How Ronald Reagan came into GE's orbit.

• Author: Kristie, James
• Position: Reprint

From Reagan's Journey by Margot Morrell. Copyright 2011 by the author. Published by Threshold Editions, a division of Simon & Schuster (www.simonandschuster.com).

RONALD REAGAN once described his years with General Electric as a "postgraduate education in political science" that "wasn't a bad apprenticeship for someone who'd someday enter public life." During the eight years that he was associated with the company, he was surrounded by some of the best minds in American business. He admired GE's executives and learned from them. While traveling around the country meeting GE employees, Reagan's career slowly pivoted from entertainment to politics. Senior managers at GE were the people who nurtured his new persona.

The origin of Reagan's connection with General Electric lay in a series of paralyzing strikes unleashed by labor unions against American business after the war. In the 1940s, one-third of the labor force were union members. Labor leaders felt they had been patient in not asking for increases during the war years. In 1946 they struck.

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General Electric was hit hard. A strike against the company lasted 17 weeks. Faced with a contentious labor environment, GE President Charles Wilson decided the best long-term solution for the company, its employees, shareholders, and customers, was to tackle the problem head-on. He...