would be willing to tell this to the American people he responded that, "This we would not think of doing." To this day that objective of merging the United States with the Soviet Union has not been abandoned. Many of the 210 men who became original members of the Council on Foreign Relations were supporters of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. It was support from these wealthy businessmen in the United States that helped make the revolution successful. Jacob Schiff, head of the New York based Kuhn, Loeb and Co., spent $20 million on the revolution. Federal Reserve Director, William Boyce Thompson, gave the Bolsheviks $1 million. In the summer of 1917, fifteen Wall Street financiers and attorneys, led by Thompson, went to Petrograd, the center of revolutionary activity. This was disguised as a Red Cross Mission by taking along a few doctors and nurses. Disillusioned, the doctors and nurses returned home within a month; the financiers stayed from June to November. After the Revolution in Russia was successful, many American businessmen who supported it went into business with the Soviets. Averell Harriman formed a joint shipping firm with the Soviets. The Rockefeller family became involved in the oil business with the Soviets. From the 1920s the Rockefeller's Chase Bank financed business in the Soviet Union. Today the Rockefeller's Chase Manhattan Bank maintains a branch 93 Building Modern Babylon When Norman Dodd asked Rowan Gaither if he financed business in the Soviet Union. office at 1 Karl Marx Square in Moscow.