John Stephen Bugas (April 26, 1908 – December 2, 1982)
was the second in command at
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
during the presidency and chairmanship reign of
Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president ...
(the oldest grandson of founder
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
).
He is best known for taking control of the company away from
Harry Bennett
Harry Herbert Bennett (January 17, 1892 – January 4, 1979), was a boxer, Naval sailor, and businessman. From the 1920s through 1945, he worked for Ford Motor Company and was best known as the head of Ford’s "service department", the company's ...
so that John could be in command of it—including drawing pistols on each other—following the death of Edsel Ford.
As the ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'' wrote of Bugas:
Early life
The Bugas family originated from Slovakia. The parents of Jack Bugas, Andrew (Andrej) P. Bugas (born in 1867) and Helena L. Bugas (the name "Bugas" was then spelled "Bugos"), were both born in eastern Slovakia, in the village Lučina near
Prešov
Prešov (, hu, Eperjes, Rusyn language, Rusyn and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Пряшів) is a city in Eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj) and Šariš, as well as the historic Sáros Cou ...
. Andrew Bugas immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1882 (following his father, John P. Bugos, who immigrated in 1878, though died back in Slovakia, at that time part of Austria-Hungary, in 1902) and became a
naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
U.S. citizen at age 26 in 1891.
[Men of Wyoming. ''Slovak Institute & Reference Library'']
In 1901, Andrew Bugas was elected to the
Wyoming State Legislature
The Wyoming State Legislature is the legislative branch of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is a bicameral state legislature, consisting of a 60-member Wyoming House of Representatives, and a 30-member Wyoming Senate. The legislature meets at the ...
(as a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
) and served six terms until 1907. Andrew and Helena Bugas married in 1902 and from 1903 to 1929 had a total of eight sons and two daughters.
Jack Bugas was born in 1908 in
Rock Springs, Wyoming
Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,036 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...
. In 1909, the Bugas family moved to
Wamsutter, Wyoming
Wamsutter is a town in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 203 at the 2020 census.
The original inhabitants of the area were the Shoshone and Ute tribes. Westerners only began to settle in the county with the coming o ...
. There, Andrew Bugas opened the first agency for the
Continental Oil Company
Conoco Inc. ( ) was an American oil and gas company that operated from 1875 until 2002, when it merged with Phillips Petroleum to form ConocoPhillips. Founded by Isaac Elder Blake in 1875 as the "Continental Oil and Transportation Company". Curre ...
, operated a small hotel and post office, ran a road construction and trucking company, and developed a family ranch he would name the Eagle's Nest.
When Jack Bugas was in his early teens, his father's debts forced the family to mortgage the Eagle's Nest. Bugas worked for years to help retire his father's debts, including quitting school at the age of 16 for two years when his father placed him in charge of a road construction crew—an experience which Bugas would later say was "the hardest and most important in his life"
and "what gave him confidence and taught him self-reliance."
[From FBI to Ford Motor](_blank)
. ''Made in Wyoming''. Retrieved on November 5, 2013. Bugas later recalled standing with his father outside the Eagle's Nest weeping as they burned the paid-off note.
Bugas had a favorite story about ranch life in Wyoming:
Bugas claimed that as a child he would punch cows for entertainment.
Bugas graduated from
Laramie High School.
The "tall, rangy"
Bugas (at 6'1"
) was a "star forward" for four years
on
Willard Witte
Willard A. "Dutch" Witte (April 3, 1906 – February 13, 1966) was the head men's basketball and football coach of the University of Wyoming from 1930–31 through 1938–39 (basketball) and 1933 through 1938 (football). He led the Wyoming Cowboys ...
's
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
basketball team
(including the
1934 national championship team), and was also on the baseball and track & field teams and a member of the
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...
fraternity. He graduated cum laude from college and law school (which he funded by working as a forest ranger, trucker, timekeeper and refinery laborer
) in 1934, and went to work for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
the following spring.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
![HooverMurphyBugas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/HooverMurphyBugas.jpg)
"Adept at the art of fisticuffs while wearing a suit," Bugas rose quickly through the ranks of the FBI. By 1938
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...
appointed him head of the FBI's
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
office,
a strategically very important position as at the time Michigan counted "heavily in the national defense plans."
According to the FBI, Bugas "oversaw the shift in focus from violent crime to national security. As war loomed in Europe, concern about possible espionage and sabotage attacks on vital American industries like Detroit's automobile manufacturing plants moved to the forefront. Guarding the secrets of American technology and manufacturing were crucial to the war, and the Detroit Division played an important role in protecting these critical assets."
Bugas established a reputation as a "man with unlimited patience and efficiency" in his work on "notorious kidnapping, espionage, bank robbery and other major cases."
At the FBI, he most notably led the quashing of two
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
spy rings (including German Countess Grace Buchanan-Dineen, whom Bugas "turned" to a double agent
) and personally captured
Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...
Number One
Tom Robinson
Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...
at gunpoint.
Most of all, Bugas made a notable record when he "kept sabotage in war plants at 0."
Bugas was known in the bureau as "an 'agent's agent-in-charge,' a man all like to work for" ("the highest compliment in the service"), always leading his men personally on important cases.
Bugas and Hoover would remain close friends until Hoover's death in 1972.
Ford Motor Company
In 1944, Jack Bugas left public service to join Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford, still deeply shaken by the
Lindbergh kidnapping
On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields (Amwell and Ho ...
, hired Bugas away from the FBI to protect his grandchildren, Henry Ford II and his siblings. Bugas began working under head of security
Harry Bennett
Harry Herbert Bennett (January 17, 1892 – January 4, 1979), was a boxer, Naval sailor, and businessman. From the 1920s through 1945, he worked for Ford Motor Company and was best known as the head of Ford’s "service department", the company's ...
.
Some say Bennett (who had originally been hired by Henry Ford to stifle attempts at
unionization
The organizing model, as the term refers to trade unions (and sometimes other social-movement organizations), is a broad conception of how those organizations should recruit, operate, and advance the interests of their members, though the specific ...
) targeted hiring the "tough-as-nails former FBI man" in hopes of neutralizing him, as Bugas's 1941 FBI investigation and discovery of theft from Ford's
Rouge plant implicated some of Bennett's cronies.
[Two Henrys struggle for power](_blank)
''Automotive News''. June 16, 2003.
Edsel Ford
Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was an American business executive and philanthropist who was the son of pioneering industrialist Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Jane Bryant Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor Company f ...
, Henry Ford's only child, once mentioned to Bugas "how vulnerable he felt his family was to Bennett's machinations."
Bugas quickly became an "Edsel loyalist," and with that an enemy of Harry Bennett. Bennett once recalled that Bugas "seemed to sit around most of the day, his jacket off and his gun jutting from the shoulder
holster
A handgun holster is a device used to hold or restrict the undesired movement of a handgun, most commonly in a location where it can be easily withdrawn for immediate use. Holsters are often attached to a belt or waistband, but they may be att ...
beneath his arm."
When Edsel Ford died an early death in 1943 at the age of 49, his widow Eleanor blamed Bennet.
After Edsel's death, Eleanor struggled to get Henry Ford to step down and let Edsel's oldest son
Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president ...
take control of the company, including by threatening to liquidate her and Edsel's Ford stock—almost half of the outstanding shares in the company. But according to Ford II, it was a few allies, most notably Jack Bugas, who ultimately swayed the senior Ford to step aside.
When 28-year-old Ford II was selected by his grandfather in 1945 to succeed him as president of Ford (at that time America's largest private corporation), Bugas was immediately put in charge of taking control of the company from Harry Bennett's entrenched gangster element in management, and of ousting Bennett.
When Bugas fired Bennett in his office, Bennett called Bugas a "son of a bitch" and drew a loaded
.45
This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range.
*''Length'' refers to the cartridge case
Case or CASE may refer to:
Containers
* Case (goods), a package of related merchandise
* Cartridge case or casing, a ...
automatic on him (which Bennett kept in his desk drawer, often taking target practice into the wall over a visitor's shoulder
). In response, Bugas pulled a
.38
.38 caliber is a frequently used name for the caliber of firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
Th ...
from his shoulder holster, exclaiming, "Don't make the mistake of pulling the trigger, because I'll kill you. I won't miss. I'll put one right through your heart, Harry."
''
Kiplinger Magazine'' wrote in 1947 that "no one has risen faster in the Ford organization than big, brown-eyed John Bugas." The "practical and energetic man"
[F&ES working paper, Issues 7-10. ''Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies''. 1978.] ultimately became second in command at Ford as "Henry Ford II's closest confidant,". He helped restructure and revitalize the struggling company, which faced considerable financial and strategic challenges transitioning from military manufacturing to a peacetime economy, and by 1956 make it a publicly traded corporation. The Ford
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
was the largest and most oversubscribed the United States had ever seen, raising nearly $700 million — roughly $5 billion in today's terms.
Bugas even came to play a role in car design at Ford, most notably of the
Cortina (which later became the
Corsair
A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially:
* Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber pirates and privateers operating from North Africa
* French corsairs, privateers operating on behalf of the French crown
Corsair may also refer to:
Arts and ...
). One of the most distinctive features of the Cortina's styling came about because Bugas, as head of Ford's International Division, "demanded circular tail-lights in the Ford tradition" rather than the three-pointed star shape in Charles Thompson's original design. Bugas made the change while Thompson was off ill.
At Ford, Bugas held various vice president titles (among them industrial relations, international import-export group), as well as consulted directly with Henry Ford. Bugas also served as a member of the
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
starting in 1950.
In 1960, Ford chose a new president, the second in its history that wasn't a member of the Ford family. Surprisingly,
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the Lis ...
was chosen over Bugas, who "believed he would have little competition in his rise to the top of the company".
Bugas never knew that Ford II had discussed the matter of his appointment to the presidency with
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
head
Sidney Weinberg
Sidney James Weinberg (October 12, 1891 – July 23, 1969) was a long-time leader of the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, nicknamed “Mr. Wall Street” by ''The New York Times''Whitman, Alden"Sidney J. Weinberg, Known as 'Mr. Wall Street,' Is De ...
, who talked Ford II out of it. Bugas nevertheless over the years became one of the top holder of Ford
stock options
In finance, an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the ''holder'', the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date ...
(and with it extreme wealth).
In an interview, Bugas claimed to be chauffeured in and drive only Fords and
Lincolns,
including various
Shelby cars.
Although Ford had exclaimed for many years "As long as I'm alive, John Bugas will have a job at Ford Motor Company," in 1968, Bugas resigned suddenly from Ford as a vice president and director.
This occurred the same month that
Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen was hired as the next president, despite the fact that Bugas was long widely expected to be the successor to the top job.
Bugas took on new directorships in other companies. He moved into an office in the
Standard Oil of Indiana Building and worked on oil leases for a partnership he had with
Marathon Oil Company
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road running, road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also w ...
and
Max Fisher,
a
Forbes 400
The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is publ ...
member with whom he had been investing in Wyoming oil wells since the 1950s. Fisher, Bugas, and Henry Ford II "were the closest friends amongst Detroit's business elite," as well as frequent poker adversaries.
[At John Bugas' Ranch](_blank)
''The Max M. Fisher Archives''. Retrieved October, 2014. Bugas also became more deeply involved in the management of his vast Wyoming cattle
ranches
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
.
In the major reshuffling of
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
's cabinet posts in 1973 during the growing
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
, Bugas narrowly missed being selected by Nixon as
Director of the FBI
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a singl ...
(instead of
William Ruckelshaus
William Doyle Ruckelshaus (July 24, 1932 – November 27, 2019) was an American attorney and government official.
Ruckelshaus served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1966 to 1968, and was the United States Assistant Attorney Genera ...
).
A 1991 book claimed, anecdotally: "As if to illustrate the power of directives at Ford, the company still insists on spelling ''employee'' with one final ''e''
employe' a practice begun by a directive from John Bugas in the mid 1940s! He is said to have insisted that the spelling of ''employee'' conform to current newspaper style," while another story says that his intention was to "save a lot of money in typing and paper costs."
Wyoming cowboy
![MaxFisher](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/MaxFisher.jpg)
Bugas would always retain a love for his home state of Wyoming, saying "Its wide, un-cramped spaces ... give me a feeling of personal freedom I have never felt anywhere else."
Over the years (starting in 1949
) he acquired over twenty-thousand-
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
s
in Sunlight Basin
[View of John Bugas Ranch in Sunlight Basin](_blank)
''Buffalo Bill Center of the West''. Retrieved on November 1, 2014. ("by far the largest private ownership"
) and Clark's Fork,
[Mounted cowboys gathering Jack Bugas Hereford cattle on Clark's Fork Ranch](_blank)
''Buffalo Bill Center of the West''. Retrieved on November 1, 2014. within the
Absaroka Mountain Range in northwest Wyoming (near what is historically known for being the home of
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...
). There he owned multiple working cattle ranches, with over 800 head of
Hereford cattle
The Hereford is a British breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands of England. It has spread to many countries – there are more than five million purebred Hereford cattle in over fifty nations worldwide. The bre ...
,
and he would frequently return to his beloved ranches with his wife and children, teaching them to move cattle and enjoy the Wyoming life as he so did.
[John Bugas Timeline](_blank)
''Made in Wyoming''. Retrieved on November 5, 2013. He would spend his time there riding, fishing, and hunting amidst the ranch's twelve-thousand foot mountain peaks, canyons, waterfalls, and rivers.
Later in his life, Bugas traveled to his ranches every May and October for the
cattle drives
A cattle drive is the process of moving a herd of cattle from one place to another, usually moved and herded by cowboys on horses.
Europe
In medieval central Europe, annual cattle drives brought Hungarian Grey cattle across the Danube River ...
.
Bugas's picturesque ranch was used as the filming set for the
Marlboro Man
The Marlboro Man is a figure that was used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. ...
cigarette advertisements.
Bugas had a strong belief that his ranchland "ought to have fewer elk and more cattle" (and he put up miles of high fencing to keep migratory elk out of his pastures), and fought for restrictions on private development there ("provided they do not interfere with his cattle ranching activities").
Bugas loved the area because of its "rugged beauty," and was committed to protecting it "against excessive intrusion by man," keeping it "as wild and isolated" as when he bought it. "He would never permit the access roads to be improved or for a bridge to be built, and for much of his life the only way to get to the ranch was by a hand trolley strung across the river." It remained one of the most remote working ranches still in existence in the United States, accessible only by air or horseback, with no conventional roads leading to the ranch.
Bugas's ranch in Sunlight Basin contains the Bugas-Holding site, a notable Late Prehistoric age winter hunting campsite located along Sunlight Creek, a stream in the lower elevations with evidence of bison and mountain sheep hunting.
Author
Loren Estleman
Loren D. Estleman (born September 15, 1952, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American writer of detective and Western fiction. He is known for a series of crime novels featuring the investigator Amos Walker.
Life and work
Estleman graduated from ...
wrote that Bugas "exhibited a rough frontier charm that might not have been all artifice, helped along by frank dark eyes slanting away from a nose like the prow of an icebreaker and a shy smile that showed no teeth. His pioneer inflections were gentle. Company scuttlebutt said he was embarrassed by stories about his obstreperous past and had taken steps to eradicate the frontier influence from his manner, including speech lessons."
("In an old-style gunfight I'd have picked him as my first target."
)
Because of his exploits in fighting the bad guys (while at both the FBI and Ford), Bugas thus "became the consummate hero—legendary to this day"
—and earned the reputation as the real life
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
, complete with his preferred
ascot neckerchief
A neckerchief (from ''neck'' (n.) + ''kerchief''), sometimes called a necker, kerchief or scarf, is a type of neckwear associated with those working or living outdoors, including farm labourers, cowboys and sailors. It is most commonly still seen ...
and worn-out hat. (Bugas reportedly would rub a new hat in the dirt, saying "You never want to let anyone see you in a new hat," and then shoot a hole through it with his gun.
) His preferred dress was
Levis and an old shirt, often a University of Wyoming Cowboy T-shirt,
and he had a penchant for singing Wyoming cowboy songs.
Bugas was an expert rider
as well as marksman in all sizes of firearms (from his days in the FBI).
He was an avid mountain game hunter (including bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and elk on his ranches, and bear and cats in Wyoming and Montana
) as well as wingshooter (frequenting
partridge, pheasant, and grouse shoots at his ranches and throughout the world
).
Described as "stiff and formal" (he favored
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
and "an evening at the theatre"
), Bugas was known for his "cowboy morality." He once saw a man on a train verbally abusing a woman and, "grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, Bugas took him out between the swaying cars to chastise him and, when the man swung at him, knocked him down."
Along with this authentic wild west persona came a connection with the game of
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
, and media often referenced his "poker-faced"
demeanor. The ''Detroit Free Press'' described his enthusiasm for poker, and wrote that the secretive former FBI agent and cowboy "admits playing
is cardsclose to his vest."
Bugas's tough labor negotiations with
Walter Reuther
Walter Philip Reuther (; September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American leader of Labor unions in the United States, organized labor and Civil rights movements, civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of ...
have been called a "monumental poker game" in the automobile industry, following Bugas's description of them as "just a helluva poker game."
Personal life
![KeyesVaughan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/KeyesVaughan.jpg)
In addition to his Wyoming ranches, for the last twenty-five years of his life Bugas's main home was his sprawling country estate in
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...
, which he named ''
Woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
''.
Woodland was designed by noted architect
Hugh T. Keyes, who also designed Bugas's Wyoming lodge, as well as the main homes of Max Fisher, Ford II's brother Benson Ford, Ford President Semon Knudsen, and Ford Chairman and CEO
Philip Caldwell
Philip Caldwell (January 27, 1920 – July 10, 2013) was the first person to run the Ford Motor Company (after John S. Gray) who was not a member of the Ford family. He orchestrated one of the most dramatically successful turnarounds in busin ...
.
[American Architects Directory](_blank)
''R.R. Bowker (American Institute of Architects)''. 1962. Woodland became the unofficial site for many discreet Ford meetings (as well as discreet poker games), including with Henry Ford, McNamara,
Lee Iacocca
Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca ( ; October 15, 1924 – July 2, 2019) was an American automobile executive best known for the development of the Ford Mustang, Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, an ...
,
Carroll Shelby
Carroll Hall Shelby (January 11, 1923 – May 10, 2012) was an American automotive designer, racing driver, and entrepreneur. Shelby is best known for his involvement with the AC Cobra and Mustang for Ford Motor Company, which he modified duri ...
, and Hoover.
It was also the site of large Republican fund-raising parties in 1976 with President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
and Vice President
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
in attendance
and in 1980 with
presidential candidate
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* t ...
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
. Woodland is not unlike the fortified "Castle" compound built by Henry Ford for Bugas's predecessor and nemesis Bennett, where Bugas and his family spent much time.
Like
Henry's and
Edsel's houses, Woodland also had a Ford-built, detached industrial power house serving the main house. Bugas also owned riding stables nearby. (Upon Bugas's death, Woodland was purchased by Max Fisher's close friend and fellow Forbes 400 member
Alfred Taubman
Adolph Alfred "Al" Taubman (January 31, 1924 – April 17, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.
He was convicted in 2002 for a price-fixing scheme involving the top two auction houses in the United States.
Backgro ...
, and the house was later featured in a
''Vogue'' magazine spread.)
Bugas was a significant
patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
of the University of Wyoming, the Whitney Western Art Museum, and
Cranbrook Kingswood
Cranbrook Schools is a private, PK–12 preparatory school located on a campus in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The schools comprise a co-educational elementary school, a middle school with separate schools for boys and girls, and a co-education ...
, as well as a major
Republican Party supporter. He was the recipient of many awards, ranging from
Automotive Executive of the Year to the
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
's Human Relations Award ("for a life-time of service in the field of human rights").
Bugas was a practicing Catholic, and was among the "weighty, prominent list" of financial advisors to the church (and had periodic meetings with
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
at
Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
). He was director of the
National Conference of Christians and Jews
The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures.
The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...
, making many public appearances in support of the conference.
He was married to Margaret Stowe McCarty (a descendant of
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...
), with whom he had three daughters and a son, until her death in 1972.
In 1975 he married Joan Murphy, a former
Ford Agency model twenty-five years his junior (who survived him).
Bugas died in 1982, at the age of 74, at
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital is a Catholic hospital. It is Located on Parade Street, Kingston in Georgetown, Guyana. It was established by the members of the Sword of the Spirit movement and was officially opened in 1945. The hospital includes a ...
a week after undergoing heart bypass surgery.
Economics and politics
Bugas was actively engaged in matters of economics and politics, from endowing a professor of economics at the University of Wyoming to fundraising for the
Republican Party—where he was even known to collect money from top Ford executives for the party.
Bugas and his wife were frequent guests at
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
state dinners
A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in his or her official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is h ...
of Presidents Nixon and Ford. He also headed up security at
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
s.
Despite his "erstwhile
G-man
''G-man'' (short for "government man", plural ''G-men'') is an American slang term for agents of the United States Government. It is especially used as a term for an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
''G-man'' is also a term ...
"
life, Bugas, like his boss
Henry Ford
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
, was a "thorough-going
free enterprise
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ...
r"
and vigorous defender of ''
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
''
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
and business interests (often against
labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
interests, as Head of Industrial Relations at Ford).
He became the outspoken industry watchdog to
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
infiltration into the U.S. motor industry, and was quoted as saying, "Communism is bad medicine. There is no room in this country—or in industry—for Communists or Fascists."
Bugas has been embraced by the
Austrian School of economics (for reasons unrelated to Bugas's strong Austrian roots
) as a rare instance of a prominent historical businessman who "followed in the footsteps" of Austrian economist
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and Sociology, sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberali ...
(in a
Mises Institute
Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a libertarian nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is named after the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973).
It wa ...
articl
''John Bugas: G-Man, Ford Executive, Misesian?''.
[John Bugas: G-Man, Ford Executive, Misesian?](_blank)
''Mises Canada''. February 11, 2015. Like Mises, Bugas "made the notion of '
consumer sovereignty
Consumer sovereignty is the economic concept that the consumer has some controlling power over goods that are produced, and the idea that the consumer is the best judge of their own welfare.
''Consumer sovereignty in production'' is the controlli ...
' a key plank in his economic analysis and defense of the market economy." Bugas "realized that this insight from
objective economic science was very useful rhetorically in battling the foes of (what is usually called) capitalism."
Bugas led the fight at Ford in 1949 against Walter Reuther's demands for noncontributory pensions for
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...
members by posing the practical argument that increased costs of production cannot simply be passed on (or "shifted forward") to the consumer in the form of higher prices. (In so doing, he implicitly advanced the
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
"
subjective theory of value
The subjective theory of value is an economic theory which proposes the idea that the value of any good is not determined by the utility value of the object, nor by the cumulative value of components or labour needed to produce or manufacture it, ...
", which states that the value of a good is not determined by the cost of labor required to produce that good—the
Marxian "
labor theory of value
The labor theory of value (LTV) is a theory of value that argues that the economic value of a good or service is determined by the total amount of " socially necessary labor" required to produce it.
The LTV is usually associated with Marxian e ...
"—but rather by the subjective importance the end consumer places on that good.) Bugas explained that, if the employees didn't fund their own pension, the company would have to pay for it by raising car prices, and to think that the company could do this at its whim was a fallacy. He wrote to Reuther: "Old-age security is a highly desirable goal, but it must be paid for. There is no '
kitty' from which Ford can draw." (Reuther cheekily retorted that Ford could find its workers' pensions "from the same source that is used to finance security for high paid executives.")
In a 1955 speech, Bugas notably coined the term "
consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...
" as a substitute for "
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
" to better describe the American economy:
[Eriksson, Vogt]
On self-service democracy: Configurations of individualizing governance and self-directed citizenship
''European Journal of Social Theory''. November 20, 2012.[The Sun. 1955-01-23.]
Though the term "consumerism" first appeared in 1915, it was Bugas who first adopted it to illustrate the "consumer sovereignty" concept of Mises, "as a means of contrasting the American economy to that of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
."
In discussing union demands for guaranteed annual wages, Bugas again invoked his practical business logic:
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bugas, John
1908 births
1982 deaths
American automotive pioneers
American men's basketball players
American people of Slovak descent
Basketball players from Wyoming
Businesspeople from Michigan
Businesspeople from Wyoming
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents
Ford executives
Michigan Republicans
Wyoming Cowboys basketball players
Wyoming Republicans
20th-century American businesspeople
Laramie High School (Wyoming) alumni