Henry J. Kaiser, FDR’s Dynamo
Sources: Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II by Arthur Herman
Henry J. Kaiser was described as “a dynamo” by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Kaiser became the symbol of America as the “arsenal of democracy” being named in a 1945 Roper poll as the civilian most responsible for winning the war, right after Franklin Roosevelt himself. He was generally regarded as the “miracle man.”
Before America entered the war, the President faced the challenge of arming America and providing existential support to an out-of-cash Great Britain when “cash and carry” was the legal requirement for American supplies. He came up with “lend lease” approved by Congress on March 11, 1941, to eliminate the cash requirement. The first lend lease appropriation was signed by FDR on his Presidential Yacht USS Potomac.
The free world needed ships and lots of them. Nazi U-boats were sinking merchant ships three times faster than they could be replaced. FDR turned to Kaiser who had started a shipbuilding contract with the British at his newly constructed shipyard in Richmond, California. Also, Kaiser had constructed a shipyard in Portland, Oregon.
His son Edgar managed the Portland yard and his “almost” son, Clay Bedford, managed Richmond. Roosevelt had met them both. The government fixed on Kaiser’s “liberty ship” as the standard design for the new American maritime cargo ships. How fast could they be built was the challenge. Henry encouraged the competition between the two yards.
FDR was on hand at Kaiser’s Portland yard on September 23,1942, to witness firsthand the delivery of the Liberty Ship Joseph Teal in a record 10-days, ninety percent faster than the pre-Kaiser shipbuilding era. FDR met and congratulated Henry, Edgar and Clay Bedford. With 14,000 workers and 6,000 on-lookers as witness, the President’s daughter officially launched the vessel with a third swing of the champagne bottle on the Teal’s bow. Although constructed at unprecedented breakneck speed, Kaiser and FDR both knew the Teal’s 10-day record would not hold for long.
Bedford was going to prove it. Out of concern about downplaying the 10-day delivery just witnessed by the President, he shared a possible five-day delivery plan with his mentor Henry, who brought it to the attention of FDR. The President said, “If it can be built in one day, so much the better.”
On Nov. 12,1941, the Liberty Ship Robert E. Peary was launched in four days, fifteen hours, and twenty-six minutes. Six minutes later the blocks were cleared for the next hull to be constructed. The record had been set and would hold as one of the supreme industrial feats of the war. The Robert E. Peary showed no signs of being a “quickie.” She would log more than 42,000 miles in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters of operation and then as a cargo ship after the war, finally heading to the scrapyard in June 1963, after years in the reserve fleet.
FDR managed the war and his relationships with the key players like Henry J. Kaiser, often from the USS Potomac where he frequently both relaxed and planned during the pre-war period. Today the Presidential Yacht is berthed in Oakland, Kaiser’s headquarters city. There the ship keeps alive for current and future generations one of the most important eras of American history, the Great Depression, World War II, and the contributions of men like Henry Kaiser.
Kaiser executives played key leadership roles in the 14-year community effort to restore the ship after its 1981 purchase by the Port of Oakland. James McCloud, retired president of Kaiser Engineers, guided the technical aspects of the restoration working almost daily on site and serving as a co-chairman of the Potomac Association board of governors. Cornell C. Maier, chairman of Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp, was co-chairman of the Potomac’s national find raising campaign. Maier joined the delegation led by James Roosevelt, FDR’s oldest son, in a White House meeting with President Ronald Regan to advance the project. James A. Vohs, former CEO and president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, has provided continuing advice and support through the restoration and the years of operation.
The USS Potomac is one of six recognized national memorials for Franklin D. Roosevelt and the only one west of the Mississippi River. She is also the oldest (commissioned/decommissioned) U.S. Navy ship still in daily operation.