Remarkable as it may seem today, there once was a time when the president of the United States could pick up the phone and ask the president of General Motors to resign his position and take the reins of a great national enterprise. And the CEO would oblige, no questions asked, because it was his patriotic duty.
In , bestselling author Arthur Herman takes us back to that time, revealing how two … back to that time, revealing how two extraordinary American businessmen — automobile magnate William Knudsen and shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser — helped corral, cajole, and inspire business leaders across the country to mobilize the “arsenal of democracy” that propelled the Allies to victory in World War II.
“Knudsen? I want to see you in Washington. I want you to work on some production matters.” With those words, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enlisted “Big Bill” Knudsen, a Danish immigrant who had risen through the ranks of the auto industry to become president of General Motors, to drop his plans for market domination and join the U.S. Army. Commissioned a lieutenant general, Knudsen assembled a crack team of industrial innovators, persuading them one by one to leave their lucrative private sector positions and join him in Washington, D.C. Dubbed the “dollar-a-year men,” these dedicated patriots quickly took charge of America’s moribund war production effort.
Henry J. Kaiser was a maverick California industrialist famed for his innovative business techniques and his can-do management style. He, too, joined the cause. His Liberty ships became World War II icons — and the Kaiser name became so admired that FDR briefly considered making him his vice president in 1944. Together, Knudsen and Kaiser created a wartime production behemoth. Drafting top talent from companies like Chrysler, Republic Steel, Boeing, Lockheed, GE, and Frigidaire, they turned auto plants into aircraft factories and civilian assembly lines into fountains of munitions, giving Americans fighting in Europe and Asia the tools they needed to defeat the Axis. In four short years they transformed America’s army from a hollow shell into a truly global force, laying the foundations for a new industrial America — and for the country’s rise as an economic as well as military superpower.
Featuring behind-the-scenes portraits of FDR, George Marshall, Henry Stimson, Harry Hopkins, Jimmy Doolittle, and Curtis LeMay, as well as scores of largely forgotten heroes and heroines of the wartime industrial effort, Freedom’s Forge is the American story writ large. It vividly re-creates American industry’s finest hour, when the nation’s business elites put aside their pursuit of profits and set about saving the world.
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It is a interesting book of how the United States became the arsenal of freedom.
Great behind the scenes information and the foresight of many great men in a turbulent time in the world and our country. Politics, power, and greed, not withstanding, this read shows what is possible to achieve when an individual grasps the daunting task at hand and applies their resources to accomplish an almost impossible task. Sadly the reward …
How great minds channeled their enterprise from major peace time projects into the necessary industry to build the machine that won the second world war. This is a page turner of actual events of the great industrial minds that turned the US into the war materiel manufacturer that supported the allies in this huge undertaking. It illustrates the …
A part of WWII that nobody knows about. Outstanding
Reminds us effectively of the immensity of effort to arm and maintain the Allies in WWII. Introduces us to the real geniuses whose vision created the greatest industrial effort in History.
It’s hard to believe that a book about American industrial production in WW2 should be a gripping read. This book is however, full of engaging and larger than life characters who refused to be beaten by any challenge confronting them. The 80-year old widow of Confederate General James Longstreet who was building B-24 bombers, the mom-an-pop …
One of the most interesting books I have ever read. Tells the story behind the story of how America made a WWII victory possible. Great read.
May Sound like a dry read but I found it fascinating to learn how the US came to be the arsenal of democracy. We owe a lot of gratitude to the visionaries, resourceful companies and the individual workers who pulled off a truly unbelievable feat. It also makes the current talk of “bringing industry back like the old days” doesn’t understand what …
It seems like as Americans we have been somewhat “brain-washed” that we saved Europe in WWII from the bravery of our troops alone. But if our soldiers had to fight with there hands instead of weapons . . . not so much. I am not a big fan of our current “Military Industrial Complex” that seems to dominate the US budget but this story gave me an …
Relive a time when American industrialists were more dedicated to the country than to shareholders and wrought a miracle of innovation which saved the world from fascists by out producing them and gave rise to the term ‘Greatest Generation’. The sacrifice and improvisational genius of people like Henry Kaiser and Frank Knudsen are inspirational. …
Do you want to know why the USA helped to win World War II, this book answers that question. It wasn’t the Atomic Bomb, the Sherman Tank or D-Day. It was an America that unleashed its industrial might on the world which used assembly line methods from the automobile industry to wartime production.
This book was an easy and fascinating read about the build-up of American manufacturing to support the huge military effort. Amazing
Great read. Learned so much. A must read for any history or WW II buff.
I thought I knew my history but this book was an eye opener
If you are into WWII history – you need to check this out. I’ve always wondered how the US was able to go from a depressed economy to the Arsenal of Democracy – supplying the allies as well as our own armed forces so quickly. The story is explained in a way that reads like fiction. The stories behind the talent that was available and rose …
I was 12 years old in 1942. Brought back memories and details I never new.
The heroes on the homefront of WWII who tackled the problem of transforming domestic industry to war production that saved the world are presented in this book. All the manufacturing the Allies needed seemed an insurmountable problem just before the war started, but through ingenious innovation, US workers surpassed all expectation by the second …
Great book…I’ve been recommending it for years! There is a lot of historical detail about the manufacturing build up in advance of US entrance into WWII, the people involved, and the political machinations the drove them.
Lots of history that I was unaware of, although a bit heavy on the “free enterprise” aspect. (Not a surprise since AEI was a major source.) But the major characters are presented as well-rounded and complex.
Every American and all who would be our enemy should read this book.
Thrilling read of how the United States won World War Ii at home. If it wasn’t history you wouldn’t believe it!