I would be using and EIN on the application in addition to my SSN...Would American Express overlook my bad, in fact, absolutely terrible personal credit history?

Dont believe that you cant get a credit cardw ith bad credit or that you HAVE to start with a secured card first, That is not true but what is true is that American Express is very finicky. They will not let you have a card again if you have had a card with them and messed it up. They are very hard, more than liekly they will not overlook a bad credit history whether you had a card with tem or not. Try going through another bank all hope is not gone. You may have to try a perosnal credit card first through some second chance cards ( sub-prime) especially if you do not have the money to open a secured card. Check some of the sites for credit cards for people with bad credit. Someone will take a chance on you. I filed chapter 13 and 6 moths later was preaaproved for a card with no fees and here it is 4 years later and I am constantly getting preapproved offers and because I handled my new found credit properly my scores have increased to the point where I can get highly competitve interest rates ( they are all over 670). Get second and thrid opiions, dont just listen to anybody and DONT listen to just one person

Discover will give you one with good BUSINESS CREDIT
Amex has one that only takes business credit into account
and mastercard has a few