The 1920s Business and the Economy: Headline Makers

Roger W. Babson
Walter P. Chrysler
Donald W. Douglas
Pierre S. Du Pont
Henry Ford
Amadeo Peter Giannini
Edward V. Rickenbacker
Benjamin Strong

Roger W. Babson (1875–1967) Roger W. Babson became famous as one of just a few people who predicted the 1929 stock market crash. His forecasting methods included charts, graphs, and intersecting lines, but they showed very little scientific knowledge. In fact, despite Babson's claims of being an educator, philosopher, theologian, statistician, economist, and forecaster, his background remains a mystery. After his prophecy came true, he attracted a following in the financial world, and lectured and wrote under the auspices of his Babson Institute and School of Management.

Walter P. Chrysler (1881–1948) Walter Chrysler started his career as a machinist and rose to become one of the important automobile executives of the 1920s. After briefly retiring as president of Buick and vice president of General Motors, he returned to the industry to take over the troubled Willys-Overland Company. Then he moved to the Maxwell Motor Company, renamed it Chrysler Corporation, and in 1925 produced the automobile that would be his namesake.

Donald W. Douglas (1892–1981) Donald Douglas's inspiration for becoming an aeronautical engineer came from pioneer aviator-inventors Orville (1871–1948) and Wilbur (1867–1912) Wright. After working on the development of heavy bomber planes, he developed the Cloudster, designed to carry a load exceeding its own weight across the country, although it never actually did so. In the early 1930s, Douglas's DC-3 aircraft, in its passenger and military versions, was noted for outstanding endurance and reliability; the plane still is flown in some parts of the world.

Pierre S. Du Pont (1870–1954) Entrepreneur Pierre S. Du Pont was born into a chemical, gunpowder, and banking dynasty. With his brothers, he reorganized the family business in 1902, and went on to actively manage the Du Pont Company, which flourished as a supplier to the U.S. military during World War I. After the war, the company exploited valuable dye-trust patents confiscated by the U.S. government from Germany. With so much cash available to him, Du Pont also invested in many other companies, most significantly General Motors (GM). Du Pont and his family took control of GM in 1920, and they made sure that GM purchased its vast supplies of paint, finishes, man-made fabrics, and other materials from the Du Pont Company!

Henry Ford (1863–1947) Nobody is more single-handedly responsible for making the motor car available to the American public than Henry Ford. He was a self-taught mechanical genius and the most famous automobile designer and manufacturer of the twentieth century. He produced the first Model T Ford in 1908, and in order to sell this inexpensive but durable car to the maximum number of potential customers, he revolutionized factory work methods by creating and implementing the modern assembly line. During the nineteen years the model was on the market, seventeen million Model Ts were sold!

Amadeo Peter Giannini (1870–1949) Italian American Amadeo Peter Giannini was a leader in the banking world and the founder of the Bank of America. He also financially supported many worthy causes, particularly those in his native state of California and specifically the University of California, Berkeley. In the early 1900s he converted his San Francisco-based family produce business into a small bank. After a devastating earthquake obliterated the heart of the city in 1906, Giannini's Bank of Italy loaned $80,000 to San Francisco concerns that could not obtain financing from the larger local banks, whose assets were destroyed or hidden under the rubble. Soon, the Bank of Italy grew to become the Bank of America.

Edward V. Rickenbacker (1890–1973) During World War I Eddie Rickenbacker gained a reputation as a flying ace. After the war, his enthusiasm for developing commercial aviation was squelched by financiers, and so he entered the automobile industry. For seven years, he produced the dependable Rickenbacker auto, marketed as "a car worthy of the name." When he finally was able to secure a major financial interest in Eastern Airlines in 1934, Rickenbacker's careful management turned the corporation into one of the most well-run, progressive airlines in the world.

Benjamin Strong (1872–1928) As governor of the New York Central Reserve Bank from 1914 until his death, Benjamin Strong was considered one of the nation's preeminent central bankers. While most of his banking policies were conservative, his decisions during the 1920s remain controversial. His employment of "open-market powers" for Federal Reserve monies, making those funds available for investment in the securities market and in foreign trade, spurred business activity and increased stock market investments. However, these policies also may have brought on the 1929 stock market crash. As a result, Strong's reputation has been tarnished; he is remembered as a mismanager of money in the 1920s.