:Ron Chernow

{{Infobox writer

| name = Ron Chernow

| image = Ron Chernow (2004).jpg

| caption = Chernow in 2004

| birth_name = Ronald Chernow

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|3|3}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.

| death_date =

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Writer
journalist
biographer

}}

| education = Yale University (BA)
Pembroke College, Cambridge

| period = 1973–present

| subject = Historical biography

| notableworks = Alexander Hamilton
The House of Morgan
Washington: A Life
Grant
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

| spouse = {{marriage|Valerie Stearn|1979|2006|end=died}}

| awards = Pulitzer Prize for Biography (2011)
American History Book Prize (2011)
National Book Award for Nonfiction (2010)

| portaldisp = Literature

| signature = Ron Chernow signature.svg

}}

Ronald Chernow ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɜːr|n|aʊ}};{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?407179-1/qa-ron-chernow&start=542|title=Q&A with Ron Chernow|publisher=C-SPAN|date=March 25, 2016|access-date=December 27, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0G2Y8aHDus&t=6m21s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/s0G2Y8aHDus |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Alexander Hamilton: The man who imagined America {{!}} LIVE EVENT|publisher=American Enterprise Institute|date=July 1, 2016|access-date=December 27, 2018}}{{cbignore}} born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist, and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies.

Chernow won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American History Book Prize for his 2010 book Washington: A Life. He is also the recipient of the National Book Award for Nonfiction for his 1990 book The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1990 |title=1990 National Book Awards Winners and Finalists, The National Book Foundation |publisher=Nationalbook.org |access-date=June 20, 2013}} His biographies of Alexander Hamilton (2004) and John D. Rockefeller (1998) were both nominated for National Book Critics Circle Awards. His biography of Hamilton inspired the popular Hamilton musical, which Chernow worked on as a historical consultant. For another book, The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family, he was awarded the 1993 George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing. As a freelance journalist, Chernow has written over sixty articles for various national publications.

Early life and education

Chernow was born on March 3, 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.{{Cite news|date=August 23, 2016|title=Hamilton Biographer Ron Chernow Finds New York's 'Quietest' Home|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/hamilton-biographer-ron-chernow-finds-new-yorks-quietest-home-1471963341|access-date=December 29, 2020|issn=0099-9660}} He is of Jewish descent.{{Cite news|first=Curt |last= Schleier |author-link= |title=This Jewish biographer is behind Broadway's hip-hop 'Hamilton' |newspaper=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=September 2, 2015 |url=https://www.jta.org/2015/09/02/united-states/whos-behind-broadways-hip-hop-hit-hamilton-jewish-biographer-ron-chernow |via=}} 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.The Forester Class of 1966, p. 11, 24, 50. 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.""Ron Chernow" in Contemporary Authors Online (Gale, 2011)

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.{{cite news| url=http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/valerie-chernow-66-professor-of-languages-at-city/25909/ | work=The New York Sun | first=Stephen | last=Miller | title=Valerie Chernow, 66, Professor Of Languages at City Tech | date=January 16, 2006}}

Career

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 writing nonfiction books and biographies, Chernow contributes articles to The New York Times{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/opinion/24chernow.html?ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=print | work=The New York Times | first=Ron | last=Chernow | title=The Founding Fathers Versus the Tea Party | date=September 23, 2010}} and The Wall Street Journal. He has also commented on business, politics, and finance on national radio and television shows, and appeared 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 four generations of the J.P. Morgan financial empire.{{cite web|url=http://bluerectangle.com/book_reviews/view_one_review/1995 |title=Book Reviews: Book Review of The House of Morgan:, by Ron Chernow |publisher=Bluerectangle.com |access-date=June 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128235400/http://bluerectangle.com/book_reviews/view_one_review/1995 |archive-date=November 28, 2012 }} 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."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/18/books/their-street-was-paved-with-gold.html |title=Their Street Was Paved With Gold – New York Times |work=The New York Times |date=March 18, 1990 |access-date=June 20, 2013 |first1=Jeffrey E. |last1=Garten}} The House of Morgan was honored with the National Book Award for Nonfiction.

==''The Warburgs''==

In 1993, Chernow published The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family, an account of the Warburg family, who immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1938. The Warburg family was a prominent financial dynasty of German Jewish descent, known for their accomplishments in physics, classical music, art history, pharmacology, physiology, finance, private equity, and philanthropy. The book was awarded the Columbia Business School's George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing. It was named as one of the year's ten best works by the American Library Association{{cite web|url=http://www.humanityinaction.org/news_and_events/76-humanity-in-action-honored-patricia-barbizet-corinne-mentzelopoulos-and-ron-chernow |title=Honored Patricia Barbizet, Corinne Mentzelopoulos and Ron Chernow |publisher=Humanity in Action |access-date=June 20, 2013}} and a Notable Book by The New York Times.

==''The Death of the Banker''==

In 1997, Chernow published a collection of essays entitled The Death of the Banker: The Decline and Fall of the Great Financial Dynasties and the Triumph of the Small Investor.

==''Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.''==

{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?105430-1/titan-life-john-d-rockefeller-sr Booknotes interview with Chernow on Titan, June 21, 1998], C-SPAN | video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?182191-1/alexander-hamilton Presentation by Chernow on Alexander Hamilton, May 26, 2004], C-SPAN| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?182317-3/alexander-hamilton Washington Journal interview with Chernow on Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 2004], C-SPAN| video4 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?405307-1/hamilton-book-play Discussion with Chernow on his experiences as consultant on the play Hamilton, February 25, 2016], C-SPAN| video5 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?407179-1/qa-ron-chernow Q&A interview with Chernow on Alexander Hamilton and Hamilton: The Musical, April 24, 2016], C-SPAN| video6 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?295700-1/qa-ron-chernow-part-1 Part one of Q&A interview with Chernow on Washington: A Life, October 2, 2010], C-SPAN| video7 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?295701-1/qa-ron-chernow-part-2 Part two of Q&A interview with Chernow on Washington: A Life, October 9, 2010], C-SPAN | video8 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?296688-4/washington Presentation by Chernow on Washington: A Life, November 21, 2010], C-SPAN| video9 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?436112-1/qa-ron-chernow Q&A interview with Chernow on Grant, November 5, 2017], C-SPAN| video10 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?449746-17/historian-ron-chernow-discusses-grant Presentation by Chernow on Grant, September 1, 2018], C-SPAN}}

In 1998, Chernow published the 774-page Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., about the industrialist, philanthropist, and 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, while Time called it "one of the great American biographies".{{cite magazine|last=Morrow |first=Lance |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988554,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518080225/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988554,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 18, 2007 |title=Books: John D. Rockefeller: Oil In The Family |magazine=TIME |date=June 15, 1998 |access-date=June 20, 2013}} Both publications listed it among the year's ten best books.

= American politics =

==''Alexander Hamilton''==

In 2004, Chernow published Alexander Hamilton. The biography was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award{{cite web|url=http://bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219185409/http://www.bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 19, 2008 |title=National Book Critics Circle: awards |publisher=Bookcritics.org |access-date=June 20, 2013}} and was named as the winner of the inaugural George Washington Book Prize for early American history.{{cite web |title=George Washington Book Prize |work=The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |url=https://www.gilderlehrman.org/content/george-washington-prize |access-date=March 25, 2018}} It remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for three months. In his review for the Journal of American History, Stephen B. Presser, who is professor of business law emeritus at Northwestern University,{{cite web | url=https://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/stephenpresser | title=Profiles, Faculty Profiles, Faculty & Research: Northwestern Pritzker School of Law }} wrote:

{{cquote|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.Presser, Stephen B. (June 2006). "Review of Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton", Journal of American History, pages 192–193}}

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/books/alexander-hamilton-by-ron-chernow-inspired-hamilton-musical-a3725036.html | title=Meet the historian whose book inspired the musical Hamilton | date=December 22, 2017 }}

==George Washington==

Chernow's 904-page Washington: A Life was released on October 5, 2010. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography{{cite web|author=Richard Ellmann |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Biography-or-Autobiography |title=The Pulitzer Prizes | Biography or Autobiography |publisher=Pulitzer.org |access-date=June 20, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2011-Biography-or-Autobiography |title=The Pulitzer Prizes | Citation |publisher=Pulitzer.org |date=December 13, 2012 |access-date=December 30, 2012}} and the American History Book Prize. Professor Gordon S. Wood, renowned scholar of the Founding era, wrote:Wood, Gordon S. [https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2010/12/09/real-washington-last/ "The Real Washington at Last"], The New York Review of Books, December 9, 2010. {{cquote|[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.{{cite news|last=Bosman |first=Julie |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E4DA1031F937A35750C0A9679D8B63&ref=ronchernow |title=ARTS, BRIEFLY - Ron Chernow Wins Prize For Biography - Web Log - NYTimes.com |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2011-03-04 |access-date=2012-12-30}}}}

==Ulysses S. Grant==

In 2011, Chernow signed a deal to write a comprehensive biography on Ulysses S. Grant.{{cite web|url=http://www.bookpage.com/the-book-case/2011/04/27/chernow-to-write-about-ulysses-s-grant |title=Chernow to write about Ulysses S. Grant | The Book Case |publisher=Bookpage.com |date=April 27, 2011 |access-date=June 20, 2013}} 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."{{cite web |url=http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/flexicontent/item/27022-chernow-to-take-on-washington-at-kimmel-ask-a-question |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912024008/http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/flexicontent/item/27022-chernow-to-take-on-washington-at-kimmel-ask-a-question |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 12, 2012 |title=Chernow channels George Washington at the Kimmel — NewsWorks |publisher=Newsworks.org |date=September 26, 2011 |access-date=June 20, 2013 }} 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."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/books/review-grant-biography-ron-chernow.html|title=In Ron Chernow's 'Grant,' an American Giant's Makeover Continues|first=Janet|last=Maslin|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 10, 2017}} The book received overwhelmingly positive reviews and was named by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2017.{{cite news |author= |title=The 10 Best Books of 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/books/review/10-best-books-2017.html |work= New York Times|date=November 30, 2017 |access-date= February 9, 2018}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.pw.org/content/chernow_succeeds_rushdie_president_pen_american_center?cmnt_all=1 |title=Chernow Succeeds Rushdie as President of PEN American Center | Daily News | Poets & Writers |date=March 28, 2006 |publisher=Pw.org |access-date=June 20, 2013}}

Honors and awards

Ron Chernow has received honorary degrees from Long Island University, Marymount Manhattan College, Hamilton College, Washington College, and Skidmore College.

1990: National Book Award for Nonfiction for The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance (winner)
1993: George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing for The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family (winner)
1998: National Book Critics Circle Award for Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (nominated)
2004: George Washington Book Prize for Alexander Hamilton (winner)
2004: National Book Critics Circle Award for Alexander Hamilton (nominated)
2011: Pulitzer Prize for Biography for Washington: A Life (winner)
2011: American History Book Prize for Washington: A Life (winner)
2013: BIO Award from Biographers International Organization for advancing the art and craft of biography.{{cite web|url=http://biographersinternational.org/about/annual-awards/the-bio-award/|title=The BIO Award, Biographers International Organization|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307105436/http://biographersinternational.org/about/annual-awards/the-bio-award/|archive-date=March 7, 2016}}
2015: National Humanities Medal{{cite web |url=https://www.neh.gov/news/press-release/2016-09-14 |title=President Obama to Award 2015 National Humanities Medals}}
2016: Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site Advancing American Democracy (winner)
2017: Gold Medal Honoree from the National Institute of Social Sciences{{cite web |url=http://www.socialsciencesinstitute.org/gold-medal-honorees |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325142801/http://www.socialsciencesinstitute.org/gold-medal-honorees |archive-date=March 25, 2018 |title=Gold Medal Honorees — The National Institute of Social Sciences}}
2017: The Lincoln Forum's Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement[https://www.thelincolnforum.org/richard-nelson-current-award-of-achievement The Lincoln Forum]
2018: American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Biography{{cite web|url=https://artsandletters.org/pressrelease/john-adams-ron-chernow-virginia-dajani-and-david-sedaris-receive-highest-honors/|title=JOHN ADAMS, RON CHERNOW, VIRGINIA DAJANI, AND DAVID SEDARIS RECEIVE HIGHEST HONORS|website=artsandletters.org|date=May 16, 2018|access-date=November 25, 2020}}
2019: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}{{cite news |title=2019 Summit Highlights Photo | url= https://achievement.org/summit/2019/|quote= 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.}}

Published works

= Books =

{{cite book|last1=Chernow|first1=Ron|title=The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance|date=1990|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-71031-6}}
{{cite book |last1=Chernow |first1=Ron |title=The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family |date=1993 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-67941-823-8 |language=en}}
{{cite book |last1=Chernow |first1=Ron |title=The Death of the Banker: The Decline and Fall of the Great Financial Dynasties and the Triumph of the Small Investor |date=1997 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-0-375-70037-8}}
{{cite book |last1=Chernow |first1=Ron |title=Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. |date=1998 |publisher=Warner |isbn=978-0-7515-2667-7 |language=en}}
{{cite book|last1=Chernow|first1=Ron|title=Alexander Hamilton|date=2005|publisher=Penguin Press|isbn=978-1-101-20085-8}}
{{cite book|last1=Chernow|first1=Ron|title=Washington: A Life|date=2010|publisher=Penguin Press|isbn=978-1-101-44418-4}}
{{cite book|last1=Chernow|first1=Ron|title=Grant|date=2017|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-1-59420-487-6}}
{{cite book|last1=Chernow|first1=Ron|title=Mark Twain|date=2025|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-52556-172-9}}

= Articles =

{{cite magazine |first1=Ron |last1=Chernow |date=April 1974 |title=John Ford: The Last Frontiersman |volume=12 |magazine=Ramparts |pages=45–48 |publisher= |access-date=}}

Filmography

1996: Biography, "J. Pierpont Morgan: Emperor of Wall Street" (documentary), as himself
2000: The American Experience, "The Rockefellers: Part 1" (documentary), as advisor
2000: The American Experience, "The Rockefellers: Part 2" (documentary), as advisor
2007: The American Experience, "Alexander Hamilton" (documentary), as advisor
2010: Tavis Smiley, "October 12, 2010 episode" (talk show), as guest
2010: Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton (documentary), as himself/historian
2020: Grant, as writer

References

External links

{{IMDb name|2375857}}
{{IBDB name|499522}}
{{IOBDB name|45984}}
[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/opinion/24chernow.html?ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=print The Founding Fathers Versus the Tea Party] by Ron Chernow
{{C-SPAN|55016}}
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXllzwrh_Dc Ron Chernow remarks at the Washington Press Corps Dinner 2019]