Roger M. Blough (January 19, 1904 October 8, 1985) was the

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of the United States Steel Corporation for 13½ years, from May 1955 through January 1969. In this position, he is best known for serving as the American

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

industry's principal spokesman when the industry clashed in April 1962 with President John F. Kennedy on the issue of commodity steel prices.

Biography

Blough attended Susquehanna University and was a member of

Phi Mu Delta Phi Mu Delta () is a small, national fraternity founded on March 1, 1918 at the Universities of Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The fraternity is focused on the ideals of democracy, service, and brotherhood. History Phi Mu Delta wa ...

fraternity. When

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

magazine featured Blough in July 1959, they drew attention to the challenges facing the steel industry in the late 1950s, including

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

and competition from non-U.S. steel exporters. He served as Chairman of

The Business Council The Business Council is an organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.The Business Council, Official website, Background
As a consequence of this inflation, Blough told the White House in April 1962 that it was the intent of the U.S. steel industry to raise a basket of steel prices by a scale averaging $6.00/ton. President Kennedy believed that this price increase violated an unwritten agreement that he had brokered between the industry and the United Steel Workers union, and called a

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

in response, held on April 11, 1962. In nationally televised remarks, the President described Blough as one of: “a tiny handful of steel executives whose pursuit of private power and profit exceeds their sense of public responsibility... Some time ago I asked each American to consider what he would do for his country and I asked the steel companies. In the last 24 hours we had their answer.” Blough and U.S. Steel rolled back the threatened price hike. Blough stubbornly resisted Kennedy administration efforts to enlist Alabama businesses to support desegregation of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...

, which race-baiting Gov.

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist a ...

had promised to block by standing in the schoolhouse door. Although the firm employed more than 30,000 workers in Birmingham, Ala., company president Blough in 1963 "went out of his way to announce that any attempt to use his company position in Birmingham to pressure local whites was 'repugnant to me personally' and 'repugnant to my fellow officers at U.S. Steel.'" In 1969, Blough retired from U.S. Steel and founded the Construction Users Anti-Inflation Roundtable, "affectionately known" as "Roger's Rountable". In 1972, the group merged with March Group and the Labor Law Study Group (LLSG) to form

Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major United States companies. Unlike the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, B ...

.Beder, Sharon
'' Suiting Themselves: How Corporations Drive the Global Agenda''; Earthscan; 2012, pgs. 11-12.

Legacy

, an iron ore

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, eco ...

vessel built for U.S. Steel in 1968-72 and used starting in 1972 in Great Lakes service to transport

taconite Taconite () is a variety of iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name "taconyte" was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865–1923) � ...

pellets from Lake Superior to ports on Lake Erie and Lake Michigan, was named in his honor. As of 2018 this vessel remained in service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blough, Roger 1985 deaths American steel industry businesspeople Susquehanna University alumni 1904 births 20th-century American businesspeople

Biography

Legacy

See also

References