Robert Wood Johnson: The Gentleman Rebel.

• Author: DUFFY, JAMES F.
• Position: Review

by Lawrence G. Foster

Published by Lillian Press c/o BookMasters, Ashland, OH, 736 pages, $30.00

THE 20TH CENTURY giant of business described in Robert Wood Johnson was many things -- executive, politician, commentator, lover of the sea -- but above all, he was a paradox. Here was a man who wrote that industry must "break it up," delegate, decentralize and, if necessary, "delouse the central staff," yet virtually approved every word of advertisements for his company, Johnson & Johnson. He prided himself on becoming the youngest mayor in New Jersey, at age 27, yet hated the Washington bureaucracy. He loved being called "The General," but disliked the military.

Just as paradoxically, this pioneering business executive guided his family's business not only to world leadership in health care, but to a position as one of the world's great corporations -- yet based his actions on a simple, yet widely admired, company mission, Johnson & Johnson's "Credo."

Author Lawrence Foster, a J&J public relations executive, is uniquely qualified to write this book. A Johnson intimate, he had unparalleled access to the letters, notes and history of Johnson's life, family and company. He interviewed scores of Johnson's personal confidants and professional associates.

The life experience Foster describes is that of a young man whose real education was "on the job," working for the company from an early age and thrust into a leadership role following the early death of his father. Johnson was elected to the company's board at age 2l, in 1914. Here, again, the story is one of paradox, for throughout his life he never lost touch with the needs of the customer nor the role and importance of the line employee. In fact, even during the Depression -- in opposition to virtually every industrialist in America -- he championed increases in the minimum wage.

Rather than a dry character study, Foster has produced an entertaining history with a cavalcade of famous cameos: Thomas Edison visiting the Johnsons' first drugstore; Johnson's conversations with Bishop Fulton Sheen; his correspondence with Roosevelt; dancing with Ginger Rogers amidst New York's night life; conversations with Joseph P. Kennedy; and many more.

Johnson's personal life also was one of paradox. The book offers a fair and balanced portrayal of his temper, failed marriages and strained family life. Here was a man who cared passionately for customers, employees and the communities where his company operated...