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

I'm sorry but speaking from experience as someone who has somewhat bad-recovering credit, you won't get the card. I'd start from scratch and get a secured credit card where you put money on it and then spend that money without going over. Or, get a card made for people who want to recover their credit and only use it to pay for gas and groceries, and make sure you already have money to pay for it right away.

Terrible credit isn't the end of the world, you just have to recover and move forward.