Jacob Blaustein (September 30, 1892 – November 15, 1970) was an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and diplomat who founded the American Oil Company with his father Louis Blaustein. Blaustein was an ardent supporter of human rights, the rights of Jewish people, and an advocate for multilateralism through the United Nations, serving as a United States delegate to the UN under five U.S. presidents.
Early life
Jacob Blaustein was born on September 30, 1892, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Louis and Henrietta Blaustein.
As a child, he helped his father deliver kerosene on a 270-gallon horse-drawn tank wagon. During childhood, he attended religious school at Baltimore's Temple Oheb Shalom.
Blaustein attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and took mechanical drawing classes at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He briefly attended Lehigh University to study chemistry but left school to help his father in business.
Business career
Oil industry
In 1910 when he was 18 years old, Blaustein and his father started the American Oil Company (AMOCO) in Baltimore, which was formally incorporated in 1922. At the time of incorporation, Blaustein held a 25% equity stake in the company to his father's 75%. One of their first employees was Joseph Harry Biden (1893–1941), paternal grandfather of President Joe Biden.
In 1924, the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company purchased a 50% interest in the company for $5 million in exchange for a guaranteed supply of oil. In 1925, Standard Oil of Indiana acquired Pan American, beginning John D. Rockefeller's association with the AMOCO name.
In 1927, AMOCO gas fueled Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight which was the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris. Under Jacob and his father's leadership, AMOCO pioneered the concepts of the drive-in gas station, the first metered gasoline pump, and the original anti-knock gasoline which allowed the development of the high-compression engine.
Blaustein remained in his leadership role as president and board chairman of AMOCO until his death in 1970, when he was succeeded in the role by his son Dr. Morton Blaustein.
Other business interests
In 1931, Blaustein established the American Trading Corporation (ATAPCO) which was formed to consolidate and diversify the family's business activities and investments. These additional building holdings included manufacturing companies, tankers and oil wells, real estate holdings, Crown Central Petroleum, and the controlling shares of the Union Trust Company of Baltimore. By the 1950s, Blaustein was included on the Fortune and Forbes Lists of Wealthiest Americans.
Blaustein played a central role in the revitalization of downtown Baltimore through the development of the Blaustein Building in the 1960s.
Public service
World War II
During World War II, Blaustein was president and Chairman of the Overseas News Agency and Jewish Telegraphic Agency which reported on antisemitic and other minority crimes taking place around the world. During the war, Blaustein was also the acting chairman of the marketing committee of the U.S. Petroleum Administration for War, and a member of its committees on supplies, distribution, and joint use of facilities. Blaustein was a key member of the National Petroleum Council which served as a trusted advisor to the federal government on petroleum and gas matters of international significance during the war.
Blaustein traveled on a post-war mission to Germany in 1946 at the invitation of Commanding General of the United States Forces in the European Theater Joseph T. McNarney, he made a survey of Displaced Persons Camps.
Holocaust reparations
After World War II, Blaustein advocated for reparations for the surviving victims of the Holocaust and helped to negotiate a $10 billion victim reparation plan with the Government of West Germany and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Blaustein led the American Jewish Committee's (AJC) Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference where he advocated for the strengthening of human rights clauses in the treaties and the inclusion of guarantees to aid victims of persecution through reparations.
Blaustein served as Senior Vice President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany which was opened in New York City in order to help with individual claims. The organization functioned for a period of 15 years from 1951 to 1966. Through negotiations, a total sum of $845 million direct and indirect compensations was disbursed. In 1956, Blaustein testified regarding the organization's progress to the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.