ofan

William Averell Harriman was born on November 15, 1891, in New York City. Harriman was an accomplished skier and polo player. After graduating from Yale, the young Harriman went to work for the Union Pacific Railroad, where he had already been working during the summers as a clerk and section hand. He proved to be a worthy son of his late businessman father. In 1928, at a time when most big businessmen were Republicans, Harriman became a Democrat. In 1932, Harriman became chairman of the board of the Union Pacific Railroad. As a still-neutral United States began to prepare for the possibility of war with Nazi Germany, Harriman finally found his true niche. Harriman was one of the chief architects of the containment policy in the 1940's, Harriman lent valuable continuity to American policy toward the Communist world during his nearly forty years of government service. In the best sense of the word, Harriman truly was an American aristocrat.