Why Anderson Cooper is finally embracing his roots

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Cooper admits he didn’t know much about his mother’s family side, but after reading a few family letters he came to understand who the Vanderbilts were, not as business titans, but as people with flaws, weaknesses, ambitions and desires. This trip culminated in a book, “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty,” which he co-wrote with novelist and historian Katherine Howe.

Cooper’s mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, was the great-great-granddaughter of rail and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, known as the “Commodore.” The first Vanderbilt came to the United States as a moneyless indentured servant in the early to mid-17th century. Generations later, the Commodore was the first Vanderbilt to make money, more money than anyone in the world had ever made.
Gloria Vanderbilt was the ultimate master of reinvention

Despite their wealth, the Vanderbilts were “definitely, like, out of the way,” Howe says. “They were the nouveau riche, the really old fashioned.”

It was Alva Vanderbilt, wife of William K. Vanderbilt, who ultimately broke the door to New York high society for the family by “throwing the biggest party ever in America,” Cooper says.

Cooper says discovering the stories of the Vanderbilt women, previously overshadowed by the larger-than-life legacy of the Commodore and his sons, was especially gratifying. “I feel like one of the peculiarities of this story is that we spend so much time looking at the Vanderbilt women,” he said.

“Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty” will be released on September 21. The book is dedicated to Wyatt, Cooper’s son.

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