Business Magnates & Tycoons Codexery

Armand Hammer

American oil tycoon and Soviet-connected businessman.

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The press called him "Lenin's chosen capitalist" due to his close ties with the Soviet Union.[1] After medical training, Hammer built his wealth through pharmaceuticals and whiskey; in 1956 he took over the struggling Occidental Petroleum and served as its chief executive for 33 years.[1]

Key facts and history

Hammer was born in New York City to Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire.[2] His father Julius was a communist activist who was imprisoned for manslaughter after a patient died following an abortion procedure.[3] While his father was imprisoned, Armand traveled to the Soviet Union in 1921 to manage family business affairs, despite speaking no Russian.[4] During Lenin's New Economic Policy, Hammer became the mediator for 38 international companies dealing with the USSR.[5]

He moved to the USSR in the 1920s to oversee operations including a pencil and pen manufacturing business.[6] In 1956 he obtained control of Occidental Petroleum and was elected president in 1957.[7][8] In 1972 he negotiated a twenty-year fertilizer trade agreement with the Soviet Union.[9] Hammer donated $100,000 to Richard Nixon's campaign fund from a Swiss bank account, leading to legal issues and a later pardon.[10][11]

He was appointed to the President's Cancer Panel in 1981 and served as chairman from 1984 to 1989.[12] Upon returning to the US, he amassed substantial wealth through United Distillers of America, a firm originally established in 1933 as the A. Hammer Cooperage Corporation and renamed in 1946.[13] Through Occidental's operations in Libya, Hammer played a key role in ending the major US producers' control over oil prices.[7]

What the cited sources add

A 1980 Christian Science Monitor profile describes Hammer as "100 percent, unadulterated, prime-cut capitalist" and notes his framed photograph of Lenin hung near a model of a drilling rig.[8] Art historian John Richardson, whom Hammer hired as director at Knoedler gallery, called Hammer "a veteran con man"[14] The Monitor reports that Oxy began as a retirement venture when a friend advised Hammer to lend the company $50,000 as a tax write-off.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Britannica Money", www.britannica.com; "OCCIDENTAL'S ARMAND HAMMER DIES AT 92", Oil & Gas Journal, 1990-12-17; "History of Occidental Petroleum Corporation", FundingUniverse; Epstein 1996, p. 9; "Lenin's capitalist friend", The Economist, May 3, 1969, p. 76; "Deal-maker Armand Hammer Moscow's capitalist comrade", Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 1980 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hammer", The Nation, May 16, 1987; Epstein 1996, p. 9; Bradford Matsen, "Death and Oil: The True Story of the Piper Alpha Disaster on the North Sea", Pantheon Books, 2011, p. 47; Considine, "The remarkable life of Dr. Armand Hammer", Harper & Row, 1975, p. 75; "Reaches Into Her Gypsy Songbag For Tunes To Give To Posterity", Meriden Daily Journal, March 6, 1934 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bradford Matsen, "Death and Oil: The True Story of the Piper Alpha Disaster on the North Sea", Pantheon Books, 2011; Bradford Matsen, "Death and Oil: The True Story of the Piper Alpha Disaster on the North Sea", Pantheon Books, 2011; Bradford Matsen, "Death and Oil: The True Story of the Piper Alpha Disaster on the North Sea", Pantheon Books, 2011; John N. Ingham, "Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders", Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 1983; John N. Ingham, "Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders", G en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Joseph E. Persico, "The Last Tycoon", The New York Times, October 13, 1996; Epstein 1996, p. 9; Joseph E. Persico, "The Last Tycoon", The New York Times, October 13, 1996; "The Riddle of Armand Hammer", The New York Times, November 29, 1981; "Columbia College today", Office of Alumni Affairs and Development, Columbia College, Columbia University, 1988 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Deal-maker Armand Hammer Moscow's capitalist comrade", Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 1980; Flanigan, "Soviets Failing a Lesson Taught by Henry Ford", Los Angeles Times, December 7, 1988; "Deal-maker Armand Hammer Moscow's capitalist comrade", Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 1980; "Deal-maker Armand Hammer Moscow's capitalist comrade", Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 1980 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Deal-maker Armand Hammer Moscow's capitalist comrade", Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 1980; "THE RIDDLE OF ARMAND HAMMER", The New York Times, November 29, 1981; Barmine, "One Who Survived", G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1945, p. 331; Barmine, "One Who Survived", G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1945, p. 157; Barmine, "One Who Survived", G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1945, p. 158; Andrews, "Armand Hammer, Elated Over Bush Pardon, Usually Gets What He Wants", APnews.com, August 15, 1989 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Spies, Wiretaps, and Secret Operations; An Encyclopedia of American Espionage: Hammer, Armand (May 21, 1898–December 10, 1990)", ABC-Clio, 2011, p. 354–355; Persico, "The Last Tycoon", The New York Times, October 13, 1996; Epstein 1996, p. 9; Canby, "Synfuels: Fill 'er up! With what?", National Geographic, February 1981, p. 80 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Deal-maker Armand Hammer Moscow's capitalist comrade", Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 1980. facts only, no text reused. csmonitor.com
  9. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Leonid Kostandov", 1979; "Deputy Premier Leonid Kostandov died Wednesday of a heart attack", United Press International, 5 September 1984; "Leonid Kostandov, 68; Soviet Deputy Premier", The New York Times, 6 September 1984; Philip Hanson, "Reassessing Cold War Europe", Routledge, 2010, p. 28; Epstein 1996, p. 9; Epstein 1996, p. 9; Cristy, "Phosphate treasure draws little interest", Jacksonville Business Journal, March 31, 1997; Smith, "OCCIDENTAL SIGNS DEAL WITH SOVIET", The New York Times, June 29, 1974; "THE RIDDLE OF ARMAND HAMMER", en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Epstein 1996, p. 9; Epstein 1996, p. 9; Epstein 1996, p. 9; Epstein 1996, p. 9 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nizer, "Reflections without Mirrors", Doubleday, 1978, p. 432; Rampe, "Armand Hammer Pardoned by Bush", The New York Times, August 15, 1989; Epstein 1996, p. 9; Rampe, "Armand Hammer Pardoned by Bush", The New York Times, August 15, 1989; Ripley, "Guilt Admitted by a Nixon Donor", The New York Times, December 11, 1974; Oelsner, "Hammer Enters Plea In Nixon Fund Case", The New York Times, October 2, 1975; Nizer, "Reflections without Mirrors", Doubleday, 1978, p. 432; Rampe, "Armand Hammer Pardoned by Bush", The New York Times, August 15, 1 en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Appointment of Armand Hammer as a Member of the President's Cancer Panel, and Designation as Chairman", presidency.ucsb.edu; "Designation of Armand Hammer To Be Chairman of the President's Cancer Panel", presidency.ucsb.edu; Ap, "Cancer Panel Chief Named", The New York Times, June 24, 1984; Kolata, "Hammer Begins a Drive to Raise $1 Billion a Year to Fight Cancer", The New York Times, March 2, 1988 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Armand Hammer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "UNITED DISTILLERS (OF AMERICA), LTD. v. COMMISSIONER", leagle.com, March 9, 1959; "UNITED DISTILLERS (OF AMERICA), LTD. v. COMMISSIONER", leagle.com, March 9, 1959; "Army Pushes Bomber Crash Investigation: 5 of 13 Dead Remain Unidentified as Empire State Bldg. Reopens", Brooklyn Eagle, July 30, 1945, p. 1–2; Fenton, "Restoration and removal: James Fenton on moving rooms around the world", The Guardian, March 14, 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  14. "John Richardson's "Sacred monsters, sacred masters", a vision of the idiosyncratic personalities that left their mark on the art world", The Art Newspaper - International art news and events, June 30, 2002. facts only, no text reused. theartnewspaper.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Armand Hammer (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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1. In what year was Armand Hammer born?

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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