“A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.” Energetic and striving, Flagler was well matched to the dour, careful Rockefeller, who was delighted to acquire a partner so “full of vim and push.” To a critic, however, Flagler looked somewhat different—“a bold, unscrupulous self-seeker [who] made no bones about conscience. He did whatever was necessary to success.” Many years later, after having made one great fortune with Rockefeller, Flagler set off on a second conquest, the development of the state of Florida. He would build the railways down the east
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