The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan — One: THE FEELING OF A CONQUEROR

1. 1. Alan Greenspan grew up in Washington Heights, a neighborhood of immigrants, living with his mother and grandparents in a one-bedroom apartment.
2. 2. From age eleven, Greenspan collected train timetables and memorized routes, using railroads as a way to escape his confined surroundings.
3. 3. Greenspan could add large numbers in his head from a very young age, and his mother would show off his skill at family gatherings.
4. 4. Greenspan invented a notation system to track baseball plays, which he later believed was superior to anything newspaper writers had devised.
5. 5. Freud's idea that a man who is his mother's favorite keeps the feeling of a conqueror for life is applied to Greenspan's confidence.
6. 6. Greenspan's father Herbert left when Alan was small, and his failure to keep promises taught Alan that depending on others' love could lead to pain.
7. 7. Greenspan's father wrote a book in 1935 predicting stock market fluctuations and hoped his son would take an interest in economics.
8. 8. Greenspan initially aspired to be a major league first baseman, but his athletic progress tapered off in high school.
9. 9. Greenspan shifted his ambition to music, playing clarinet and tenor saxophone obsessively, sometimes practicing six hours a day.
10. 10. At age 15, Greenspan attended a Glenn Miller concert and called out the name of Tchaikovsky's symphony, earning a response from Miller.
11. 11. Greenspan avoided the draft in 1944 due to a spot on his lung, which was never diagnosed as active tuberculosis.
12. 12. Greenspan joined the Henry Jerome band as a clarinet and sax player, earning $62 a week—three times his mother's salary.