Trust: Book 2 Summary & Analysis

In July of 1938, Andrew Bevel decides to write about his life. His life has often overlapped with history, and he wants to address some of the rumors that have been circulating about him, especially since his wife, Mildred, passed away. Recently, Andrew has also noticed a decline in both business and the spirit of the people of the U.S., and self-reliance has been replaced by apathy and despair. Andrew’s ancestors have all been financiers in a New York City that has changed over the generations. The importance of financiers in New York has been one of the sole constants in an ever-changing city. In his autobiography, Andrew plans to tell the story of two particular people involved in the world of finance.

Andrew’s great-grandfather William Trevor Bevel is from Virginia. William’s father grows a modest amount of tobacco, and William sees business potential not just to export tobacco but to import European goods for wealthy landowners. Thomas Jefferson brings that plan to a halt with an embargo on European trade in 1807, which badly damages the U.S. economy. During the embargo, William goes into debt to buy nonperishable goods like cotton and sugar from states farther south. Because of the embargo, farmers are desperate to sell their goods and greatly reduce their prices. William is greeted as a savior. When the embargo ends, William sells his stockpile. He makes a significant profit and becomes a financial authority overnight. From those beginnings, he learns that self-interest can go hand-in-hand with the common good. 

William marries a woman from Philadelphia named Louisa Foster. They lose their first two children when those children are only months old. Their third child is named Clarence. Clarence has a gift for mathematics. In the Panic of 1837, William goes through great effort to protect his legacy so that Clarence can inherit it all. That effort takes a toll, though, and William dies a year later. Clarence takes over the business but lacks his father’s social tact. He marries Thomasina Holbrook, who loves him precisely for the things that make him different.

After the Civil War, the family business faces its most “challenging time in history.” Clarence divests from cotton, tobacco, and sugar because, following William’s teachings, it’s the “right thing to do.” Clarence’s son, Edward—Andrew’s father—then takes over the family business. Edward is Clarence’s opposite. While Clarence is reserved and withdrawn, Edward is boisterous and rebellious. Edward stops going to Yale after his sophomore year under the agreement that he’ll go with Clarence to the office every day. Edward is reluctant at first, but he soon finds that the business appeals to his competitive nature.

Edward marries Grace Cox. The couple becomes the center of New York society, and people build houses near theirs on the Hudson just to be close to them. Grace is universally admired, and people turn to her as a beacon of hope in difficult moments. That’s what happens during the bank run of 1873, when Grace begins to steer several charitable organizations. Edward, luckily, escapes the worst of the crisis. Edward then has cash on hand when cash is scarce, and he helps rebuild the economy in the wake of the crisis, proving again that self-interest can go hand-in-hand with the common good. Andrew is born in 1876, and Edward dies when Andrew is four years old. Like Clarence, Andrew is gifted in mathematics, and Grace sends him to boarding school in New Hampshire. Grace dies while he is away at school.

In college, Andrew becomes a combination of Clarence and Edward. He’s not as outgoing as Edward, but he still has an active social life. And he’s not as reclusive as Clarence, but he still does well academically. A financier needs to be a Renaissance man because business runs through all facets of life, Andrew believes. He also thinks that to make a successful investment, one must become a specialist, sometimes with little time to do so.

Andrew makes notes for several incomplete sections of his autobiography about what he plans to write. For his early years, he plans to describe early memories of his father, Edward, and to write about math and to detail his “precocious talent.” Andrew notes that in a section about college, he plans to tell of his coming of age and to write about his friends, his interest in art, Professor Keene, and a riding accident. He leaves a section about an apprenticeship entirely blank. In a section on business, Andrew plans to write about the financial breakthrough he has during the Panic of 1907. He also plans to write about adapting mathematical models he derived while studying with Professor Keene, as well as the rise of government regulation of the financial industry.

Andrew considers Mildred his muse. After he meets her, which happened over two decades ago, his career becomes even more successful, and he makes even more money. He feels utterly changed by her presence and can’t imagine life without her. She possesses the unique ability to cut through complications to find the truth of the matter at hand. She saves Andrew with her “humanity and warmth” along with her love and kindness. And she saves him by making a home for him.

In the fall of 1919, Mrs. Adelaide Howland and her daughter, Mildred, return from Europe. Mr. Howland had died of a lung condition while in Europe. They are originally from Albany, and the wife of one of Andrew’s colleagues throws a party for them to help reintroduce them to New York society. Andrew is overwhelmed by Mildred’s beauty when he first meets her. The two become close quickly. Mildred is drawn to art and literature but perhaps loves music the most. Her warmth and generosity impact everyone she meets.

Andrew bought a string of properties on East 87th Street years before he and Mildred marry. After they marry, Andrew demolishes the properties to build a large house, which takes two years to complete. Mildred becomes ill shortly after they move into their new home. She is always fatigued and is unable to keep up with social engagements. Since she can’t go to concerts, they begin to have private recitals in the house. As her health worsens, she starts reading mystery novels. Some of Andrew’s best memories are listening to her recount the plots of those books over dinner.

Mildred becomes interested in philanthropy just when her health begins to decline. She financially supports the opera, the symphony, and public libraries. In 1926, Andrew creates the Mildred Bevel Charitable Fund. Mildred’s illness is maybe the greatest challenge of Andrew’s life. He arranges for the best doctors in the country to see her. Her condition is advanced, and when Andrew tells her the prognosis, Mildred is filled with dread. He finds a sanatorium in Switzerland where patients with apparently incurable diseases miraculously recover. At the sanatorium, doctors and nurses are enamored with Mildred, and though she seems to be recovering, the director confirms that her disease is incurable. Still, the sanatorium is the best place for her to live out the rest of her days. One day, Andrew takes a day trip to Zürich for business. When he returns, he is told that Mildred has died.

Andrew believes that each person must fashion their life from the “shapeless block of the future.” Through each crisis, Andrew and his ancestors have come out stronger and have always kept the country’s interests at heart. That’s why Andrew is furious about the baseless rumors about his business practices. Success should be all the evidence necessary to prove that he and his family have always done right by the country. His actions undeniably contributed to the thriving U.S. economy of the 1920s, and there’s no evidence that a crash was inevitable in 1929.

After World War I leaves Europe in ruins, it becomes clear that the future is in America. There’s incredible technological advancement in a relatively short period of time, but the true American industry is finance. Andrew helps usher in the “era of abundance” and restores confidence in the market after the recession of 1921 by buying sizeable amounts of shares in motor, railroad, and steel stocks. That is evidence of robustness, not, as some would later say, the beginning of a “bubble” that would burst with the crash of 1929. In 1922, Andrew also forms a friendly relationship with President Harding and helps him implement his campaign promise of “America First.” Tax cuts ensure that money won’t support politicians but will instead go back into business. Andrew is happy to have been able to lead America down the right path.

Plenty of fiction has been written about Andrew’s role in the market, so he thinks it’s time to set the record straight. Andrew’s method for success relies on copious research and analysis as well as the expertise of statisticians and mathematicians. He then uses a system he began to work on with Professor Keene while at Yale, which he has gradually tweaked to reveal new algorithms throughout the years. Those algorithms are adaptable to a wide variety of business ventures.

Andrew writes that the market is never wrong, and it’s impossible to control it. “Greedy amateurs” and “bungling bureaucrats” are responsible for the crash of 1929. People take out loans left and right and gamble on the market with that money. Andrew is especially perturbed that women become heavily involved in investing in the market. To him, nothing more clearly leads to the crash than the influx of money from those naïve groups of investors who don’t know what they’re doing. But the Federal Reserve is also to blame. The signs of an impending recession are there for everyone to see. But only Andrew does something about it. 

Andrew always acts for the good of the country, even when it might seem like he’s doing the opposite. He takes short positions (essentially betting that stocks will decrease in value) because it’s the wise thing to do from a business perspective, but also to try and help correct the market. An article the next day in The New York Times seems to correctly place blame for the failing market on an overzealous public, but then it obliquely references Andrew’s actions and casts blame on him as well, which Andrew views as unjust. Instead, his actions safeguarded the U.S. economy and shielded it from the “dictatorial” federal government. The Dow hits a low of 41 on July 8, 1932. According to Andrew, the Banking Acts of 1933-1935 only serve to disturb the financial industry and are a gross overstep of power.

According to Andrew, our lives revolve around profit. Each decision is a kind of transaction or negotiation. For example, each night we trade hours when we could make a profit for rest, which will renew strength. It is natural that one always wants greater wealth; like animals, we either “strive or fade.” It’s our survival instinct that drives us.