<P> In 1880, when Benjamin is 20, his father gives him a control of Roger Button & Co . Wholesale Hardware . He meets the young Hildegarde Moncrief, a daughter of General Moncrief, and falls in love with her . Hildegarde mistakes Benjamin for a 50 - year - old brother of Roger Button; she prefers older men and marries him six months later, but remains ignorant of his condition . Years later, Benjamin's business has been successful, but he is tired of Hildegarde because her beauty has faded and she nags him . Bored at home, he enlists in the Spanish--American War in 1898 and achieves great triumph in the military, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel . He retires from the army to focus on his company, and receives a medal . </P> <P> In 1910, Benjamin, now looking like a 20 - year - old, turns over control of his company to his son, Roscoe, and enrolls at Harvard University . His first year there is a great success: he dominates in football and takes revenge against Yale for having rejected him years before . However, during his junior and senior years he is only 16 years old, too weak to play football and barely able to cope with the academic work . </P> <P> After graduation, Benjamin returns home, only to learn that his wife has moved to Italy . He lives with Roscoe, who treats him sternly, and forces Benjamin to call him "uncle ." As the years progress, Benjamin grows from a moody teenager into a child . Eventually, Roscoe has a child of his own who later attends kindergarten with Benjamin . After kindergarten, Benjamin slowly begins to lose memory of his earlier life . His memory fades away to the point where he cannot remember anything except his nurse . Everything fades to darkness shortly after . </P> <P> Fitzgerald, in his introduction to the story, remarks that he came across a similar plot in Samuel Butler's Note - Books several weeks after publishing Benjamin Button . </P>

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