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To Educate… To Preserve… To Support... Generous support from the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundaon Fall 2019 “The Informaon Place” Volume 21 # 2 Lido Anthony “Lee” Iacocca 1924‐2019 The Embodiment of the American Spirit Americans love the underdog. They love the un- derdog because that’s how Americans identify them- selves. Nobody loves a success story like the Ameri- can public, and Americans know there is no better success story than the impossible comeback. In 1979, Lee Iacocca gave the American public one of the greatest comeback stories in history - by pulling off the resurrection of the Chrysler Corporation. In doing so, he sent ripples through the corporate world, the world of finance, and the U.S. Government that we still feel to this day. Some say that what Iacocca actually did was simply bankruptcy under a different name, and that the losses were in fact worse than if the weakest of the Big Three had gone ahead and filed for Chapter 11. Some say that Iacocca, a lifelong advocate of keeping the Government and their cash-stifling regulatory tendencies out of indus- try, was a turncoat that changed the rules of free- enterprise forever by going to his sworn enemies and asking for money to save a dying company that should have been left for dead. Others view him as an American Hero – an em- this article, we look back on the man and his meteoric bodiment of the American Spirit that stoked patriot- rise to success within the ranks of the automotive in- ism by not giving up on an American company during dustry, taking his place in history as one of the great- a time when our enemies (new and old, foreign and est businessmen of our time. domestic) were tightening their grip on this country in the worst possible ways. He gave the American peo- Lido Anthony Iacocca was born in Allentown, ple hope by delivering on his promises in the face of Pennsylvania to Italian-Catholic immigrant parents. impossible adversity – so much so that after he turned His father was a driving force behind young Lido’s Chrysler around, there were whispers about this ex- success; it was through his father’s rent-a-car business traordinary businessman running for the highest office that Lido fell in love with the automobile, retail, and in the land. One thing is for sure, the name Lee marketing. During a bout of Rheumatic Fever that Iacocca will forever be conflated with the impossible confined him to bed for six months, he devoured success story. books – any book he could get his hands on. It was this study that propelled him to the top of his classes, We lost Lee Iacocca on July 2, 2019, two days earning straight A’s. Lee found himself getting ready before our Independence Day; a day on which we cel- to head off to college, well versed in all of the funda- ebrate our impossible success story as Americans. In Connue on Page 2 “Lee” Iacocca pleased, but relented. He eventual- wildfire. Wilkes-Barre went from Continued from Page 1 ly settled in at a fleet sales office in worst to first in only three months, Chester, PA, where he spent the and Ford executives in the corpo- mentals needed for success. When first couple of years developing his rate offices decided to make it part the Japanese attacked Pearl Har- talent. Soon he was out in the field, of their national advertising cam- bor, Lee tried to sign up for the where he gave selling points to paign. It had also gotten the atten- service, but was denied due to his dealers as a fleet representative. tion of Robert S. McNamara in past bout with Rheumatic Fever. That eventually led to him becom- Dearborn, who was VP of the Ford Through his voracious appetite for ing a zone manager in Wilkes- division. reading, Lee had developed a spe- Barre, PA. As a result, Lee was promoted cial interest in engineering. After There he learned that it was to district manager of the Wash- his application to Perdue was de- the dealers that were the heart of ington D.C. area, and his future at nied, he set his sights on Lehigh the industry, because they are real- Ford was finally looking up. With- University in Bethlehem, and was ly the only true customers that a in a year at Dearborn, Lee had accepted. manufacturer has, and that was a been promoted again, this time to The war was a factor in his lesson that he remembered national manager of both car and success at Lehigh, as more and throughout his life; he would al- truck marketing. Once at Dear- more students were getting drafted ways make a point of keeping the born, Lee found himself under the into the war effort. As a result, the dealer happy. It was also at Wilkes wing of Robert McNamara, his class sizes dwindled to tiny num- -Barre that Lee met the man he new boss (who would eventually bers, allowing for teachers to considered his mentor, Charlie become president of Ford – as well spend more individual time with Beacham. Beacham was a no- as Secretary of Defense for the remaining students. Despite his nonsense southerner who was Kennedy Administration). best efforts, Iacocca got a D in tough but fair as far as bosses go, McNamara was also responsible physics, and quickly realized that and imparted all of his wisdom for introducing the Ford Falcon, the smart move was switching ma- about sales to the budding young one of the most successful automo- jors from mechanical to industrial apprentice. biles Ford Ever produced, though engineering. His grades improved In the early 1950’s, the country it failed where it counted most: the drastically and he completed his was hit with a recession, and profit margin. final year with straight A’s and a though Lee made the cut at Ford One year later in 1960, at the 3.53 GPA. by taking a demotion, many of his recommendation of both Beacham Lee was now focusing on his friends and coworkers were let go. and McNamara, Lee was promoted dream job: working for the Ford For a brief moment, he doubted his to head of the Ford division. Now Motor Co. He had sent a letter to decision to stay, but decided to that Ford Motor Company was a Ford’s recruiting office, and had stick it out. Not long after that, he publicly traded company and an- secured a position in the training came up with the idea that would swered to stockholders, Lee bor- program. It was in August of 1946 set him on a course to the bigtime rowed the idea of the quarterly re- that Iacocca began his training at and overnight success after ten port for Ford’s executives. It al- Ford. It was designed so that the years of toiling away in virtual ob- lowed employees at every level to trainees would spend time in every scurity. set goals and be held accountable department, and get to know how In 1956, Ford decided on a for either reaching them or falling they worked independently and program that promoted safety in- short. It also allowed an open line with one another. He studied at the stead of performance, and custom- of communication between all de- famous River Rouge plant, at the ers reacted poorly. As a result, na- time the world’s largest manufac- tionwide sales slumped. Iacocca’s turing complex. There, he got to district was dead last in sales, and see the entire process from start to Lee knew he needed to come up finish. It was hands-on work, and with something fast. That was Lee was literally working every- when he came up with the “56 for where from the foundry furnaces 56” program. The program was to the assembly line. simple but effective: the customer Although it was invaluable puts 20% down, followed by three training, he had lost interest in en- years of payments of $56. It made gineering and wanted to transition it possible for virtually anyone to to sales. His supervisors were not afford a car, and it caught on like Connue on Page 3 “Lee” Iacocca Continued from Page 2 partments, which in turn assured productivity and streamlined future planning. With his new promotion, Lee started to develop his own idea about a car that could propel the Ford Motor Company back to the top. He knew he needed a team of the most promising minds to help, and started conducting meetings with a small circle of coworkers that dubbed themselves “the Fair- lane Committee” because they met in secrecy at the Fairlane Inn not far from Ford’s corporate offices. Market research had made it clear that there was a younger, more ed- ucated consumer that was respond- ing to vehicles like the Corvair that GM had just produced, and that the demographic they were shooting for needed something affordable and sporty – not unlike the econo- still develop an exterior that was rolled off the assembly line and my cars that were coming here completely original. changed the history of the afforda- from overseas. They had less than two years ble sports car in America. It was to make it happen, without even difficult to keep up with the de- Lee had recognized that the mand; so much so that other plants previous approach in Detroit was having a design. Putting his moti- vational skills to the test, Lee de- were being converted to produce to put out a car and see if there was the Mustang.

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