Ronald Chernow (/ˈtʃɜːrnaʊ/;[1][2] born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist, and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies.
Chernow was born on March 2, 1949, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Israel, was the owner of a discount store and creator of a stock brokerage firm; his mother, Ruth, was a bookkeeper. He is brother to Bart Chernow and uncle to Shandee Chernow.[4] He is of Jewish descent.[5] Chernow was voted "Most Likely to Succeed", and was class president and valedictorian when he graduated in 1966 from Forest Hills High School in Queens in New York City.[6] Chernow graduated summa cum laude from Yale University in 1970 and Pembroke College at Cambridge University with degrees in English literature. He began but did not finish a PhD program. He says that in politics he is a "disgruntled Democrat" and gives his religion as "Jewish, though more in the breach than the observance."[7]
Chernow married Valerie Stearn in 1979; she died in January 2006. Valerie S. Chernow was an assistant professor of languages and social sciences at the New York City College of Technology.[8]
Chernow began his career as a freelance journalist. He wrote more than 60 articles for various national newspapers and magazines from 1973 to 1982. In the mid-1980s, he put his writing pursuits aside when he began serving as the director of financial policy studies with the Twentieth Century Fund in New York City. In 1986, he left the organization and refocused his efforts on writing. In addition to his background in writing nonfiction and biographies, Chernow continues to contribute articles to The New York Times[9] and The Wall Street Journal. He has also provided commentary on business, politics, and finance on national radio and television shows, while also appearing as an expert in documentary films.
Business and finance
The House of Morgan
In 1990, Chernow published his first book, The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance, which traces the history of four generations of the J.P. Morgan financial empire.[10] The reviewer for The New York Times Book Review said, "As a portrait of finance, politics and the world of avarice and ambition on Wall Street, the book has the movement and tension of an epic novel. It is, quite simply, a tour de force."[11]The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance was honored with the National Book Award for Nonfiction.[3]
Chernow's 1997 collection of essays, The Death of the Banker, touched upon his earlier writings and chronicled "the decline and fall of the great financial dynasties and the triumph of the small investor" (to quote its subtitle).
In 1998, Chernow published the 774-page Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., which was selected by Time and The New York Times as one of the year's ten best books. A prominent figure in American business history, Rockefeller was an industrialist, philanthropist, and the founder of the Standard Oil Company. The book reflected Chernow's continued interest in financial history, especially when shaped by compelling and influential individuals. The book remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 16 weeks. Time called it "one of the great American biographies".[13]
This book is one of those happy rarities: a popular biography that should also delight scholars. ...This is the kind of synthetic narrative history and biography that is rarely done to such high standards and is clearly one of the best introductions to the American formative era available. Moreover, the way Chernow integrates international affairs, domestic politics, economic and constitutional theory, and astute psychological analysis is nothing short of wondrous.[17]
The biography was adapted into a Tony award-winning musical, Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which opened on Broadway in August 2015. Chernow served as historical consultant to the production.[18]
[T]he best, most comprehensive, and most balanced single-volume biography of Washington ever written.... One comes away from the book feeling that Washington has finally become comprehensible.... [Chernow's] understanding of human nature is extraordinary and that is what makes his biography so powerful.[22]
Ulysses S. Grant
In 2011, Chernow signed a deal to write a comprehensive biography on Ulysses S. Grant.[23] Chernow explained his transition from writing about George Washington to Grant: "Makes some sense as progression. Towering general of Revolution to towering general of Civil War. Both two-term presidents, though with very different results."[24]Grant was released on October 10, 2017, and the biography strongly argues against the conventional wisdom that Grant was an "adequate president, a dull companion and a roaring drunk."[25] The book received overwhelmingly positive reviews and was named by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2017.[26]
Board memberships
In 1990, Chernow became a member of the PEN American Center. In 2006, he was named as the President of the Board of Trustees, succeeding novelist Salman Rushdie.[27]
Chernow, Ron (1993). The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family. Random House. ISBN978-0-67941-823-8.
Chernow, Ron (1997). The Death of the Banker: The Decline and Fall of the Great Financial Dynasties and the Triumph of the Small Investor. Vintage Books. ISBN978-0-375-70037-8.
Chernow, Ron (1998). Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller. Warner. ISBN978-0-7515-2667-7.
^"2019 Summit Highlights Photo". Awards Council member General David H. Petraeus presents the Golden Plate Award to Ron Chernow, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the biography Alexander Hamilton, during the 53rd annual Banquet of the Golden Plate.
Further reading
"Ron Chernow" in Contemporary Authors Online (Gale, 2011)
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