Jay Gould was one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the nineteenth century, but also one of its most misunderstood. Starting from humble beginnings, he singlehandedly fashioned one of the nation's most formidable empires, running both the Union Pacific Railroad and the Western Union Telegraph Company. He was a bold visionary, a creative genius and a supreme business strategist, yet history has not been kind to Gould. Many historians regard him as a duplicitous and deceitful "robber baron" responsible for one of the worst stock market crashes of all time. This one-hour documentary offers insight into Gould's business triumphs, stinging failures and public relations challenges. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons, the program uses a combination of archival images, distinctive animation and interviews with authors and historians to tell the story Gould's life, a figure simultaneously called the smartest man in America, as well as its most hated.
