of his death in 1937, was probably worth close to a billion dollars,

is perhaps one of the best historical examples of an

obsessive-compulsive. An obsessive-compulsive is one who is driven to

an act or acts, generally being asocial, by his own fixations but by

nature of his peculiar psyche must balance these actions with others

more socially acceptable. There are abundant examples of Rockefeller's

deeds fitting these clinical characteristics, and John D. Rockefeller

is today generally regarded as an obsessive-compulsive. The roots of

this disorder are traceable back to his childhood. While much of

Rockefeller's business history remains a mystery today, it is apparent

that much of his success is attributable to his obsessive-compulsive

Franz Alexander and Louis B. Shapiro's description of the

obsessive-compulsive disorder from their book "Neuroses, Behavior

Disorders, and Perversions" is a frequently used summary of the

commonly agreed-upon characteristics. It states: "Full blown cases of

obsessive-compulsive states present a dynamic equilibrium in which

obsessive preoccupation with ego-alien

that continued into the 1900's, after he had made more money than he

cutthroat business techniques from his shyster father, and at some

broken, home. His father, who sold quack "quick-heal" ailment

Rockefeller's disturbance was responsible for his illegal activities

fact that we see the first facet of Rockefeller as an

his asocial acts (the seamy and/or illegal acts of Standard Oil) by

fined $29.2 million. The judge, luckily for Rockefeller, had made an

serving a clerical apprenticeship, Rockefeller went into business,

Rockefeller soon managed to dominate the nationwide oil market.

him on from his very first business venture through the last days of

largest amount he had ever donated, by a large margin. We can say with

Standard Oil. Too few records exist of Standard Oil and Rockefeller

Like all successful businesses of the time, Rockefeller's

clear-cut case of an obsessive-compulsive, one who commits asocial

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)