William Randolph Hearst was born into wealth. His father, George, was a man
who struck it rich in the copper and silver mines and land speculation. When he was forty-two,
George married Phoebe Apperson who was a school teacher and also twenty years younger than
her husband. George was absent much of the time and therefore William was raised mostly by
his mother. William Randolph Hearst would eventually operate the world's largest publishing
empire. He had tremendous ambition and seemed to seek power.
Hearst's story begins with his career as a journalist and that, in turn, begins at…
