Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream

Eric John Abrahamson

Published by University of California Press 2013

Building Home

Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream

Eric John Abrahamson

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520953420

About this book

Building Home is an innovative biography that weaves together three engrossing stories. It is one part corporate and industrial history, using the evolution of mortgage finance as a way to understand larger dynamics in the nation‘s political economy. It is another part urban history, since the extraordinary success of the savings and loan business in Los Angeles reflects much of the cultural and economic history of Southern California. Finally, it is a personal story, a biography of one of the nation‘s most successful entrepreneurs of the managed economy —Howard Fieldstad Ahmanson. Eric John Abrahamson deftly connects these three strands as he chronicles Ahmanson’s rise against the background of the postwar housing boom and the growth of L.A. during the same period.

As a sun-tanned yachtsman and a cigar-smoking financier, the Omaha-born Ahmanson was both unique and representative of many of the business leaders of his era. He did not control a vast infrastructure like a railroad or an electrical utility. Nor did he build his wealth by pulling the financial levers that made possible these great corporate endeavors. Instead, he made a fortune by enabling the middle-class American dream. With his great wealth, he contributed substantially to the expansion of the cultural institutions in L.A. As we struggle to understand the current mortgage-led financial crisis, Ahmanson’s life offers powerful insights into an era when the widespread hope of homeownership was just beginning to take shape.

Author / Editor information

Abrahamson Eric John :

Eric John Abrahamson is co-author of Anytime, Anywhere: Entrepreneurship and the Creation of a Wireless World and founder and principal of Vantage Point History, a consulting firm that focuses on history, public policy and communications.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Father as Mentor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
2. Among the Lotus Eaters Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
3. Undertaker at a Plague Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
4. The Common Experience Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	62
5. Building Home Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
6. Scaling Up Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
7. Home and the State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
8. Political Economy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	131
9. Big Business Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
10. The Crest of a New Wave Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
11. Southland Patrician Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	162
12. Influence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
13. Short of Domestic Bliss Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
14. Breakdown of Consensus Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
15. Crisis of the Managed Economy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
16. A New Way of Life Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	236
17. A Personal Epic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	252
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266
Abbreviations Used in Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	345