Ed. Note: This passage about December 7, 1941 is from my book, Reagan's Journey - Lessons from a Remarkable Career
"On a peaceful Sunday in December 1941, a stealth attack was unleashed on the U.S. naval station at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Coming in waves, 353 planes systematically bombed the base and ships docked in the harbor. 2459 Americans were killed, almost 1300 were wounded. The Japanese strategy of “deceptive diplomacy” had worked. America was shocked.
Within days, President Roosevelt issued an urgent plea to America’s business leaders. They were needed in Washington, DC to ramp up manufacturing for the war effort. Senior executives responded. They cleaned out their offices and headed to the capitol. For the next four years, talented managers at the hastily organized War Production Board (WPB) steered the U.S. economy through World War II. Industrial production doubled, out-producing the combined output of America’s allies and enemies. Yet the war effort was never allowed to exceed 40 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. In 1945, as fighting in Europe and the Far East drew to a close, the WPB throttled back and returned the country to peacetime production levels without undue disruption to the nation’s economy.
Three men recruited to the War Production Board had an impact - directly and indirectly - on the career of Ronald Reagan. As role models and mentors, Charles E. Wilson, Ralph Cordiner, and Lemuel Boulware influenced Reagan, opened doors for him, and guided his evolution into politics."
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