John Augustine Hartford (February 10, 1872 – September 20, 1951) was the longtime President of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company ("A&P"), serving in that position for 35 years from 1916 until his death.
The Wall Street Journal in an editorial on August 29, 2011, wrote "Together the brothers, neither of whom had finished high school, built what would be, for 40 years, the largest retail outlet in the world.
[3] "To immortalize outstanding American merchants", Joseph Kennedy in 1953 commissioned a bronze bust of John's father George Huntington Hartford, four times life size along with 7 other men, which would come to be known as the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame in Chicago.
At an early age, John demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit when on St. Patrick's day he parked his father's buggy along the parade route and charged people to climb up to get a better view.
John's older brother, known as Mr. George to distinguish him from his father known as Mr. Hartford, had joined the firm eight years earlier and had won respect for his suggestions to expand the then limited product line.
In 1917, their father died and left his estate to a one-generation trust that gave total control of the company's voting stock to George and John as long as either lived.
John personally consulted with Henry Ford about vertical integration and turned A&P into one of the country's largest food producers including coffee, tea, bakery, canned goods, and even a salmon packing operation in Alaska.
The company introduced larger "combination stores" including space for meats, produce, and dairy as well as traditional grocery items, and launched a new drive to reduce costs.
To protect small independent grocers, Texas Congressman Wright Patman introduced legislation to place a prohibitive federal tax on each chain store.
John hired a lobbyist and with his brother published a long letter pointing out that the effect of Patman's legislation would be a significant increase of food prices.
Despite the furious opposition of brother George Hartford, John felt he could not refuse the deal, especially as the Patman bill was still pending.
Though he later said he assumed the President would back up Elliott's debts, Hartford, influenced by the outbreak of war, in March 1942 agreed to accept $4,000 and then wrote off the remaining $196,000 on his taxes.
In his memoir Fifty Billion Dollars, Jesse Jones detailed the matter and asserted that FDR had manipulated him into settling the deal with Hartford and two other major creditors.
However, soon after FDR's death John Hartford agreed to talk to syndicated columnist Westbrook Pegler about the matter, and a major investigation was launched, thanks to which the financial details are known today.
Both sides agreed Hartford's tax deduction was probably legitimate but Republicans contended that the President's son should have reported the debt forgiveness as income.
[1] Hartford testified to the Bureau of Internal Revenue that he never would have issued the loan without the President's personal assurances, and that he assumed FDR's word was "as good as S&P."
Although he maintained that the Patman bill would have bankrupted A&P, he absolutely denied that he dealt with Elliott and Jones in order to obtain political favors.
The company countered that its market share was only in the 15% range and that its low-cost strategy had resulted in a significant improvement in that nation's nutrition and standard of living.
The couple also maintained a suite at the Plaza Hotel and in 1929 created the John A. Hartford Foundation with a focus on improving health care for older Americans.
[10] The San Francisco Call-Bulletin wrote "John A. Hartford belonged to a little group of Americans whose energy and vision made us the most prosperous nation in the world.