Final answer:
J. P. Morgan, a leading financier of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, used his financial power and influence to consolidate industries rather than specifically engage in hostile takeovers, purchase controlling stakes, or direct sabotage against competitors like Westinghouse; his tactics are best understood within the broader context of investment and corporate control.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the fierce competition among industrialists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, J. P. Morgan, a prominent financier, used various tactics to consolidate his power and extend his influence over industries. Such practices often pitted major industrialists like Morgan against others like George Westinghouse. To take down competitors such as Westinghouse, Morgan did not specifically engage in hostile takeovers, buy controlling stakes in their companies, lobby for government regulations against them, or initiate smear campaigns.
Instead, Morgan's approach fundamentally revolved around using his wealth and financial leverage, investing in promising companies, demanding board seats, and steering industries through the power of investment and corporate control.
Morgan's investments and consolidations significantly contributed to the shaping of key industries, and his dealings sometimes invited criticism and legal challenges from the government. For instance, the government's effort to break up trusts and monopolies culminated in cases like the one against the Northern Securities Trust, where prominent businessmen like Morgan and Rockefeller were targeted by antitrust suits under President Theodore Roosevelt's administration. However, Morgan's direct efforts against Westinghouse are not clearly defined as part of one particular tactic, but rather as a broader strategy of industry consolidation and financial influence.