James David Mooney (18 February 1884 – 21 September 1957) was an American engineer and corporate executive at General Motors who played a role in international affairs in the 1930s and early 1940s. His career was disrupted when he was accused of Nazi sympathies in 1940.

Biography

Early years

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Mooney attended the

Case School of Applied Science The Case School of Engineering is the engineering school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It traces its roots to the 1880 founding of the Case School of Applied Science. It became the Case Institute of Technology in 1947 ...

in Cleveland, and in 1908 received a B.S. in Mining and Metallurgy. After graduating he went on gold mining expeditions in Mexico and California. From 1910 to 1917 Mooney worked at

Westinghouse Electric The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...

, B. F. Goodrich and the Hyatt Roller Bearing Company, which later became part of General Motors. He steadily rose in the management ranks. In 1917 he enlisted in the army and served in France as a captain with the 309th Ammunition Regiment, 159th Field Artillery.

General Motors executive

After the war Mooney was appointed President and General Manager of Delco Remy, a General Motors subsidiary. In 1922 Mooney was made President of General Motors Overseas, responsible for operations around the world. He traveled widely, visiting his division's factories in many different countries. Mooney was an early leader in managerial theory, recording his theories and real-life experiences in the widely read ''Onward Industry'' (1931), reissued in a revised edition as ''The Principles of Organization''. He succeeded in applying American approaches to a great range of conditions in other countries.

Informal diplomacy

Mooney met leading government officials and other members of the elite in the countries he visited, discussing local and global economic issues. He was awarded the German Order of Merit of the Eagle in 1938. In May 1939 he met Nazi officials in Germany and discussed various issues concerning GM's Adam- Opel facility. He arranged for a meeting in London between Helmuth Wohlthat, who was working for

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

on a four-year plan for the German economy, and ambassador

Joseph Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...

. The purpose was to discuss possible loans in exchange for more open trade conditions. In December 1939 and January 1940 he met with President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

and obtained authority for informal discussions with the Germans to better understand their goals. In March 1940 Mooney met first with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and then with Göring. He presented Roosevelt's views to both men, and recorded their replies. The German lawyer and businessman

Gerhardt Alois Westrick Gerhard Alois Westrick (1889–1957) was a German lawyer and businessman who represented several major American companies in Germany before World War II. He was known for his efforts during a trip to New York in 1940 to gain support for the Nazi g ...

visited the United States between March and August 1940. According to Charles Higham in his book ''Trading with the Enemy'',

Sosthenes Behn Sosthenes Behn (January 30, 1884 – June 6, 1957) was an American businessman, and the founder of ITT. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. Biography Early years Sosthenes Behn was born in the island of St. Thomas, then par ...

of ITT arranged the trip and persuaded

Torkild Rieber Torkild Rieber (March 13, 1882 – August 10, 1968) was a Norwegian immigrant to the United States who became chairman of the Texas Company (Texaco). Born in a small town in Norway, Rieber became a seaman at the age of 15. By 1904, he was the mas ...

, CEO of

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

, to look after Westrick's local needs. Westrick represented many American companies in Germany including ITT,

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, General Motors, Standard Oil, the

Texas Company Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

, Sterling Products, and the Davis Oil Company. On 26 June 1940, one day after the surrender of France, Rieber sponsored a celebratory dinner for Westrick at the

Waldorf Astoria New York The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

. Attendees included

of ITT, James D. Mooney,

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 ...

of the

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 ...

and

Philip Dakin Wagoner Philip Dakin Wagoner (July 24, 1876 – November 25, 1962) was an American businessman who became chairman of the Underwood Typewriter Company. Early career Philip Dakin Wagoner was born on 24 July 1876 in Somerville, New Jersey, son of Henry G. ...

of Underwood. Hostile accounts of the dinner were published by the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', and the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Early in August 1940, the recently founded ''

PM Magazine ''PM/Evening Magazine'' is a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States. In most areas, ''Evening/PM Magazine'' was broadcast from the late 1970s into the late 1980s. Origi ...

,'' published a series of articles that attacked Mooney for his contacts with the Nazis. The magazine accused him of pro-German views and criticized a speech he had made, later printed as an article in the '' Saturday Evening Post'', entitled "War or Peace in America?"

Later career

In 1940 Mooney resigned from his position as President of General Motors Overseas to head a small team of directors charged with gearing up GM for wartime production. Mooney worked in the Production Engineering Section of the Bureau of Aeronautics. George S. Messersmith, United States Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Cuba, wrote a report on 4 March 1941 that criticized Mooney's negative views of England. He considered that Mooney was "dangerous ... for the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

and

Duchess of Windsor Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...

to be associated with." The Windsors visited Mooney in

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 t ...

in November 1941, the month before the

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. Later Mooney joined the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations. Mooney returned to GM after the war, but in 1946 left to head up

Willys-Overland Motors Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs) ...

as Chairman and President. James David Mooney died in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

on 21 September 1957 at the age of 73.

Selected publications

* Sloan, Clifford Alexander, and James David Mooney.'' Advertising the technical product.'' McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1920. * Mooney, James David. ''The Science of Industrial Organization.'' Diss. Case School of Applied Science, 1929. * Mooney, James David, and Alan Campbell Reiley. ''Onward industry!.'' (1931). * Mooney, James D. ''The new capitalism.'' (1934). * Mooney, James David. ''The principles of organization.'' New York, Harper, 1937; 1947. James D. Mooney Papers: *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mooney, James D. 1884 births 1957 deaths American business theorists General Motors executives United States Army personnel of World War I Businesspeople from Cleveland 20th-century American businesspeople