Setting and Early Success

In Philadelphia, Frank Cowperwood, whose father is a banker, makes his first money passing by an auction sale, he successfully bids for seven cases of Castile soap, which he sells to a grocer the same day with a profit of over 70 percent.

Marriage and Rise

Frank marries an affluent widow, in spite of his young age, and starts moving up the financial ladder, misusing municipal funds with the aid of the City Treasurer.

Downfall

In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire redounds to a stock market crash, prompting him to be bankrupt and exposed. Although he attempts to browbeat his way out of being sentenced to jail by intimidating certain people, politicians from the Republican Party use their influence to use him as a scapegoat for their own corrupt practices.