Where this was said
The J.P. Morgan–Federal Reserve Conspiracy Theory
At 36:50 · chapter starts 35:15
The conspiracy argument takes shape: if the Federal Reserve Act passing required eliminating its most powerful opponents, and those opponents happened to be sailing on a ship Morgan owned and had conspicuously chosen not to board, the coincidences become harder to dismiss. Theorists point to John Jacob Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Isidore Strauss as the targets. The legends of their deaths add texture — Guggenheim changing into his best suit and declaring he wished to go down like a gentleman [1] — Carter Roy "Go down like gentlemen." 36:50 , Strauss refusing to board a lifeboat before women and children, Astor ushering his wife to safety. Morgan, knowing these men's sense of honour, might have wagered they would never take a seat from a woman or child. The theory assumes Morgan used the Titanic's known structural vulnerability — the four-compartment limit — to deliberately sabotage the ship, leveraging his position as owner to ensure the right outcome.
First-class passengers on the Titanic had a survival rate of approximately 62% — the highest of any class — because they were closest to the lifeboats and their safety was prioritized.
The theory that Morgan killed his Federal Reserve opponents on the Titanic falls apart fast: there's zero evidence Astor or Guggenheim opposed the central bank, and Strauss publicly endorsed it in the New York Times in 1911. Sinking a $7.5 million ship was simply bad business.
