Flipping through the preface of Cornelius Vanderbilt’s new biography, the reader finds an immoral financial juggernaut with few concerns beyond his private ambitions.

Edward J. Renehan Jr.’s “Commodore,” the first re-evaluation of Commodore Vanderbilt’s life since 1942, focuses deeply on the ambiguity of the entrepreneur’s professional self and the untold secrets of his personal life, including his many affairs and a chronic case of syphilis that led to dementia.

With the recent publication of Renehan’s biography, many students are revisiting their perspectives on the legacy of their university’s founder.

Sophomore Katie Klein first learned about the commodore in an American history class in high school. She said he was always portrayed as a sort of “robber baron,” doing whatever it took to gain wealth and recognition.

Klein also said she did not think the university likes to connect its endeavors to the legacy of Vanderbilt.

“He doesn’t really have a good image. They’ve almost separated the name from him,” she said in reference to his lifelong quest for wealth.

According to Renehan, Vanderbilt admitted he had an “insane” pursuit of wealth, a trait that allegedly shaped him into a massive public figure with minute private concerns.

Little is mentioned of Vanderbilt’s philanthropic gift to start the Central University of Nashville, later renamed Vanderbilt University. Many of Vanderbilt’s contemporaries considered the $1 million gift to be the “greatest philanthropic gift in American history” to that date, Renehan wrote.

Yet more than 130 years later there is skepticism about that donation, since Vanderbilt never visited the university that bears his name.

“I doubt he was a completely good guy,” said freshman Akhila Yadalam. “If you donate $1 million, you’d think that would mean something to you.”

Freshman Ekow Ankumah said that the university tries to mold Vanderbilt into a certain historical image.

“The school doesn’t tell you anything negative about him,” he said. “I think they could (talk) about the good and bad aspects of Vanderbilt.”

While the author leaves the founding of the university up to interpretation, students are unsure if the intentions were innocent of if they served to increase the Vanderbilt fortune.

“You wonder why he donated money here,” Klein said, “(and) whether he had a motive to promote higher education.”

Renehan frequently references Vanderbilt’s private interests. There is an entire chapter dedicated to his relations with a young woman named Tennessee Claflin, a contemporary feminist who wrote about the political issues of the time. The Commodore reportedly carried on an affair with Claflin for at least several months before his second marriage in 1869.

Renehan also discusses the self-promotion of Vanderbilt’s professional life. In a chapter titled “The Vanderbilt Bronze,” Renehan describes the commodore’s obsession with building a bronze shrine to himself outside of the completed Grand Central Station in New York City.

There is also a commemorative statue of Vanderbilt at the main entrance of the university, although that was not a personal project of the donor himself.

Despite focusing heavily on Vanderbilt’s self-promoting tendencies, the author also writes about his positive contributions to the infrastructure of America. Even today, several of his railroad lines are still in use, and many of his accomplishments stand as national historical landmarks.