Robert Fulton: Savant of Steamboats and Submarines

Robert Fulton is widely recognized as the inventor of the first practical steamboat. However, there is much more to the story of one of America's greatest inventors. He was a world-class painter who studied under Benjamin West, known in England as "the American Raphael." He also invented the first practical submarine, one he named the Nautilus, offering it first to Napoleon Bonaparte and subsequently to the British. And Fulton invented the first "torpedo," a term he coined for what was essentially an explosive underwater mine. Britain, with the world's largest navy, had qualms about such warfare and offered Fulton a significant amount of money to shelve his inventions. Fulton declined; he wanted his submarine technology to be available for the U.S. in event of war. Working with wealthy Robert Livingston, New York's first chancellor and the man who administered the oath of office to George Washington, Fulton built the Clermont, the steamboat that revolutionized the world of transportation. Award-winning author Daniel Alef tells Fulton's story of achievement and success. [1,408-word Titans of Fortune article]