Billy, Alfred, and General Motors: The Story of Two Unique Men, a Legendary Company, and a Remarkable Time in American History

by William Pelfrey

Overview

This book is the tale not just of the two extraordinary men of its title but also of the formative decades of twentieth-century America, through two world wars and changes in business, industry, politics, and culture. 

You couldn’t find two more different men. Billy Durant was the consummate salesman, a brilliant wheeler-dealer with grand plans, unflappable energy, and a fondness for the high life. Alfred Sloan was the intellectual, an expert in business strategy and management, master of all things organizational. Together, this odd couple built perhaps the most successful enterprise in U.S. history, General Motors, and with it an industry that has come to define modern life throughout the world.

In Billy, Alfred, and General Motors, business leaders and history buffs alike will discover:

• timeless lessons,
• cautionary tales,
• and motivational inspiration.

The book includes vivid, warts-and-all portraits of the legends of the golden age of the automobile, from Henry Ford, Ransom Olds, and Charles Nash to the brilliant but uncredited David Dunbar Buick and Cadillac founder Henry Leland. The impact of Durant and Sloan on their contemporaries and their industry is matched only by the powerful legacy of their improbable and incredible partnership.

Characters, events, and context -- all are brought skillfully and passionately to life in this meticulously researched and supremely readable book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814429617
Publisher:	HarperCollins Christian Publishing
Publication date:	08/22/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	736,792
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

William Pelfrey spent 15 years at General Motors Corp., most recently as Director of Executive Communications. A former journalist, he reported from Vietnam, Appalachia, and Pakistan for The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, and The New Republic . His first book, The Big V, won him a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

Table of Contents

"Acknowledgments xi

A Note on Sources and Permissions xiii

Introduction: What They Wrought xv

1

1920: The Fateful Year 1

America and the General on a Roll Losing a Man Named Chrysler The Eve of Showdown

2

A Precocious Dropout Forges His First Empire 17

A Hands-On Education Sins of the Fathers Just a Short Ride Across Town Selling Billy Durant, Then Selling the Product A Bitter Lesson in Production Control From Start-Up to Industry Leader

3

A Quiet Student Becomes a First-Class Supplier 37

Staying on Message A Most Serious Young Man Early Risk and Turnaround Seeing a New Market

4

A New Machine Creates a New Order 51

An Ancient Idea Slowly Takes Hold Enter Ransom Olds Leland, Master of Precision Henry Ford and His Demons Leland Is in, Cadillac Is Born Alfred Meets Henry . . . and Henry Rises Again

5

Restless in Flint, Antsy in New York 77

The Good Life in Flint Spared the Strife . . . for the Time Being A Different Routine for Billy's Executive Team A Hardy Man Takes the Plunge Without Billy Billy Takes a Sabbatical David Buick Takes His Shot Enter the Briscoe Boys and Whiting of Flint

6

The Dropout's Next Big Thing 93

Making It a Go Another Industry Precedent, and an Early Jab from Alfred Billy Finds a New Flame Buick Triumphant No Legacy for David A Shakeout on the Horizon

7

Birth of a General 109

A Hyatt Customer Prepares to Shift into High Gear Henry Ford's Different Product Strategy Billy Takes Another Call Billy Brings the Big Four Together . . . Henry Ford Kills Morgan's Big Deal Billy Cuts His Own Deal No Headlines for Billy's Newborn

8

Shooting for the Stars 129

Putting the House of Olds in Order by Cutting the Baby in Quarters Cadillac Makes Itself the World Standard . . . Despite Slumping Sales Wooing the Lelands One More Run at Henry Ford The Great Race . . . and More Great Opportunities A Whirling Dervish Unconstrained

9

Down but Hardly Out 147

Billy Says Goodbye . . . for Now A Case of Conspiracy or Prudence? Henry Pulls Away . . . and Brings America with Him Heady but Precarious Days for Sloan the Supplier The Bankers Turn to James Storrow, Brahmin Billy Champions a Former Protégé Every Executive Recruiter's Dream Candidate: Walter Chrysler The Bankers' Bottom Line Enter Kettering with His Self-Starter The Bankers' Philosophy vs. Henry Ford's

10

Beating the Odds with Chevrolet 169

Taking on the Model T . . . Slowly A Different Way to Build Brand Awareness and Community Relations Finally, the Long-Awaited Hit Henry Again Changes the Game The Guardian from Delaware and His Right Hand

11

A Boardroom Coup Like None Before or Since 187

The Mother of All Proxy Battles Another Clash of Philosophies: Pierre vs. Billy on Corporate Governance Cementing the Base: Step One, Locking in Chrysler Step Two, Luring Alfred into the Fold Alfred Moves Up with Billy

12

The Founder's Grip Slips Again 205

Henry Ford's Plunge into Pacifism, Politics, and Prejudice Billy Durant vs. the Lelands Good Times on the New Jersey Shore, but Not on Wall Street The Wizard Gambles Again . . . and Dilutes His Power

13

A Last Good-Bye to the Baby 221

Prelude to the Crisis General Motors' Response vs. Ford Motor's The Founder Has His Own Doubts as His Leadership Team Remains Mute Done in by the Street . . . Again Billy Does Right by His Baby The End of an Era

14

Alfred Pulls the Ranks Together 237

Pierre Comes Out from Behind the Curtain Kettering's Copper-Cooled Engine From Standoff to Near Meltdown Defying the Consultants to Save Chevrolet Decentralized Operations with Coordinated Control Henry Ford Misses a Sea Change in the Market A Car for Every Purse and Purpose

15

From Transformation to Domination 253

A New Paradigm for Product Design The Annual Model Change Beyond the United States Nonautomotive Forays and Legacies Financial (and Other) Controls Attracting, Developing, and Holding the Best Talent at All Levels Unrest in the Ranks Politicians and Executives Don't Mix The Finest Hour: General Motors Goes to War for America The Sloan Philosophy and Legacy of Winning

Epilogue: What's Good for General Motors . . . 273

Chronology of Key Events 281

Notes 285

Selected Bibliography 297

Index 303

About the Author 315"

Editorial Reviews

"The author tells an amazing story...illuminating, yet little known, saga of the clash between the eternal dreamers, inventors, tinkers, and salesmen at the dawn of the twentieth century."
—September/October 2006

Foreword magazine

"..easy to read and extremely well researched."

World Business Review

"This book is particularly timely, with the auto industry in a period of extreme turbulence that features a restructuring of General Motors, as well as other icons of times gone by. In a sense, we may be reliving in the 21st century the auto drama of the 20th century portrayed so well by Bill Pelfrey. The author’s outstanding writing and research skills are evident throughout and make this one of the most important and fascinating books I’ve read in a very long time."
—Chairman of the Center for Automotive Research

David E. Cole

"Anyone interested in the current story of General Motors should read this engrossing description of the beginnings and early growth of this largest of all America’s businesses. Billy, Alfred, and the General is an important work on the history of the automobile industry."
—retired Chairman and CEO, Procter and Gamble Company; former Chairman, General Motors Corporation

John G. Smale

"The challenges faced by Durant, Sloan, and others in the automotive industry 100 years ago are as relevant as ever today: managing through varying leadership styles; ensuring the ability to adapt to a changing business environment; maintaining cash flow during downturns. This book highlights both their successes and failures, and it should be read by managers everywhere."
—Senior Partner, Weil, Gotshal and Manges; Visiting Professor in Competitive Enterprise and Strategy, Yale School of Management; Special Adviser to the World Bank on Corporate Governance

Ira M. Millstein

"To understand where General Motors is going, you must first understand where it has been. The who and why of it all is beautifully described, anecdote by anecdote, by Pelfrey in this fascinating read. Magnificently researched."
—Professor of Management, University of Michigan (Ross) Business School; former Chairman and CEO, American Motors Corporation

Gerald C. Meyers

"Pelfrey's work is both entertaining and instructive...[the] book does not predict GM's future. But it masterfully tells about GM's past and, in doing so, helps explain what recently went wrong at the company. By extrapolation, it also shows why GM is taking the correct steps today to right itself even as it appears to be dancing on the edge of disaster."

Washington Post

Terry Box: "I liked the book’s bare-knuckled stories about the industry’s early characters scribbling engine designs on whiskey-stained napkins."

Dallas Morning News

"Every person who is interested in the building of the American automobile industry must read this book. Bill Pelfrey has done a great job researching the early years of Billy Durant and Alfred Sloan and the very different roles they played in the history of General Motors."
—retired Chairman and CEO, General Motors Corporation

Jack Smith

Reporter, novelist (The Big V), and former director of executive communications at General Motors, Pelfrey has written a compelling account of the early years of the storied company, which is currently verging on bankruptcy. GM founder William "Billy" Durant, a high school dropout and impetuous schemer, was the opposite of aloof and meticulous company vice president and board member Alfred Sloan. Pelfrey's skillful use of primary and secondary sources lends authenticity to his retelling of Durant and Sloan's divergent views in running GM-views so opposed that in 1920 Durant resigned his presidency of the company that he had pieced together through audacious buyouts of competing companies. Two years later Sloan became GM's president, and GM emerged as America's preeminent industrial powerhouse, beating out Ford in sales for the first time in 1927. Also integrated into this history of the early U.S. automobile industry are other major players, most notably the irascible Henry Ford, as well as men named Olds and Chevrolet. In 1963, Sloan published My Years with General Motors, now a business classic. Though Pelfrey's work is not of that stature, it is a worthy acquisition for public and academic libraries.-Peter R. Latusek, Stanford Graduate Sch. of Business, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

This fresh look at early GM is timely and interesting.”

-Corp! (Detroit)

“Pelfrey's work is both entertaining and instructive...[the] book does not predict GM's future. But it masterfully tells about GM's past and, in doing so, helps explain what recently went wrong at the company.”

-Washington Post

“entertaining and instructive… masterfully tells about GM's past and... helps explain what recently went wrong at the company.”

-Washington Post

“…easy to read and extremely well researched.”

-World Business Review

From the Publisher