Charles Edward Wilson (November 18,1886 –January 3,1972) was a CEO of General Electric. [1] [2] [3]
Wilson left school at the age of 12 to work as a stock boy at the Sprague Electrical Works,which was acquired by the General Electric Company. [4] He took night classes to graduate from high school,and he worked his way up to the position of president of the corporation in 1939.
During World War II,Wilson served on the War Production Board as its executive vice-chairman in September 1942,supervising the huge U.S. war production effort. [5] [4] He resigned in August 1944 after a bitter dispute over jurisdiction with the Department of War and the Department of the Navy. Wilson stated at the time that the US must keep its economy mobilized for war to avoid another Great Depression. [ citation needed ]
After returning to General Electric in 1945,Wilson began an anti-union campaign. [6] He also served President Harry S. Truman as the chairman of the blue-ribbon President's Committee on Civil Rights in 1946–47. The committee recommended new civil rights legislation to protect "all parts of our population." In December 1950,Wilson left GE again to serve Truman as director of the new Office of Defense Mobilization, [4] which imposed controls on the US economy during the Korean War,such as rationing raw materials for civilian production. This position became so powerful that the press began dubbing Wilson the "co-president." After a bitter dispute with his own Wage Stabilization Board,which had recommended wage increases for unionized steel workers without his knowledge,Wilson resigned from his post in March 1952. He had intervened in the dispute to support the steel industry's demand for price increases to offset the wage increases,only to see Truman back the WSB.
Wilson returned to General Electric briefly,before becoming chairman of the board of W.R. Grace &Co. until his retirement in 1956. He then became the president of the People-to-People Foundation,a nonpartisan organization that promoted international friendship and understanding. John G. Forrest wrote in The New York Times,"Charles Wilson is a big man by any standard,physical,moral,or mental."
Wilson and his wife adopted their daughter,Margaret Wilson,from an orphanage when she was 18 years old. Margaret later married Hugh Pierce and they had one son, [4] Charles Edward Wilson Pierce,named for his grandfather and father. Charles Wilson died in Westchester County,New York,in 1972,and his remains are interred in a private mausoleum in the Kensico Cemetery.
He was nicknamed "Electric Charlie" to avoid being confused with Charles Erwin Wilson,US Secretary of Defense under President Dwight Eisenhower and earlier the Chairman of the General Motors Corporation,who was nicknamed "Engine Charlie." [4]
Owen D. Young was an American industrialist,businessman,lawyer and diplomat at the Second Reparations Conference (SRC) in 1929,as a member of the German Reparations International Commission.
Charles,Charlie,Charley,or Chuck Wilson may refer to:
Charles Erwin Wilson was an American engineer and businessman who served as United States Secretary of Defense from 1953 to 1957 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Known as "Engine Charlie",he was previously the president and chief executive officer of General Motors. In the wake of the Korean War,he cut the defense budget significantly.
The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28,1917,during World War I,to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department and the Navy Department. Because the United States Department of Defense would only come into existence in 1947,this was an ad hoc construction to promote cooperation between the Army and the Navy,it was founded by the Council of National Defense. The War Industries Board was preceded by the General Munitions Board —which didn't have the authority it needed and was later strengthened and transformed into the WIB.
Robert Abercrombie Lovett was the fourth United States Secretary of Defense,having been promoted to this position from Deputy Secretary of Defense. He served in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from 1951 to 1953 and in this capacity,directed the Korean War. As Under Secretary of State,he handled most of the tasks of the State Department while George C. Marshall was Secretary.
Philip Murray was a Scottish-born steelworker and an American labor leader. He was the first president of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC),the first president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA),and the longest-serving president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).
Youngstown Sheet &Tube Co. v. Sawyer,343 U.S. 579 (1952),also commonly referred to as the Steel Seizure Case or the Youngstown Steel case,was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision that limited the power of the President of the United States to seize private property. The case served as a check on the most far-reaching claims of executive power at the time and signaled the Court's increased willingness to intervene in political questions.
The Office of Defense Mobilization (ODM) was an independent agency of the United States government whose function was to plan,coordinate,direct and control all wartime mobilization activities of the federal government,including manpower,economic stabilization,and transport operations. It was established in 1950,and for three years was one of the most powerful agencies in the federal government. It merged with other agencies in 1958 to become the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization (1958–1961).
George W. Taylor was a professor of industrial relations at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania,and is credited with founding the academic field of study known as industrial relations. He served in several capacities in the federal government,most notably as a mediator and arbitrator. During his career,Taylor settled more than 2,000 strikes.
Nathan Paul Feinsinger was a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He mediated and arbitrated a number of strikes,and served as general counsel to the Wisconsin Labor Relations Board and associate general counsel to the National War Labor Board (WLB).
Roger Lowell Putnam was an American politician and businessman. A member of the prominent Lowell family of Boston,he served as Mayor of Springfield,Massachusetts,from 1937 until 1943,and as director of the Economic Stabilization Administration from 1951 until 1952. During his short tenure in federal office,the nation's steelworkers struck—leading United States President Harry S. Truman to seize the nation's steel mills.
The 1952 steel strike was a strike by the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) against U.S. Steel (USS) and nine other steelmakers. The strike was scheduled to begin on April 9,1952,but US President Harry Truman nationalized the American steel industry hours before the workers walked out. The steel companies sued to regain control of their facilities. On June 2,1952,in a landmark decision,the US Supreme Court ruled in Youngstown Sheet &Tube Co. v. Sawyer,343 U.S. 579 (1952),that the President lacked the authority to seize the steel mills. The strike involved 560,000 workers
The Wage Stabilization Board (WSB) was an independent agency of the United States government whose function was to make wage control policy recommendations and to implement such wage controls as were approved. There were two agencies with the same name. The first,the National Wage Stabilization Board,was the successor to the National War Labor Board,and existed from January 1,1946,to February 24,1947. The second,the Wage Stabilization Board,was a part of the Office of Defense Mobilization and existed from September 9,1950,to February 6,1953.
Paul M. Herzog was an American lawyer,educator,civil servant,and university administrator. He was chairman of the United States National Labor Relations Board from 1945 to 1953.
On 11 April 1951,U.S. president Harry S. Truman relieved General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of his commands after MacArthur made public statements that contradicted the administration's policies. MacArthur was a popular hero of World War II who was then commander of United Nations Command forces fighting in the Korean War,and his relief remains a controversial topic in the field of civil–military relations.
Benjamin Franklin Fairless was an American steel company executive. He was president of a wide range of steel companies during a turbulent and formative period in the American steel industry. His roles included President of Central Alloy Steel from 1928 to 1930;First Vice President of Republic Steel from 1930 to 1935;President of the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company from 1935 to 1938;and then President (1938–1955),and later Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors (1952–1955) of U.S. Steel,the largest steel corporation in the United States.
Charles McElroy White was an American steel manufacturing executive. He was a protégéof Tom M. Girdler,and was briefly superintendent of Jones and Laughlin Steel Company in 1929. He followed Girdler to the rapidly growing Republic Steel in 1930,where he was appointed president of the company in 1945. He was promoted to chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer in 1956. He retired in 1960.
Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) was a federation of rail transport labor unions in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1926 with the purpose of acting as a legislative lobbying and policy advisory body. At times,it played a prominent role in setting rail transport policy in the U.S.,and was party to six U.S. Supreme Court cases. It disbanded in January 1997,with representation,collective bargaining,and legislative lobbying assumed by the newly formed Rail Division of the AFL–CIO Transportation Trades Department.
The presidency of Harry S. Truman began on April 12,1945,when Harry S. Truman became the 33rd president upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt,and ended on January 20,1953.
The presidential transition of Dwight D. Eisenhower began when he won the United States 1952 United States presidential election,becoming the president-elect,and ended when Eisenhower was inaugurated at noon EST on January 20,1953.