The first pillar of the plan: Pete Wittenberg, “Koch Building Cornerstone Falls on Walk,” Wichita Eagle, August 14, 1967.
The second pillar of Charles Koch’s plan: Williams, interview by author, 2014; Steve Sells, “Koch Companies Renamed: Sales Hit $250 million,” Wichita Eagle, June 27, 1968.
The third pillar was personal: Brad Hall, Markel, Paulson, Williams, interviews by author, 2013–16; Guy Boulton, “Straight-shooting to the Top: Varner Quietly Helped Koch Prosper,” Wichita Eagle, June 26, 1994.
Charles Koch relied on Sterling Varner: Markel, Hall, Paulson, Williams, interviews by author, 2013–16; Boulton, “Straight-shooting to the Top.”
“It’s an orderly world”: Charles Koch, interview by author, 2015.
Koch read the work of Karl Marx: Charles Koch, interview by author, 2015; Wenzl and Wilson, “Koch Relentless”; Jim Tankersley, “ ‘I Don’t Like the Idea of Capitalism’: Charles Koch Unfiltered,” Washington Post, August 1, 2016.
In Hayek’s view: Jerry Z. Muller, The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Western Thought (New York: Knopf, 2002), 347–87. Selected readings from Friedrich Hayek, including The Constitution of Liberty (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960), and Law, Legislation, and Liberty (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976).
Roger Williams was an engineer: Williams, interviews by author, 2014–16.
Charles Koch wasn’t wild about the idea: Ibid.
When he was in Wichita, Roger Williams: Ibid.
Varner was “opportunistic”: Ibid.; Markel, Hall, interviews by author, 2014–16.
A ritual was formed at these meetings: Williams, Markel, Hall, Watson, background sources, interviews by author, 2014–16.
The company directives that came out of Wichita: Dubose, interviews by author, 2014–15.
In 1968, Phil Dubose was working in a grocery store: Ibid.
Koch Industries hired Dubose: Ibid.; Renee Ruble, “Koch Brothers Head Back to Federal Court in Latest Squabble,” Associated Press, October 1, 1999, featuring court testimony from Dubose; Asjylyn Loder and David Evans, “The Secret Sins of Koch Industries,” Bloomberg Markets, November 2011.
The Koch method for oil measurement: Dubose, interviews by author, 2014–15; Gene Poteet, James Spaulding, James Elroy, Testimony, Public Hearings of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, May 9, 1989.
At the end of each month, Koch tabulated: Dubose, interviews by author, 2014–15.
“You wanted to keep your company operating for sure”: Barnett, interview by author, 2015.
Keith Langhofer . . . Texas and New Mexico: Keith Langhofer, deposition with US Senate investigators, transcript, April 24, 1989.
It was clear to Dubose: Dubose, interviews by author, 2014–15.
Since the late 1950s, Fred Koch had owned: Charles Koch, Good Profit, 33; court transcripts and exhibits, William I. Koch et al. v. Koch Industries Inc. et al.
But the Pine Bend refinery . . . had a secret source of profits: Richard H. K. Vietor, Energy Policy in America since 1945: A Study of Business-Government Relations (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 128–30.
Pine Bend was one of only four: Ibid., 129.
In 1969, Charles Koch executed a secret plan: Charles Koch, Good Profit, 44–47.
Workers at the Pine Bend refinery . . . the 1950s: Paulson, Ernie Tromberg, Joseph Quinn, Lowell Payton, interviews by author, 2015.
Paulson was living in Corpus Christi: Paulson, interviews by author, 2015.
In 1971, Paulson joined Koch Industries: Ibid.; “Bernard A. Paulson, Executive Profile,” Bloomberg; “Bernard A. Paulson Presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who,” Marquis Who’s Who press release, September 7, 2018.
CHAPTER 3: THE WAR FOR PINE BEND
Bernard Paulson arrived for his first day: Paulson, interviews by author, 2015; physical descriptions of Pine Bend refinery from notes from reporting at Pine Bend, March 2015.
Good-paying jobs were scarce: Quinn, Payton, Tromberg, Jim Grotjohn, interviews by author, 2015.
At the base of the giant towers . . . squat office building: Notes from reporting at Pine Bend, March 2015.
Bernard Paulson often wore cowboy boots: Paulson, interviews by author, 2015.
Oil arrived . . . giant, white tanks: Payton, Quinn, Grotjohn, interviews by author, 2015; notes from reporting at Pine Bend, March 2015.
After the oil is heated up, it undergoes a series: Morgan Downey, ch. 7, “Refining,” in Oil 101 (Echo Park, CA: Wooden Table Press, 2009), 143–65.
Paulson knew this business very well: Paulson, Quinn, Payton, Tromberg, interviews by author, 2015.
Men took an oath when they joined the OCAW: Quinn, Payton, interviews by author, 2015.
The union president . . . quantities of alcohol: Ibid. (Joseph Hammerschmidt could not be interviewed for this book because he was killed in a roadside accident before reporting on the book began. Coworkers said he had pulled his car over to the side of the road, exited the vehicle, and was struck down by an oncoming car in the highway. Descriptions of Hammerschmidt are taken from his coworkers, including Bernard Paulson.) The Facts Involved in the Strike Between Local 6-430, Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers, AFL-CIO, and Red Wing Potteries, Inc. (pamphlet, OCAW, 1967).
During the . . . Pine Bend refinery: Quinn, Payton, Tromberg, Grotjohn, Paulson, interviews by author, 2015.
Paulson talked often to Charles Koch: Paulson, interviews by author, 2015.
Hammerschmidt, apparently, did not want to work on Easter: “Refinery Union Leader’s Dismissal Is Upheld,” Minneapolis Tribune, June 26, 1973; Paulson, Quinn, interviews by author, 2015.
In the late fall and early winter of 1972: Quinn, Payton, Tromberg, Paulson, interviews by author, 2015; “Oil Refinery Workers Walk Out of Refinery to Defend Seniority,” Bulletin: Weekly Organ of the Workers League, January 22, 1973.
On January 9, 1973, at four in the afternoon: “300 Workers Strike at Area Fuel-Oil Firm,” Star Tribune, Minneapolis, January 10, 1973; “Plant Struck at Pine Bend,” Pioneer Press, St. Paul (MN), January 10, 1973; Quinn, Payton, Tromberg, Paulson, interviews by author, 2015.
Joseph Quinn, for example: Quinn, interviews by author, 2015.
Others showed up to get picket signs: B. Wills, “Twin City Labor Rallies to Defend Oil Strikers,” Bulletin: Weekly Organ of the Workers League, March 12, 1973; Quinn, interviews by author, 2015.
On a typical day at the refinery, about two hundred: Jim Jones, “Pine Bend Pickets Can Only Watch Oil Trucks Roll Along,” Star Tribune, September 19, 1973.
Paulson was prepared: Paulson, interviews by author, 2015.
Many members of this new workforce: Quinn, Payton, Tromberg, Paulson, interviews by author, 2015; “Scabs Attack Oil Strikers,” Bulletin: Weekly Organ of the Workers League, February 12, 1973.
On the first night of the strike: Paulson, Tromberg, interviews by author, 2015.
Weeks passed: “Strike Continues at Koch Refinery,” Star Tribune, January 11, 1973; Robert Hagen, “Two-Week Strike Hampers States Largest Refinery,” Star Tribune, January 22, 1973.
Ernie Tromberg, an OCAW employee: Tromberg, interviews by author, 2015; “Scabs Attack Oil Strikers”; “Both Sides Take Shots at Sheriff,” Star Tribune, January 24, 1973.
Koch Refinery hired a private company called Wackenhut: Mike James, “OCAW Strikers Defy Koch’s Private Army,” Bulletin: Weekly Organ of the Workers League, April 9, 1973; Payton, Tromberg, Quinn, interviews by author, 2015.