J. Roderick MacArthur: Difference between revisions

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J. Roderick MacArthur, known as Rod MacArthur, was born December 21, 1920 to the former Louise Ingals and John D. MacArthur. The couple also had a daughter, Virginia MacArthur. In 1926 John D. MacArthur traveled to [[Mexico]] to divorce and two years later married [[Catherine T. MacArthur|Catherine T. Hyland]].

Rod MacArthur attended [[Rollins College]] in [[Florida]] and worked as a [[stringer (journalism)|stringer]] for the [[Associated Press]] in [[Mexico]]. During [[World War II]] he joined the [[AFS Intercultural Programs|American Field Service]], serving with the [[French Army]] in the ambulance corp., and he participated in the campaign that liberated [[France]].

He worked for his father in the insurance industry before they became estranged. In 1973, while working with a company that sold ceramic collectable plates, MacArthur noticed that the collectible ceramic market was chaotic. He started the [[Bradford Exchange]] which by the time of his death sold about 90% of all the collectable plates in the world. Often credited with becoming "a self-made millionaire," in actuality MacArthur had some financial backing from his father, although the idea, business plan and effort were indeed Rod MacArthur's own. In 1975, once the exchange was successful, his eccentric father claimed that Bradford Exchange was his business and John D. MacArthur seized the Bradford Exchange's customer lists and put the on -hand inventory under lock and key. J. Roderick MacArthur then organized a group of employees to enter his father's warehouse in Northbrook, IL and hustled the inventory into a waiting fleet of trucks.

== Personal life ==