Jacob Bunn: Legacy Of An Illinois Industrial Pioneer
by Andrew Taylor Call
Category: Biography & Autobiography

This is a remarkable account of the rise of the Bunn business empire in Illinois long before the Robber Barons of the Gilded Age, that provides a balanced and intriguing account of business ethics and integrity. Bunns patronage of Abraham Lincoln establishes an unknown connection between politics and business money in Lincolns career, but represents a moderate, even compassionate, political model that 30 years later during the career of Mark Hanna seemed quaint by comparison. This book offers a new look at the connections between business and political power that, in these troubled days of Enron-like scandals, ought to be widely read, and more widely practiced. Dr. Kurt A. Hohenstein, Esq., Professor, Hampden-Sydney College Andrew T. Call presents a thorough, scholarly and engaging biographical business study of the career of Jacob Bunn, a remarkable man endowed with enormous entrepreneurial and organizational talents, high integrity, compassion for his community and commitment to excellence. The amount of solid research collected, evaluated and discussed in this book is very impressive. This treatise is more than a tale of a businessman and his business ventures; it is a description of the American ideal. Fredric J. Friedberg, Esq., Author of The Illinois Watch: The Life and Times of a Great American Watch Company, Schiffer Publishing, 2004, and Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.