Sublime

“I mean this guy’s a general. He’s like Patton,” Ackman said. “And running a railroad is like running an army, right?” Harrison had made the same reference about Bill Thompson, his mentor.

Consigning and expediting freight, he naturally learned quickly who was doing what and how things worked. He learned, for instance, how the steamship companies could price-gouge local consumers because of the lack of winter service.

On August 5 the shogunate sent to the various daimyos copies of the translation of the American president’s letter. The shogunate had previously made all decisions by itself, but now that the order established more than 200 years ago seemed to be crumbling, it had no choice but to give the daimyos a voice in national policy.