Library Catalog
Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

Henry J. Kaiser : Builder in the Modern American West / Mark S. Foster.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: American Studies SeriesPublisher: Austin : University of Texas Press, [2014]Copyright date: 1989Description: 1 online resource (406 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780292736443
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 338.092
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Roots -- 2. Launching a Career -- 3. Taming the Wilderness—Roads -- 4. Taming the Wilderness—Dams -- 5. Patriot in Pinstripes—Shipbuilding -- 6. Man of Steel -- 7. Creating an Image -- 8. Planning for a Postwar World -- 9. Debacle in Detroit -- 10. Venturing Abroad -- 11. Cargo Planes and Government Investigations -- 12. Light Metals—Heavy Profits -- 13. Kaiser and the Doctors -- 14. Boss -- 15. Global Development and a Pacific Paradise -- 16. The Sunset Years -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliographic Note -- Index
Summary: In the 1940s Henry J. Kaiser was a household name, as familiar then as Warren Buffett and Donald Trump are now. Like a Horatio Alger hero, Kaiser rose from lower-middle-class origins to become an enormously wealthy entrepreneur, building roads, bridges, dams, and housing. He established giant businesses in cement, aluminum, chemicals, steel, health care, and tourism. During World War II, his companies built cargo planes and Liberty ships. After the war, he manufactured the Kaiser-Frazer automobile. Along the way, he also became a major force in the development of the western United States, including Hawaii. Henry J. Kaiser: Builder in the Modern American West is the first biography of this remarkable man. Drawing on a wealth of archival material never before utilized, Mark Foster paints an evenhanded portrait of a man of driving ambition and integrity, perhaps the ultimate "can-do" capitalist. He covers Kaiser's entire life (1882–1967), emphasizing many business ventures. He demonstrates that Kaiser was the prototypical "frontier" entrepreneur who often used government and union support to tame the "wilderness." Though today the Kaiser industries are no longer under family management, the Kaiser legacy remains great. Kaiser played a major role in building the Hoover, Bonneville, Grand Coulee, and Shasta dams. The Kaiser-Permanente Medical Care Program still provides comprehensive health care for millions of subscribers. Kaiser-planned communities remain in Los Angeles; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; and Boulder City, Nevada. Kaiser Engineers was actively engaged in hundreds of huge construction jobs across the nation and around the world. U.S. and business historians, scholars of the modern West, and general readers will all find much to absorb them in this well-written biography.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780292736443

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Roots -- 2. Launching a Career -- 3. Taming the Wilderness—Roads -- 4. Taming the Wilderness—Dams -- 5. Patriot in Pinstripes—Shipbuilding -- 6. Man of Steel -- 7. Creating an Image -- 8. Planning for a Postwar World -- 9. Debacle in Detroit -- 10. Venturing Abroad -- 11. Cargo Planes and Government Investigations -- 12. Light Metals—Heavy Profits -- 13. Kaiser and the Doctors -- 14. Boss -- 15. Global Development and a Pacific Paradise -- 16. The Sunset Years -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliographic Note -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In the 1940s Henry J. Kaiser was a household name, as familiar then as Warren Buffett and Donald Trump are now. Like a Horatio Alger hero, Kaiser rose from lower-middle-class origins to become an enormously wealthy entrepreneur, building roads, bridges, dams, and housing. He established giant businesses in cement, aluminum, chemicals, steel, health care, and tourism. During World War II, his companies built cargo planes and Liberty ships. After the war, he manufactured the Kaiser-Frazer automobile. Along the way, he also became a major force in the development of the western United States, including Hawaii. Henry J. Kaiser: Builder in the Modern American West is the first biography of this remarkable man. Drawing on a wealth of archival material never before utilized, Mark Foster paints an evenhanded portrait of a man of driving ambition and integrity, perhaps the ultimate "can-do" capitalist. He covers Kaiser's entire life (1882–1967), emphasizing many business ventures. He demonstrates that Kaiser was the prototypical "frontier" entrepreneur who often used government and union support to tame the "wilderness." Though today the Kaiser industries are no longer under family management, the Kaiser legacy remains great. Kaiser played a major role in building the Hoover, Bonneville, Grand Coulee, and Shasta dams. The Kaiser-Permanente Medical Care Program still provides comprehensive health care for millions of subscribers. Kaiser-planned communities remain in Los Angeles; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; and Boulder City, Nevada. Kaiser Engineers was actively engaged in hundreds of huge construction jobs across the nation and around the world. U.S. and business historians, scholars of the modern West, and general readers will all find much to absorb them in this well-written biography.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Aug 2024)