p. B1. Exxon, formerly Esso (S. O., the initials of Standard Oil) is the direct descendant of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.
3. E.g., L. Beltz, Preachers of Social Discontent: The Rhetoric of the Muckrakers, diss., Indiana University, 1968; L. Filler, The Muckrakers, 1939; University Park, PA, Penn State University Press, 1976; R. Hofstadter, The Age of Reform, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1955; A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, Eds., The Muckrakers, New York, Capricorn Books, 1964; and H. S. Wilson, McClure's Magazine and the Muckrakers, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1970.
4. E.g., L. Beltz, Preachers of Social Discontent: The Rhetoric of the Muckrakers, diss., Indiana University, 1968; L. Filler, The Muckrakers, 1939; University Park, PA, Penn State University Press, 1976; R. Hofstadter, The Age of Reform, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1955; A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, Eds., The Muckrakers, New York, Capricorn Books, 1964; and H. S. Wilson, McClure's Magazine and the Muckrakers, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1970.
5. E.g., L. Beltz, Preachers of Social Discontent: The Rhetoric of the Muckrakers, diss., Indiana University, 1968; L. Filler, The Muckrakers, 1939; University Park, PA, Penn State University Press, 1976; R. Hofstadter, The Age of Reform, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1955; A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, Eds., The Muckrakers, New York, Capricorn Books, 1964; and H. S. Wilson, McClure's Magazine and the Muckrakers, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1970.
6. E.g., L. Beltz, Preachers of Social Discontent: The Rhetoric of the Muckrakers, diss., Indiana University, 1968; L. Filler, The Muckrakers, 1939; University Park, PA, Penn State University Press, 1976; R. Hofstadter, The Age of Reform, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1955; A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, Eds., The Muckrakers, New York, Capricorn Books, 1964; and H. S. Wilson, McClure's Magazine and the Muckrakers, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1970.
7. E.g., L. Beltz, Preachers of Social Discontent: The Rhetoric of the Muckrakers, diss., Indiana University, 1968; L. Filler, The Muckrakers, 1939; University Park, PA, Penn State University Press, 1976; R. Hofstadter, The Age of Reform, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1955; A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, Eds., The Muckrakers, New York, Capricorn Books, 1964; and H. S. Wilson, McClure's Magazine and the Muckrakers, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1970.
8. R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, Pioneering in Big Business: 1882-1911, New York, Harper & Brothers, 1955, p. 13. This volume is the authorized history of Standard Oil of New Jersey.
9. B. Bringhurst, op. cit., p. 11.
10. Ibid, p. 12.
11. E. M. Fox and L. A. Sullivan, The good and bad trust dichotomy: A short history of a legal idea, The Antitrust Bulletin 35 (1990), p. 62. The term "trust" is even used loosely (and inaccurately) as interchangeable with the term "monopolist." But even though the actual trustee situation might not be present, corporations that control large portions of a particular industry can still be called "trusts."
12. B. Bringhurst, op. cit., p. 16.
13. Ibid, pp. 20, 32-33.
14. R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., p. 683.
15. Ibid, pp. 691-697.
16. Ibid, pp. 709-711.
17. J. E. Harr and P. J. Johnson, The Rockefeller Century, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988, p. 84.
18. L. Galambos, The Public Image of Big Business in America, 1880-1940, Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975, p. 120.
19. B. Bringhurst, op. cit., p. 122; H. Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography, 1931; New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1956, p. 259.
20. B. Bringhurst, op. cit., p. 122; H. Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography, 1931; New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1956, p. 259.
21. T. Roosevelt, The man with the muck rake, (speech of April 15, 1906), in R. F. Reid (Ed.), American Rhetorical Discourse, 2nd ed., Prospect Heights, IL, Waveland Press, 1995, pp. 679-680.
22. B. Bringhurst, op. cit., p. 7.
23. J. C. German Jr., The Taft Administration and the Sherman Antitrust Act, in R. F. Himmelberg (Ed.), The Monopoly Issue and Antitrust, 1900-1917, New York, Garland Publishing, 1994, p. 22.
24. B. Bringhurst, op. cit., p. 131.
25. M. Watkins Allen and R. H. Caillouet, Legitimation endeavors: Impression management strategies used by an organization in a crisis, Communication Monographs 61 (1994), p. 44.
26. K. M. Hearit, 'Mistakes were made': Organizations, apologia, and crises of social legitimacy, Communication Studies 46 (1995), pp. 2-3. For more scholarship on corporate legitimacy, see K. E. Boulding, The legitimacy of the business institution, in E. M. Epstein and D. Votaw (Eds.), Rationality, Legitimacy, Responsibility: Search for New Directions in Business and Society, Santa Monica, CA, Goodyear, 1978; J. J. Brummer, Corporate Responsibility and Legitimacy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, New York, Greenwood Press, 1991; J. Dowling and J. Pfeffer, Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior, Pacific Sociological Review 18 (1975), pp. 122-136; E. M. Epstein, The historical enigma of corporate legitimacy, California Law Review 60 (1972), pp. 1701-1717; P. G. Stillman, The concept of legitimacy, Polity 7 (1974), pp. 32-56; and G. Turkel, Situated corporatist legitimacy: The 1980 Chrysler Loan Guarantee, Research in Law, Deviance, and Social Control 4 (1982), pp. 165-189.
27. K. M. Hearit, 'Mistakes were made': Organizations, apologia, and crises of social legitimacy, Communication Studies 46 (1995), pp. 2-3. For more scholarship on corporate legitimacy, see K. E. Boulding, The legitimacy of the business institution, in E. M. Epstein and D. Votaw (Eds.), Rationality, Legitimacy, Responsibility: Search for New Directions in Business and Society, Santa Monica, CA, Goodyear, 1978; J. J. Brummer, Corporate Responsibility and Legitimacy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, New York, Greenwood Press, 1991; J. Dowling and J. Pfeffer, Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior, Pacific Sociological Review 18 (1975), pp. 122-136; E. M. Epstein, The historical enigma of corporate legitimacy, California Law Review 60 (1972), pp. 1701-1717; P. G. Stillman, The concept of legitimacy, Polity 7 (1974), pp. 32-56; and G. Turkel, Situated corporatist legitimacy: The 1980 Chrysler Loan Guarantee, Research in Law, Deviance, and Social Control 4 (1982), pp. 165-189.
28. K. M. Hearit, 'Mistakes were made': Organizations, apologia, and crises of social legitimacy, Communication Studies 46 (1995), pp. 2-3. For more scholarship on corporate legitimacy, see K. E. Boulding, The legitimacy of the business institution, in E. M. Epstein and D. Votaw (Eds.), Rationality, Legitimacy, Responsibility: Search for New Directions in Business and Society, Santa Monica, CA, Goodyear, 1978; J. J. Brummer, Corporate Responsibility and Legitimacy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, New York, Greenwood Press, 1991; J. Dowling and J. Pfeffer, Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior, Pacific Sociological Review 18 (1975), pp. 122-136; E. M. Epstein, The historical enigma of corporate legitimacy, California Law Review 60 (1972), pp. 1701-1717; P. G. Stillman, The concept of legitimacy, Polity 7 (1974), pp. 32-56; and G. Turkel, Situated corporatist legitimacy: The 1980 Chrysler Loan Guarantee, Research in Law, Deviance, and Social Control 4 (1982), pp. 165-189.
29. K. M. Hearit, 'Mistakes were made': Organizations, apologia, and crises of social legitimacy, Communication Studies 46 (1995), pp. 2-3. For more scholarship on corporate legitimacy, see K. E. Boulding, The legitimacy of the business institution, in E. M. Epstein and D. Votaw (Eds.), Rationality, Legitimacy, Responsibility: Search for New Directions in Business and Society, Santa Monica, CA, Goodyear, 1978; J. J. Brummer, Corporate Responsibility and Legitimacy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, New York, Greenwood Press, 1991; J. Dowling and J. Pfeffer, Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior, Pacific Sociological Review 18 (1975), pp. 122-136; E. M. Epstein, The historical enigma of corporate legitimacy, California Law Review 60 (1972), pp. 1701-1717; P. G. Stillman, The concept of legitimacy, Polity 7 (1974), pp. 32-56; and G. Turkel, Situated corporatist legitimacy: The 1980 Chrysler Loan Guarantee, Research in Law, Deviance, and Social Control 4 (1982), pp. 165-189.
30. K. M. Hearit, 'Mistakes were made': Organizations, apologia, and crises of social legitimacy, Communication Studies 46 (1995), pp. 2-3. For more scholarship on corporate legitimacy, see K. E. Boulding, The legitimacy of the business institution, in E. M. Epstein and D. Votaw (Eds.), Rationality, Legitimacy, Responsibility: Search for New Directions in Business and Society, Santa Monica, CA, Goodyear, 1978; J. J. Brummer, Corporate Responsibility and Legitimacy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, New York, Greenwood Press, 1991; J. Dowling and J. Pfeffer, Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior, Pacific Sociological Review 18 (1975), pp. 122-136; E. M. Epstein, The historical enigma of corporate legitimacy, California Law Review 60 (1972), pp. 1701-1717; P. G. Stillman, The concept of legitimacy, Polity 7 (1974), pp. 32-56; and G. Turkel, Situated corporatist legitimacy: The 1980 Chrysler Loan Guarantee, Research in Law, Deviance, and Social Control 4 (1982), pp. 165-189.
31. K. M. Hearit, 'Mistakes were made': Organizations, apologia, and crises of social legitimacy, Communication Studies 46 (1995), pp. 2-3. For more scholarship on corporate legitimacy, see K. E. Boulding, The legitimacy of the business institution, in E. M. Epstein and D. Votaw (Eds.), Rationality, Legitimacy, Responsibility: Search for New Directions in Business and Society, Santa Monica, CA, Goodyear, 1978; J. J. Brummer, Corporate Responsibility and Legitimacy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, New York, Greenwood Press, 1991; J. Dowling and J. Pfeffer, Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior, Pacific Sociological Review 18 (1975), pp. 122-136; E. M. Epstein, The historical enigma of corporate legitimacy, California Law Review 60 (1972), pp. 1701-1717; P. G. Stillman, The concept of legitimacy, Polity 7 (1974), pp. 32-56; and G. Turkel, Situated corporatist legitimacy: The 1980 Chrysler Loan Guarantee, Research in Law, Deviance, and Social Control 4 (1982), pp. 165-189.
32. K. M. Hearit, 'Mistakes were made': Organizations, apologia, and crises of social legitimacy, Communication Studies 46 (1995), pp. 2-3. For more scholarship on corporate legitimacy, see K. E. Boulding, The legitimacy of the business institution, in E. M. Epstein and D. Votaw (Eds.), Rationality, Legitimacy, Responsibility: Search for New Directions in Business and Society, Santa Monica, CA, Goodyear, 1978; J. J. Brummer, Corporate Responsibility and Legitimacy: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, New York, Greenwood Press, 1991; J. Dowling and J. Pfeffer, Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior, Pacific Sociological Review 18 (1975), pp. 122-136; E. M. Epstein, The historical enigma of corporate legitimacy, California Law Review 60 (1972), pp. 1701-1717; P. G. Stillman, The concept of legitimacy, Polity 7 (1974), pp. 32-56; and G. Turkel, Situated corporatist legitimacy: The 1980 Chrysler Loan Guarantee, Research in Law, Deviance, and Social Control 4 (1982), pp. 165-189.
33. S. Ponder, Progressive drive to shape public opinion, 1898-1913, Public Relations Review 16 (1990), pp. 94-104.
34. S. M. Cutlip, The Unseen Power: Public Relations - A History, Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, 1994, p. 47.
35. A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, op. cit., p. xvi.
36. L. Filler, op. cit., pp. 11, 142.
37. T. Roosevelt, op. cit., pp. 676-677.
38. A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, op. cit., p. xvi.
39. Ibid, p. xix.
40. M. D. Marcaccio, Did a business conspiracy end muckraking? A reexamination, The Historian 47 (1984), p. 67. American Magazine was actually begun by former McClure's writers, among them Tarbell.
41. H. S. Wilson, op. cit., p. 65.
42. R. Hofstadter, op. cit., p. 196.
43. A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, op. cit., p. xv; L. Beltz, op. cit., p. 74.
44. A. Weinberg and L. Weinberg, op. cit., p. xv; L. Beltz, op. cit., p. 74.
45. L. Beltz, op. cit., p. 88.
46. H. S. Wilson, op. cit., p. 138.
47. Ibid, pp. 138-139.
48. L. Filler, op. cit., p. 103.
49. H. S. Wilson, op. cit., p. 140.
50. R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., p. 663.
51. I. M. Tarbell, The history of the Standard Oil Company, Chapter 1, McClure's 20 (1902), p. 16.
52. H. S. Wilson, op. cit., p. 131.
53. I. M. Tarbell, The History of the Standard Oil Company, Vols. 1 and 2, New York, McClure, Phillips & Co., 1904.
54. I. M. Tarbell, The rise of the Standard Oil Company, McClure's 20 (1902), p. 128.
55. I. M. Tarbell, History, Vol. 2, op. cit., pp. 3-30.
56. Editorial announcement of Miss Tarbell's History of the Standard Oil Company-Part Second, McClure's 22 (1903), p. 108.
57. I. M. Tarbell, History, Vol. 1, op. cit., p. 61.
58. H. F. Pringle, op. cit., p. 292.
59. I. M. Tarbell, Conclusion, McClure's 23 (1904), p. 672.
60. R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., pp. 651-652.
61. L. Filler, op. cit., p. 107.
62. H. J. Howland, Standard Oil, The Outlook 87 (28 September 1907), p. 176; R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., pp. 650, 669. See also F. N. Doubleday, Some impressions of John D. Rockefeller, The World's Work 16 (September 1908), p. 10715.
63. H. J. Howland, Standard Oil, The Outlook 87 (28 September 1907), p. 176; R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., pp. 650, 669. See also F. N. Doubleday, Some impressions of John D. Rockefeller, The World's Work 16 (September 1908), p. 10715.
64. H. J. Howland, Standard Oil, The Outlook 87 (28 September 1907), p. 176; R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., pp. 650, 669. See also F. N. Doubleday, Some impressions of John D. Rockefeller, The World's Work 16 (September 1908), p. 10715.
65. B. Bringhurst, op. cit, p. 206.
66. H. D. Lloyd, Wealth Against Commonwealth, New York, 1894.
67. J. D. Rockefeller, Interview with William O. Inglis 1917-1920, Westport, CT, Meckler Publishing, 1984, pp. 105, 177, 1457.
68. R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., pp. 639, 654.
69. Ibid, p. 669.
70. K. R. Fitzpatrick and M. Shubow Rubin, Public relations versus legal strategies in organizational crisis decisions, Public Relations Review 21 (1995), pp. 21-33.
71. R. Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., New York, Random House, 1998, p. 447; Rockefeller's counsel answers Miss Tarbell, The New York Times (12 July 1905), p. 7. will use The New York Times to chronicle the public statements of Standard Oil because of the paper's large circulation and vaunted reputation, because Standard's headquarters were almost legendary in New York as "26 Broadway," and because other New York newspapers such as the World were sensationalistically biased against the company (R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., p. 668). Although the Times was certainly an opponent of Standard, most of its reports are either company statements in their entirety or are based largely on company information. In any event, the negative tone of the Times accounts is representative; according to Doubleday's sympathetic picture of Rockefeller in The World's Work, negative information about Standard Oil was the only kind of information the media ever reported (F. N. Doubleday, op. cit., p. 10714).
72. R. Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., New York, Random House, 1998, p. 447; Rockefeller's counsel answers Miss Tarbell, The New York Times (12 July 1905), p. 7. will use The New York Times to chronicle the public statements of Standard Oil because of the paper's large circulation and vaunted reputation, because Standard's headquarters were almost legendary in New York as "26 Broadway," and because other New York newspapers such as the World were sensationalistically biased against the company (R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., p. 668). Although the Times was certainly an opponent of Standard, most of its reports are either company statements in their entirety or are based largely on company information. In any event, the negative tone of the Times accounts is representative; according to Doubleday's sympathetic picture of Rockefeller in The World's Work, negative information about Standard Oil was the only kind of information the media ever reported (F. N. Doubleday, op. cit., p. 10714).
73. R. Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., New York, Random House, 1998, p. 447; Rockefeller's counsel answers Miss Tarbell, The New York Times (12 July 1905), p. 7. will use The New York Times to chronicle the public statements of Standard Oil because of the paper's large circulation and vaunted reputation, because Standard's headquarters were almost legendary in New York as "26 Broadway," and because other New York newspapers such as the World were sensationalistically biased against the company (R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., p. 668). Although the Times was certainly an opponent of Standard, most of its reports are either company statements in their entirety or are based largely on company information. In any event, the negative tone of the Times accounts is representative; according to Doubleday's sympathetic picture of Rockefeller in The World's Work, negative information about Standard Oil was the only kind of information the media ever reported (F. N. Doubleday, op. cit., p. 10714).
74. R. Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., New York, Random House, 1998, p. 447; Rockefeller's counsel answers Miss Tarbell, The New York Times (12 July 1905), p. 7. will use The New York Times to chronicle the public statements of Standard Oil because of the paper's large circulation and vaunted reputation, because Standard's headquarters were almost legendary in New York as "26 Broadway," and because other New York newspapers such as the World were sensationalistically biased against the company (R. W. Hidy and M. E. Hidy, op. cit., p. 668). Although the Times was certainly an opponent of Standard, most of its reports are either company statements in their entirety or are based largely on company information. In any event, the negative tone of the Times accounts is representative; according to Doubleday's sympathetic picture of Rockefeller in The World's Work, negative information about Standard Oil was the only kind of information the media ever reported (F. N. Doubleday, op. cit., p. 10714).
75. S. M. Cutlip. op. cit., p. 55.
76. R. Chernow, op. cit., p. 442.
77. Standard Oil Company - A WARNING, advertisement, The New York Times (28 September 1908), p. 11.
78. Standard Oil lawyer defense Rockefeller, The New York Times (7 April 1905), p. 2.
79. Says that charges stand, The New York Times (7 April 1905), p. 2.
80. Oil Trust has a press agent, The New York Times (6 May 1906), p. 2.
81. S. M. Cutlip, op. cit., p. 55.
82. Talk of big change in Standard Oil, The New York Times (24 June 1906), p. 1.
83. Neither the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey nor its successor, Esso/Exxon, regularly published annual reports until 1918.
84. A. Sampson, The Seven Sisters: The Great Oil Companies and the World They Made, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1975.
85. Rockefeller in Cleveland, The New York Times (1 August 1906), p. 1.
86. Rockefeller declines to criticize a court, The New York Times (22 October 1906), p. 1.
87. Oil Trust fine is $29,240,000, The New York Times (4 August 1907), p. 2.
88. D. Johnson and T. Sellnow, Deliberative rhetoric as a step in organizational crisis management: Exxon as a case study, Communication Reports 8 (1995), pp. 54-60.
89. C. M. Pratt, secretary, Letter to shareholders from the Directors of the Standard Oil Company, 16 May 1906, Standard Oil Collection, University of Wyoming American Heritage Center, Laramie, Wyoming, pp. 3, 6, 8.
90. E.g., Standard Oil lawyer, op. cit., p. 1.
91. H. J. Howland, op. cit., p. 175.
92. W. L. Benoit, Accounts, Excuses, and Apologies: A Theory of Image Restoration Strategies, Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 1995.
93. C. M. Pratt, op. cit., p. 9.
94. Ibid, p. 10.
95. J. D. Rockefeller, op. cit., p. 17.
96. W. H. Libby, Standard Oil defense from No. 26 Broadway, The New York Times (25 March 1905), p. 1.
97. Statement by Rockefeller, The New York Times (7 July 1907), p. 1.
98. T. Roosevelt, op. cit., pp. 676-677.
99. H. C. Folger, Jr., secretary, Letter to stockholders of the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), 28 July 1911, Standard Oil Collection, University of Wyoming American Heritage Center, Laramie, Wyoming, p. 1.
100. John D. Rockefeller's Joke, The New York Times (25 June 1905), p. 1.
101. The confessions of John D. Rockefeller, editorial, The New York Times (10 October 1905), p. 8.
102. T. Lawson, letter to the editor, The New York Times (7 April 1905), p. 2.
103. R. Chernow, op. cit., p. 456.
104. Ibid, p. 451.
105. G. Bush, Business evangelism and the search for social harmony: 1891-1916, Public Relations Review 18 (1992), pp. 297-307.
106. R. E. Hiebert, Courtier to the Crowd: The Story of Ivy Lee and the Development of Public Relations, Ames, IA, Iowa State University Press, 1966, pp. 145, 97.
107. H. J. Howland, op. cit., p. 175.
108. S. M. Cutlip, op. cit., p. 64.