Jerry Rubin
A theatrical prankster of the New Left who traded revolution for Wall Street, embodying the radical twists of his era.
1938–1994 (age 56)·American social activist and counterculture icon·Birthday: July 14·The Silent Generation
Biography
Jerry Rubin was the court jester of the 1960s American revolution. With Abbie Hoffman, he co-founded the Yippies, a group that weaponized absurdity to protest the Vietnam War and straight society. His activism was performance art: running a pig for president, tossing dollar bills onto the New York Stock Exchange floor, and showing up to a HUAC hearing dressed as an American Revolutionary soldier. The theatrics had a serious core, landing him as a defendant in the Chicago Seven trial, where his contempt citations became part of his rebel legend. The 1970s, however, brought a profound personal pivot. Rubin abandoned Marxism, dove into est training and yoga, and by the 1980s had reinvented himself as a networking businessman on Wall Street. This stark transformation from anti-capitalist to venture capitalist made him a symbol of his generation's journey from collective protest to individual self-improvement. His life was a series of dramatic, public chapters that traced the arc of the American counterculture itself.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Jerry was born in 1938, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Jerry Was Born
The biggest hits of 1938
#1 Movie
You Can't Take It with You
Best Picture
You Can't Take It with You
Jerry's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1938Born
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1943Started school
Allies invade Sicily; Battle of Stalingrad ends
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,290Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I've Heard That Song Before" — Harry JamesBest Picture: Casablanca
1951Became a teenager
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1954Could drive
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
1956Could vote
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1959Turned 21
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1968Turned 30
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1978Turned 40
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 50
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1994Died at 56
Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $90,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"The Sign" — Ace of BaseBest Picture: Forrest Gump
Key Achievements
- Co-founded the Youth International Party (Yippies), which used guerrilla theater to protest the Vietnam War.
- Was a key defendant in the historic Chicago Seven conspiracy trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests.
- Authored the bestselling manifesto 'Do It!: Scenarios of the Revolution' in 1970.
- Pioneered one of the first networking business salons in the 1980s, connecting young professionals on Wall Street.
Did You Know?
He was once hit by a car while jaywalking in Los Angeles in 1994, which led to his death weeks later.
In the 1970s, he claimed to have sampled over 60 different therapies and spiritual practices.
He and Abbie Hoffman nominated a pig named 'Pigasus' for President in 1968.
After his business career began, he debated his former Yippie comrade Abbie Hoffman on the merits of capitalism.
““We are a people. We are a new kind of people. We are the people of the twenty-first century.””
