Short answers, pulled from the story.
Armand Hammer was an American oil tycoon, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who lived from the 21st of May 1898 to the 10th of December 1990. He was famous for his long tenure as chief executive and chairman of Occidental Petroleum, his close ties to the Soviet Union across five Soviet General Secretaries, and his role as an intermediary between the USSR and seven U.S. Presidents.
Hammer obtained control of Occidental Petroleum in 1956, when it was a failing California oil company. He spent the next 33 years as its chief executive officer and chairman, overseeing its growth into one of the largest companies in the United States.
Hammer first traveled to Soviet Russia in 1921 and remained there until 1930, brokering deals for 38 international companies during Lenin's New Economic Policy. During the Cold War, he negotiated trade agreements with Soviet leaders including a $20 billion, twenty-year fertilizer deal with Leonid Brezhnev signed in 1973. In 1978, Brezhnev awarded Hammer the Order of Friendship of Peoples.
Hammer made illegal contributions totaling $100,000 to Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign, split between a $46,000 payment before the 7th of April 1972 ban on anonymous contributions took effect and three additional contributions of $54,000 after. Both Hammer and his lobbyist Tim Babcock pleaded guilty; Hammer received probation and a $3,000 fine. President George H. W. Bush pardoned him in August 1989.
Armand Hammer did not found the Arm and Hammer brand. The brand name was in use 31 years before Hammer was born. In the 1980s, Hammer owned a considerable amount of stock in Church and Dwight, the company that manufactures Arm and Hammer products, and served on its board; he acknowledged previously trying to buy the brand because people often asked him about the connection.
The UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California, is named after Armand Hammer. His personal art donation forms the core of the museum's permanent collection. Hammer was a collector of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and, together with his brother Victor, owned the Hammer Galleries in New York City.